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fisherlady said:
Welcome from Indiana county!

And beware, Chicken math is real!!:barnie:lau
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LOL OH I KNOW! As I ordered, 6 went to 15, bc shipping is better, basically "free" chicks bc I saved more than that on shipping LOL. Then my kid was like 15 is a weird number get an even 20. I wanted a couple Polish but only one was listed when I ordered so when I saw that I could now get another I told my husband. He said well see if they can add that to your order. So I called and added a white crested black Polish. I had also wanted more egg color variety so I tacked on a couple more to get me to 23.

Thankfully, I live on a dairy farm. Room is not an issue. However, we need to build a new coop. I keep telling my husband I need it to be 120-150 square feet. He's thinking 8x8. Even 150 is not going to be big enough LOL. He has wood around from when he was planning to expand and reorganize his maple shack. So hopefully it won't cost me a fortune!
 
mistyseptember said:
LOL OH I KNOW! As I ordered, 6 went to 15, bc shipping is better, basically "free" chicks bc I saved more than that on shipping LOL. Then my kid was like 15 is a weird number get an even 20. I wanted a couple Polish but only one was listed when I ordered so when I saw that I could now get another I told my husband. He said well see if they can add that to your order. So I called and added a white crested black Polish. I had also wanted more egg color variety so I tacked on a couple more to get me to 23.

Thankfully, I live on a dairy farm. Room is not an issue. However, we need to build a new coop. I keep telling my husband I need it to be 120-150 square feet. He's thinking 8x8. Even 150 is not going to be big enough LOL. He has wood around from when he was planning to expand and reorganize his maple shack. So hopefully it won't cost me a fortune!
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Yep, definitely a victim of chicken math!

FWIW...we stick built a 12x12 coop with a 4 ft covered porch, so actually a 12x16 structure. It is elevated, with 3 steps up onto the porch. Walk in through man door and enter a 3 ft deep section we call the "people area"... it allows for dry and secure storage in the coop and seconds as an isolated area for broodies if needed. Then there is a full width fence partition with a man door to the left and right. Coop can be divided down center with fence panels if wanted (we made removable panels) which creates 2 coops approx 6x9, each with there own pop doors which lead to outdoor covered run area that can also be divided. One structure allows for multiple set ups and allows for separate areas to introduce new birds or keep new broodies or store supplies... basically this was a very long winded way to say.... plan now to build bigger than you think you need to save yourself a lot of headaches later.
 
fisherlady said:
Yep, definitely a victim of chicken math!

FWIW...we stick built a 12x12 coop with a 4 ft covered porch, so actually a 12x16 structure. It is elevated, with 3 steps up onto the porch. Walk in through man door and enter a 3 ft deep section we call the "people area"... it allows for dry and secure storage in the coop and seconds as an isolated area for broodies if needed. Then there is a full width fence partition with a man door to the left and right. Coop can be divided down center with fence panels if wanted (we made removable panels) which creates 2 coops approx 6x9, each with there own pop doors which lead to outdoor covered run area that can also be divided. One structure allows for multiple set ups and allows for separate areas to introduce new birds or keep new broodies or store supplies... basically this was a very long winded way to say.... plan now to build bigger than you think you need to save yourself a lot of headaches later.
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I have a 8x10 elevated walk-in coop with 2 man doors and one pop door. The run is 11X20 plus the area under the coop. I feel 10 chickens can comfortably fit in, 12 is my upper limit. There are lots of bully behaviors during winter when they're confined in their coop and run. The girls low in pecking order were really skittish, while they are confident and happy now. Someone pulled all beard off Pom Pom the Salmon Faverolle, who usually always wants to be pet, started to be scared when I touch her. :( Now all girls free range with electric fence on, Pom Pom is always under my feet waiting for attention again.
 
Since we're all sharing our coops... mine is 10 x 6 elevated with a 10 x 4 attached shed, ground level for storage and a 10 x 10 covered run (plus the 10 x 6 under the coop). There's a big square side door for people to get in and out and a pop door that goes to the run. All summer the side door and the run are open wide and in the winter, the run is all covered in plastic to block the wind. I also have another coop in a 10 x 10 dog kennel with an unprocessed, scrap metal roof. It's elevated too and is something like 2 x 9. Mostly for separating, broodies, and breeding. It's empty now but my meaties will be occupying it soon. Then there's the turkey coop... it's a 10 x 14 converted shed with fencing just wrapped around some trees to keep them confined.

Main coop

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Terrible picture but all I could find of the separation coop. There are words panels on both sides of the door that can be removed and just have hardware cloth for extra ventilation on those hot summer days. This was when I was babysitting some peafowl for a friend while he recovered from covid.

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Inside the turkey coop

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Excellent coop advice! You are all awesome! I appreciate the welcome and information so much! I have two metal pipe frames, from those tarp covered carports. One is about 10x10 and one is about 10x12. Those will become a run with HWC. With some extra pipes, I can easily extend them. I will also have a fenced in garden area they will be able to access during the off seasons, but the fence is only 4 feet tall.

The coop is in my husband's hands. We'll see what he comes up with :)
 
4ft should be high enough for most chickens. I have 2ft chicken wire around my strawberry garden that was chickens' favorite dust bath spot, and they never jumped over it. I also have 4ft fence around my backyard, the chickens never got over it either. But I don't have a very flighty breed.
 
TillyPeeps said:
4ft should be high enough for most chickens. I have 2ft chicken wire around my strawberry garden that was chickens' favorite dust bath spot, and they never jumped over it. I also have 4ft fence around my backyard, the chickens never got over it either. But I don't have a very flighty breed.
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We've used it previously. It is a woven electric fence originally used for goats. We've had many that flew right over it to get out to free range. Even with a huge area to forage within the fence. Grass is greener? LOL

We'll see how it goes. I have always leaned towards free ranging anyway, but with an increase in predators in our area we'll be keeping them in the run until the garden is done in the fall.
 

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