New coop

[Kayz]

Good morning, I’m new to the forum. So don’t know if I’m in the right page. I ordered a extra large Amish made coop and want to know how to entice my chickens to roost there at night. I’ve read different articles and I don’t think its big enough to keep 15 chickens in it for 3 days. Would appreciate any advice! Thanks

 

[DobieLover]

Good morning, I’m new to the forum. So don’t know if I’m in the right page. I ordered a extra large Amish made coop and want to know how to entice my chickens to roost there at night. I’ve read different articles and I don’t think its big enough to keep 15 chickens in it for 3 days. Would appreciate any advice! Thanks

How large is it?
Do you have an attached run?

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing.

Do you have photos and dimensions of the coop?

It's a sad and unfortunate fact that almost all premade coops wildly exaggerate the number of chickens that they are suited to hold.

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

15 hens

• 60 square feet in the coop. 8'x8' is easier to build than 6'x10'
• 15 feet of roost
• 150 square feet in the run. 10'x15', 12'x12' or 8'x20'
• 15 square feet of ventilation.
• 4 nest boxes.

While shutting them in for several days or weeks is a proven method of homing them to a new coop, you can also teach them to roost in their new home by closing off the old one and then, when they try to roost outdoors, moving them into their new home and putting them onto the roost until they get the idea that the new roost is where they should sleep.

 

[Kayz]

How large is it?
Do you have an attached run?

74/60/74 1/2
No run my chickens are in a large 200 sq Ft fenced area.

 

[3KillerBs]

74/60/74 1/2
No run my chickens are in a large 200 sq Ft fenced area.

I'm always nervous about size when I see coop measurements given in inches.

Do those dimensions include the nestboxes? Only the square footage of the usable floor counts when figuring out how many chickens it *really* holds.

 

[DobieLover]

74/60/74 1/2
No run my chickens are in a large 200 sq Ft fenced area.

That coop is way too small for the number of birds you have.
I would not lock them in.
The pen isn't that large for them either so I don't think you'll have problems with them not going back to the coop for laying/roosting and being penned, they aren't going to wander off.
You should consider building a much larger coop for them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

74/60/74 1/2
No run my chickens are in a large 200 sq Ft fenced area.

Ummm. NO. As @3KillerBs and @DobieLover have said, that coop is way too small for the number of birds you have. Think 8x8. FEET. Not inches - anything measured in inches is too small. Even 8x8 is pretty minimal for 15 birds. Nesting box space doesn't count either. Height is only relevant in that its tall enough for the birds to roost, and tall enough for the ventilation to be above their heads while they roost.

Your 200 sq ft fenced area is about to be barren as well. I use a larger area for a grow out pen, it was patchy in a month or so, and basically bare dirt in a season - without a single adult bird in it. Even if the birds don't eat what's there, their constant efforts at dust bathing, scratching for bugs, and the like will rapidly denude the ground.

More space and/or fewer birds.

 

[Iluveggers]

7x6 (converted from your inches in the post) is 42 sq ft. Big enough for 10 chickens. The fenced area can fit 20 at 200 ft but that is the absolute minimum.

 

[DobieLover]

7x6 (converted from your inches in the post) is 42 sq ft. Big enough for 10 chickens. The fenced area can fit 20 at 200 ft but that is the absolute minimum.

It's actually worse than that.
It's only 31 sq ft (6.2'x5').
And I'd like to see a picture of the setup.

 

[Iluveggers]

It's actually worse than that.
It's only 31 sq ft (6.2'x5').
And I'd like to see a picture of the setup.

This is what I get for posting before my coffee.