Prefab coops help!!

[brierose3]

We have just purchased a prefab coop designed to fit around 4-5 chickens but really only has enough space for 2!!
we are getting 3 battery hens soon and may get 2 silkies later on. Just wondering if its possible to add on to the space of the COOP we bought. We will be building a larger run around the coop

Link to coop...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Chicken-...ies&hash=item2c6dc12da5&_uhb=1#ht_5945wt_1002

Thank you!!

 

[HandsomeRyan]

It will be tight but you could try it and see how the birds do with three of them in there. The 4²ft per bird rule is a starting point but not a hard and fast rule and maybe your birds will be okay in closer quarters. I think if you want to move up to 5 birds you might do better to sell that coop and buy or build a bigger one or get a second coop to keep the other birds in though.

Best of luck whatever you decide. It is an attractive coop for a prefab model.

 

[nab58]

We bought one very similar and were SO disappointed! Luckily we were able to send it back because the dimensions were stated incorrectly...they weren't wrong, they just messed up the height with the length.
I would have kept it if I thought there was any way to make it work. It was so cheaply made and flimsy it would never have protected the birds and lasted any longer than a year or two in our New England climate.

So instead, we decided to build our own. I have to say, it's been a HUGE endeavor and expense. We've probably put close to $1000 into it and have been working for about a month part time. I love it and look forward to it being completed but had no idea how much work it was going to be.
here's a link to my coop construction page...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/765067/chicken-newby-coop-construction#post_11074508

 

[Rowsdower]

I bought one very similar to this when I first started out. I only used it for a few months before building a much bigger coop (the cost of materials for the larger coop were roughly equivalent to what I had in the prefab coop). I do still have it. I currently use it as a quarantine cage/broody hut/nursery coop. But as someone stated earlier, it really has not held up to the elements as well as I had hoped.