Oh crap, what have I done ...

[Lamontelle4]

Oh dear.
I think I got a bad case of chicken fever and have gone slightly insane.
I'll be a first time chicken-owner soon and bought a decent sized coop (says will hold up to 10 standard birds) and when I called the coop place (Root and Roost) they said it is substantial and could really fit 12 - there are four nest boxes and we are building an add on for a bit more inside room. So guess what? I ordered 11. Well now I see that I get a free chick with my order, so that makes 12 birds: Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Black/Blue Splash Orpington, Lavender Orpington, Jersey Giant, Barnevelder, Cream Legbar, Austra White, Easter Egger, Olive Egger, Barred Rock and one unknown breed.

Should I call and take some off my order? Is this too big of a flock for someone just starting out?

Nah you’ll be fine. Just make sure that you follow the basics. If they are chicks brood them in a brooder box with a heat lamp three feet above them, and as they grow move it ever so slightly up once a week. Feed them chick starter feed if babies. Feed them layer feed, scratch grain oyster shell, if they are adults. Mix layer feed and scratch grain together with tablespoon of wheat germ oil in a 1 gallon bucket. Make sure they always have fresh clean water from some sort of watering thingy. Make sure they have grass and space to roam without the threat of getting eaten by any predators. Always put them away securely at night. ALWAYS. They may stop laying during the winter unless you put a heat lamp in with them. If they are hatchery birds they’ll lay around four months old. So yeah your good to go.

 

[Foxinthehenhouse]

Some of your chick choices grow to be pretty big birds. You might want to choose some smaller breeds.

 

[RoosterML]

I personally would not keep 12 full grown hens in there. You've ordered quite a few large birds. They will be jam packed in there.

X2

 

[boskelli1571]

Here's coop - will arrive in two weeks and will build. Have a large brooder set up that will do for first 4-5 weeks, then will move to a pen in our heated garage and stay until it's warm enough for them to be in coop. Husband will add on to the back side (there's a small chicken door) an 8x8x4 run. Can do a bigger run.

I did add the "winterize" package to the coop set up - plexiglass panels that go on the screen parts of the coop - top part is open for ventilation.

Here's my 5 cents worth - that coop is too small for 12 standard hens, especially in long cold winters.
Coop manufacturers are overly optimistic on how many hens will fit into a given area.
Overcrowding will bring problems like anti-social behaviors - feather picking, vent picking etc.

 

[Hidrainja4]

My My , I do agree that your numbers are to high. The Jersey Giants would not be happy in that coop they really are big birds. So your coop will work with modifications! You can put clear plastic corrugated panels on the outside area that is what I did to block the wind and snow and let in sunshine in the winter. Or cheep plastic. We remove them in the springtime.
Consider getting heated dog water bowls for winter. Another thing you can do is add on. I have a roosting area. Mine is three foot above ground facing their three foot above ground coop entrance. It is a three sided box with a roof with 1 inch roost bars equal height and equal space apart. I put a half sheet of plywood under it as a poop board. I have screened windows on both side so I can peek in on them. They like to chill and hangout there even when they have the door open and they can free range. It gave them 3x3 =9sqft extra on the ground and 3x3= 9sqft roosting hangout area that they love. That is an additional 18sqft of living space taking only an additional 3ftx3ft ground space. Of course the bottom part is fenced in . My husband built this after he built the coop because we did not know that chicken need/like to roost and our coop was just a floor with nesting boxes. Live and learn. Good luck in your chicken adventure.

 

[Finnie]

-- 8ftx8ft and 4ft tall -- off of the new coop side for more room for them to run

I would strongly recommend making this added run area walk-in height! 64 square feet is a lot of territory to police on your hands and knees or bent over

Was hoping I could make it all work with this coop I'm really looking forward to getting.

You will do fine! You have a plan for if your chosen chickens don’t fit, and you will enjoy the newness and learning process of raising your baby chicks.

This may be your first chicken coop, but I doubt it will be your last. I foresee it in several years making a great holding area for new birds or ones that need to be isolated for any reason. Chances are, as you live and learn with your first flock of chickens, you will form opinions on what you do and don’t like concerning their management. Then you will build or buy other different structures according to what you dream up.

Have fun with your new babies when they come! And welcome to

 

[countryladyNH]

It is "cute" but WAY to small. Can you cancel the order?

Agree! That is WAY too small. Maybe start with only 4 or 5 chicks....

 

[countryladyNH]

I would strongly recommend making this added run area walk-in height! 64 square feet is a lot of territory to police on your hands and knees or bent over


You will do fine! You have a plan for if your chosen chickens don’t fit, and you will enjoy the newness and learning process of raising your baby chicks.

This may be your first chicken coop, but I doubt it will be your last. I foresee it in several years making a great holding area for new birds or ones that need to be isolated for any reason. Chances are, as you live and learn with your first flock of chickens, you will form opinions on what you do and don’t like concerning their management. Then you will build or buy other different structures according to what you dream up.

Have fun with your new babies when they come! And welcome to

Yes, we were reading this and hubby immediately said "advise them to go full height"! You will be tearing your hair out in a week if you don't.

 

[countryladyNH]

OH MY!! I hadn’t looked inside!! This coop is made for Texas weather, definitely not for Minnesota!!
No ladder! To get up they need to jump almost straight up in the air. Forget that to get down they minimally need to be as many feet from the roost to all walls as they are from the roost to the floor. Otherwise they are going to slam hard into walls trying to get down! They also could very easily injure their legs or feet jumping down.
Cute coop but it’s more a playhouse for pretend. It doesn’t know chickens.

Agree! We are in NH (cold, snow) When we started chicken keeping about 4 years ago we started with 4. NO online coops---Those are disasters. We have a very well built custom coop. I would highly advise you to CANCEL THAT COOP, and look into other options. We don't have a lot of money and we were able to get a great coop. We have since gotten 2 ducks and a goose and built them their own coop from scratch with no kit, no plans, no experience and on a budget! It can be done!!! That small coop in MN will be disaster in no time and money thrown away IMO.

 

[SamanthaDianne]

Oh dear.
I think I got a bad case of chicken fever and have gone slightly insane.
I'll be a first time chicken-owner soon and bought a decent sized coop (says will hold up to 10 standard birds) and when I called the coop place (Root and Roost) they said it is substantial and could really fit 12 - there are four nest boxes and we are building an add on for a bit more inside room. So guess what? I ordered 11. Well now I see that I get a free chick with my order, so that makes 12 birds: Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Black/Blue Splash Orpington, Lavender Orpington, Jersey Giant, Barnevelder, Cream Legbar, Austra White, Easter Egger, Olive Egger, Barred Rock and one unknown breed.

Should I call and take some off my order? Is this too big of a flock for someone just starting out?

I wouldn’t just be concerned that you ordered so many, but the size of the ones you ordered. Those are really big birds!