Ok building a first coop have some ideas

[Joev1973]

Ok we ordered 17 day old chicks that will need to be brooded for a while which gives me time to build a coop. I was looking at a shed kit that is simple to construct. Its 8 x 8 and should give me enough room for a few nest boxes and plenty of roost space as well as being big enough for me to get into to clean.
Also being in the south I can keep a couple sections open with hardware cloth for good ventilation in the summer and have winter panels i can put up for the winter over the hardware cloth.

The birds will have a large fenced in pen with metal roof to protect from chicken hawks. I do plan on letting them have the run of the yard when I am home to supervise.

Do you think an 8x8 would be big enough for 17 birds?

 

[tacothechicken]

Technically i suppose, as long as it's ONLY for coop not including run. You know what breed your babies are? Cause some dont do well in confinement, especially if there is 17 it may put you at risk of butcher birds(aka birds who will harass the lowest member to death) :/

 

[Joev1973]

Technically i suppose, as long as it's ONLY for coop not including run. You know what breed your babies are? Cause some dont do well in confinement, especially if there is 17 it may put you at risk of butcher birds(aka birds who will harass the lowest member to death) :/

Here are my birds. They will all arrive together and be brooded together. If sepetating some is necessary i suppose i can make that happen. The run will be huge and I plan on having 2 runs so when one gets run down i can switch and rototill the worn one and plant new vegatation such as grass or browse

 

[tacothechicken]

Lovely! You're breeds look great! Polish are pretty hilarious and Buff orps are great layers! I want Butter cups!!!!! You're layout sounds good as well we support this plan lol!

 

[tacothechicken]

Oh btw do you plan to put roofing on part of your run? If advise a little at least as Polish kinda suck at staying dry and warm in bad weather(I had to blow dry one of my girls post a hail storm this winter :/

 

[Joev1973]

Yep entire run will be covered in metal roofing. They should stay dry

 

[tacothechicken]

Perfect! We'll look foward posts on the arrival of this new flock!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

How many if each breed? Polish tend to get bullied anyway, so bigger is better... And always plan for more!

 

[DanEP]

8 x 8 is a little tight for 17 birds but you should be fine as long as they have a good size run of at least 10 sq ft per bird. My little coop is the same size and I have kept up to 19 birds in there with no problems just make sure that you have enough roost space. I would go with at least 2 8' roost about 18 to 24 inches apart and at the same level if you can. I have found over the years it cuts way back on the who gets to sleep on the higher roost drama every night

 

[aart]

Also being in the south I can keep a couple sections open with hardware cloth for good ventilation in the summer and have winter panels i can put up for the winter over the hardware cloth.

The birds will have a large fenced in pen with metal roof to protect from chicken hawks. I do plan on letting them have the run of the yard when I am home to supervise.

Do you think an 8x8 would be big enough for 17 birds?

Might be tight, unless your run is predator proof.
How big will the run be?

Oh, and...Welcome to BYC! @Joev1973
Where in the 'south'?
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