Show me your Coop!! We need ideas

[Prayerfulchickmama]

Hey! Our chicks are 4 weeks old and have outgrown their crate! Due to picking we need to get them out fast! Show me your quick set ups! Dog Proof also!!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

LOCATION location location.

Also, do you plan to increase flock size, or are you limited by HOA/City Ordinance?

I'm not going to post a pic of a coop unsuited to your situation

Also. Budget? Time? Skills? Tools?

 

[3KillerBs]

Hello. How many chicks do you have? And yes, as @U_Stormcrow said, your location is important -- climate matters a lot.

Here is some basic information,

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop,
• 10 square feet in the run,
• 1 linear foot of roost,
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

Here is my Little Monitor Coop, which meets all the minimums for 4 standard-sized hens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-little-monitor-coop.76275/

And my Outdoor Brooder, which is big enough to use for 8 standard-sized hens if I add appropriate perches: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

And the Chicken Palace in progress, an Open Air style coop intended for a flock of about 20: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/large-open-air-coop-in-central-nc.1443812/

Rules of Thumb

• If it looks like a dollhouse it's only suitable for toy chickens.
• If it's measured in inches instead of feet it's too small.
• If your walk-in closet is larger than the coop-run combo you're thinking of buying think carefully about whether you have an utterly awesome closet or are looking at a seriously undersized chicken coop.
• If it has more nestboxes than the number of chickens it can legitimately hold the designer knew nothing about chickens' actual needs and it probably has other design flaws too.

 

[Prayerfulchickmama]

LOCATION location location.

Also, do you plan to increase flock size, or are you limited by HOA/City Ordinance?

I'm not going to post a pic of a coop unsuited to your situation

Also. Budget? Time? Skills? Tools?

We do not plan to increase! Our size is currently 17 4 week old chicks! We are thankfully not limited to any zones or regulations! We have lots of resources wood and wire! Several skill levels around d willing to help!

 

[Prayerfulchickmama]

We do not plan to increase! Our size is currently 17 4 week old chicks! We are thankfully not limited to any zones or regulations! We have lots of resources wood and wire! Several skill levels around d willing to help!

We also have a lot of coyotes and live against the mountain side! We have a warm climate, all four seasons!

 

[3KillerBs]

We do not plan to increase! Our size is currently 17 4 week old chicks! We are thankfully not limited to any zones or regulations! We have lots of resources wood and wire! Several skill levels around d willing to help!

Are you keeping all 17?

I've got the math worked out for various sizes of flocks in an article I'm writing so here is some of it:

15 hens

• 60 square feet in the coop. 8'x8' is easier to build than 6'x10'
• 15 feet of roost
• 150 square feet in the run. 10'x15', 12'x12' or 8'x20'
• 15 square feet of ventilation.
• 4 nest boxes.

20 hens

• 80 square feet in the coop. 8'x10' is the most practical because 7'x12' or 6'x14' require a lot of weird cuts.
• 20 feet of roost
• 200 square feet in the run. 10'x20', 12'x16' or 8'x25' as suits the land available.
• 20 square feet of ventilation.
• 5 nest boxes.

This is an EXTREMELY good article on space requirements: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

would you consent to give us a **little** more info on your climate??? I don't need, nor want, city and state. LOTS of respect for your privacy. But the four seasons of Texas are different from the four seasons of Nebraska. Heck, TX is so big that Coastal Houston is different from Midlands or El Paso. OTOH, my "North FL Panhandle" could as easily be written "Wiregrass", because it shares a climate with big chunks of SW GA and southern AL, and even a bit of SE MS.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and before I forget, @3KillerBs links are very useful. I've learned a lot from that poster, and won't duplicate what they have so succinctly said.

 

[DobieLover]

Hey! Our chicks are 4 weeks old and have outgrown their crate! Due to picking we need to get them out fast! Show me your quick set ups! Dog Proof also!!

Do you have a shed on the property? You are already way behind the 8 ball when it comes to needing a coop. It's too late to let you know that the coop comes before the chicks.
The fastest way would be to convert a shed. @3KillerBs has given you the basics on space requirements.

 

[Prayerfulchickmama]

Do you have a shed on the property? You are already way behind the 8 ball when it comes to needing a coop. It's too late to let you know that the coop comes before the chicks.
The fastest way would be to convert a shed. @3KillerBs has given you the basics on space requirements.

We actually have a barn that is being converted! It was always used for chickens but hasn’t housed any in a long time! Our neighbors had some dogs they were baby sitting that were very aggressive and they just left this week so we kept them in longer than planned and they still have one that roams over occasionally that they informed us would kill things so we now are having to think extra security inside a dog kennel so we can’t use the barn right now!