New here. Looking at this coop for 4-5 chickens. Thoughts?

[Soon2BChixMom]

I'm currently chickenless.

We are wanting 4-5 full size chickens. We are not sure we can build our own coop. So, I've been looking at Craigslist and other places to find one locally. I could get an Amish made, but it's pretty $$$.

I asked about the nesting area and it is not sectioned off as you can kind of see with the back view. I will also expand the run space eventually.

So, any thoughts are appreciated.

http://muncie.craigslist.org/grd/5894138425.html

 

[SIMZ]

Small world - I keep seeing this same coop on CL.

You could put maybe 4-5 chickens in there, but it would be really cramped in the winter for them. Bigger is always better to avoid pecking problems and stress from overcrowding. Now, if you enclosed that run in heavy plastic sheeting to make the run area completely usable for them in the winter, then it would certainly be better. Actually, I feel it would be necessary to do that if you were keeping more than 2-3 in that size of a coop.

Have you considered a shed? You may find one for about the same price and if you are handy at all could cut a door and make a simple run for it.

 

[Pyxis]

4 x 4 would be just enough space for four chickens - if the nesting boxes were outside and not taking up floor space. With them being part of the floor plan you're losing a chunk of coop to them, and it doesn't say how much. Either way, that puts you at less than enough space for four chickens.

The run isn't great either. For four or five chickens you'd need forty or fifty square feet of run space respectively. That run, going by the measurements given of 40 inches by six feet, is half that, only 20 square feet. Not enough room at all. Plus, it's all chicken wire. That is not predator proof at all. A raccoon could reach right through and pull itself a chicken dinner right out piece by piece. A fox or dog will be able to chew through it in less than an hour.

It's also odd how the run is listed as 40 inches wide yet in the pictures it sits flush with the sides of the coop which is supposed to 4', aka 48" wide. Something is not adding up there. I would steer clear of this one personally. For $500 you can build yourself a much better setup. It's not that hard to do and there are lots of free coop ideas and plans in the Coops section of the website.

 

[thomasboyle]

Have you considered a shed? You may find one for about the same price and if you are handy at all could cut a door and make a simple run for it.

Ditto on recommending a shed. In addition to the chickens, you need a place to store feed, treats, corn, scratch, medicine, rake, shovel, hay, wood shavings, feeders, waterers etc. I have a 12x16 shed as my coop. About 2/3 is dedicated to the chickens and ducks, and 1/3 is for storage for all the stuff you need to raise chickens and ducks!

Plan on 4 sq feet for each chicken inside the coop itself, so you want 20 sq feet for chickens. A small shed would give you that or more, plus space for storage.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Simz - I have wondered why the coop hasn't sold yet as it's been listed for awhile. After reading through these responses, it makes me understand why now.
I was planning on covering the run in winter if I were to get this set up. We aren't super handy. But, we did build a play structure once. Maybe I could convert that somehow?

Pyxis- when I contacted the seller he said the nesting area was 12" x 40". I agree about the run and was thinking I could expand it plus add hardware cloth to the bottom area to keep predators out. But, I didn't think about the coop being almost the same width as the run when there should be an 8" difference. Plus when I contacted the seller, he said the nesting area was 12" x 40". So that does sound odd.

Thomasboyle - I do have places to store feed and such. I even have a shed that maybe I could convert some space for the chickens and add a run. However, I'm not sure how to keep rodents out as it sits on the ground and they already come in there.

Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate it!

 

[SIMZ]

I want to clarify that I think it's a nice little sturdy coop. It looks like there may be a little nesting area in the back of the coop, too. The run is nice, too, but wouldn't be predator proof with the chicken wire, but neither is mine. I shut mine in the coop at night. It may be still a little early for coops - it will probably sell once chicks start popping up.

I again think it would work fine for 4-5 chickens with the run sides covered to break wind during the winter. You could easily put more in there if they had lots of extra outside room, like free ranging or an extended fenced area.

My concern is always that I know how I did with a "few" chickens and how quickly I outgrew my "bigger than we need" coop. LOL It's just always better to go as big as you can.

 

[Blooie]

I would agree with getting a shed and modifying it if you aren't sure of your "building skills". But the run? You can make that very easily, and very inexpensively, with plain old cattle panels. We did, and ours has withstood a wind gust of 90mph just last month, regular seasonal winds of 40-50 mph sustained winds with gusts of 60. It's held up to snow loads, too. And the best part? It was easy Ken and I to build with limited building skills, and we're both in our 60s with disabilities. It looks great, at least we think it does~ We can stand up in it to work, which at our ages is a plus, plus, plus! When we decided to expand it, we just took off the end piece, added two more fence posts, arched another cattle panel between them, attached it the existing run with wire, put the end piece back on and we were done. That easy! We have had no issues with predators gaining access, and we live in a rural community of about 600 in northwestern Wyoming, so that's no small feat! In summer, we toss a roll of landscape fabric over it for rain and sun protection, attached to strips so we can roll 'em up like window shades. In winter the landscape fabric comes down and we cover the run with plastic (leaving openings for winter ventilation, of course) so the chickens can use it all winter long.....and they do! Even in temps of -23 below, they are out in the run rather than "cooped up".



Our hoop run in summer, before expansion.




And in winter, after expansion!


You can find more information by clicking on My Coop under my avatar, and the run build starts about halfway down the page. There is also a relatively new thread about different uses for cattle panels, and there are some other examples there!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1140564/cattle-panel

Good luck to you, and a warm welcome to BYC!!

 

[aart]

4 x 4 would be just enough space for four chickens - if the nesting boxes were outside and not taking up floor space. With them being part of the floor plan you're losing a chunk of coop to them, and it doesn't say how much. Either way, that puts you at less than enough space for four chickens.

The run isn't great either. For four or five chickens you'd need forty or fifty square feet of run space respectively. That run, going by the measurements given of 40 inches by six feet, is half that, only 20 square feet. Not enough room at all. Plus, it's all chicken wire. That is not predator proof at all. A raccoon could reach right through and pull itself a chicken dinner right out piece by piece. A fox or dog will be able to chew through it in less than an hour.

It's also odd how the run is listed as 40 inches wide yet in the pictures it sits flush with the sides of the coop which is supposed to 4', aka 48" wide. Something is not adding up there. I would steer clear of this one personally. For $500 you can build yourself a much better setup. It's not that hard to do and there are lots of free coop ideas and plans in the Coops section of the website.

Ditto Dat^^

Spend more money now, rather than later in the midst of chaos and suffering birds.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I know I went for a very small coop initially because I wanted to make absolutely sure that having chickens was right for me. I didn't want to jump right in with a large flock and coop, decide that it was overwhelming, and wonder what I got myself into.

Now that I've had the chickens for a while, yes I'm thinking of getting more in the future, and of building a nice mini barn with space for gardening tools, chicken supplies, and maybe a few goats as well. But for now I can enjoy the chickens that I do have, while taking time to plan out what I want to do in the future.

The coop you're looking at could probably be fixed up to be usable, though 4 chickens looks to be the capacity and you're going to need to install some external nest boxes to free up space. Mine isn't any bigger and I have 4. The run is far too small unless you're planning on letting them free range a lot.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Blooie - your run looks great!

I think we've decided to keep searching for the right coop. Thanks for the input everyone!