Newbie questions!

[Jess78245]

Hey everyone, I was debating on raising a couple chicks. I haven’t done this before so need some help. I’m looking online at coops and not sure what size would be acceptable. I have seen many that are 58"L × 47"W × 33"H. Is that acceptable for 2-3 chickens?

 

[DobieLover]

Hey everyone, I was debating on raising a couple chicks. I haven’t done this before so need some help. I’m looking online at coops and not sure what size would be acceptable. I have seen many that are 58"L × 47"W × 33"H. Is that acceptable for 2-3 chickens?

No.
You need 4 sq ft of space per chicken in the actual sheltered coop.
You will be hard pressed to find a pre-fab that ever holds the number of birds it claims it will.

 

[At the hen house]

Speaking from experience i to only wanted 3-4 chickens when we 1st started out so hubby bought a coop from tractor supply for them, wellllll that idea only lasted a few months b4 they outgrew it. we now have 15. We have since converted a 8x10 shed into a coop and added a 24x10ft run for them and let em range during day. Just a lil advise from my own experience, Owning chickens is an addiction if ur gonna take the leap and buy a coop, you’ll prolly wanna the biggest ur budget will allow.

 

[Jess78245]

Speaking from experience i to only wanted 3-4 chickens when we 1st started out so hubby bought a coop from tractor supply for them, wellllll that idea only lasted a few months b4 they outgrew it. we now have 15. We have since converted a 8x10 shed into a coop and added a 24x10ft run for them and let em range during day. Just a lil advise from my own experience, Owning chickens is an addiction if ur gonna take the leap and buy a coop, you’ll prolly wanna the biggest ur budget will allow.

Speaking from experience i to only wanted 3-4 chickens when we 1st started out so hubby bought a coop from tractor supply for them, wellllll that idea only lasted a few months b4 they outgrew it. we now have 15. We have since converted a 8x10 shed into a coop and added a 24x10ft run for them and let em range during day. Just a lil advise from my own experience, Owning chickens is an addiction if ur gonna take the leap and buy a coop, you’ll prolly wanna the biggest ur budget will allow.

I don’t think I will get more than a few as I do live in the city. This actually all started because a wild duck laid an egg in my flower garden and it didn’t come back. So my daughter had been watching this egg under heat lamps and monitors the heat and humidity according to what we could find online. But I think it’s a dud. so I was considering letting her raise a couple chickens.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hey everyone, I was debating on raising a couple chicks. I haven’t done this before so need some help. I’m looking online at coops and not sure what size would be acceptable. I have seen many that are 58"L × 47"W × 33"H. Is that acceptable for 2-3 chickens?

So some things to explain... the coop you linked is not 58 x 47. It's not even the 54.6 x 17.4 that you'd assume from looking at the diagram. The coop is the enclosed part up top, and that measures 25.6 x 17.4 for a total of 3.08 sq ft. It's not large enough for a single standard chicken. The run is the 54.6 x 17.4 part for a total of 6.6 sq ft. Less that HALF of what a single chicken would need at bare minimum.

Recommended minimums on here are 4 sq ft floor space in coop (that does not include nest box) plus 10 sq ft in run per bird. Going over minimum is preferable and can help reduce behavioral and health issues. For 3 birds I'd recommend something like a 3x4 or 4x4 coop (cost likely similar) and maybe a 5x10 or 6x10 run.

Also consider that you need to be able to get into the coop and run to do cleanouts. Smaller units require much more frequent cleanouts and can be difficult to get into or maneuver around.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. To add to the great advice above, maybe take a look at this link - Space requirements