Tiny Chicken Coops

[MrPepers]

I don't know about everyone else, but it really bothers me when I see people with tiny"urban" chicken coops that could house ONE chicken MAX and have three or four chickens in it. I know that they probably let them out during the day but the coop is still way too small. Anyone agree with me?

 

[PD-Riverman]

I don't know about everyone else, but it really bothers me when I see people with tiny"urban" chicken coops that could house ONE chicken MAX and have three or four chickens in it. I know that they probably let them out during the day but the coop is still way too small. Anyone agree with me?

If they are just roosting for the night Only---no feed, no water, no nesting boxes, what does All that extra room do?? Roosting Only Now???

If I got 14 chickens(all that is allowed going by the square foot rule) roosting on this top roost pole only(the top one next to the metal pole)-----why have all that extra space just to go by that "rule"?

 

[PD-Riverman]

I do agree if they are eating, sleeping, drinking, laying boxes in there and stay a lot of they day in it-----For Sure they need the extra room. But Not to JUST ROOST and go back out at daylight.

 

[PennyM]

I don't know about everyone else, but it really bothers me when I see people with tiny"urban" chicken coops that could house ONE chicken MAX and have three or four chickens in it. I know that they probably let them out during the day but the coop is still way too small. Anyone agree with me?

Well I don't know about you, but this flock of chickens is my very first. Did some research at Chicken Chick and My Pet Chicken (before I even knew about this site) and decided to buy a coop and have it ready for when we bought chickens. I had the coop about 10 months and still boxed up before sis and I even bought the chickens. I bought the coop from the My Pet Chicken site which said it would fit up to 6 chickens. One would think that they would know what they are talking about! So yes, my coop is way too small and the roosts are too low. I guess I'm lucky that one of our six chickens died so that the other five can sort of fit in it, right? I'm having hubby build one from scratch when we can afford it but hey, I'm willing to take donations.

 

[Alaskan]

With coops, bigger is always better.

No matter how homebound you are, there will be days when the chickens just can not be let out at the crack of dawn.

More space results in fewer nasty behaviors.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I agree, there are times when my girls have had to stay inside for their safety due to high wind. They would have blown all over the yard. More space can't ever hurt. It also makes me feel like I am careing for them better.

 

[PennyM]

We have a 16' x 18' secure, covered run with the coop enclosed. They roost on top of the coop at night or will sleep inside the coop if the weather is nasty. Hubby also installed another roost inside the run from existing metal poles that used to hold up grapevines when we first moved in. They do not free range because we have way too many hawks flying around. These photos are "bc" (before chickens and before cover)

 

[aart]

Anyone agree with me?

Yeppers!!
You're singing to the choir, for most members here anyway.
Read some of the threads in this BYC search:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/3093208/?q=prefab+coops&t=post&o=relevance&c[title_only]=1

 

[User395221]

I don't judge. It really does depend on the circumstances. As a "bedroom only", a small coop/shelter does the trick. As a "home", nuh-uh, but it also depends on the size of the chooks.

They do all scrunch up together. My big girls have a big house, they don't use any of the space, they all scrunch up in a small fraction of it. If they were in a cold climate where they had to hang out inside, it would be different, they'd need that room. Over here, they are outdoors all the time (yes, really, all the time, there are very few days that you have to stay indoors), they could easily be accommodated in a small/er "bedroom" than they've got.

I had a small coop when I got my first chickens. 3xAustralorps. I felt they were too big for that coop, even just as a bedroom, but they seemed perfectly "happy". No plucking, no fighting, no nothing. They were let out into the backyard every day, and they marauded around and had a good time. They were adopted as "sisters" so they were already a team. I would never have considered introducing anyone new to that arrangement. That would have been a mistake.

I've seen the same thing on rabbit sites. People go "too small!" but there's a big difference between a bun sleeping in a cage and then having the run of a house the rest of the time, and some poor bun confined to a backyard hutch and being ignored.

We need to provide for the needs of our animals/pets. That can be done in different ways. There's no one thing that can be seized upon as showing that anyone isn't doing that, including the size of the house that chickens have. You have to take into account a lot of variables.

As an example, here in Australia, we have a LOT of room. People have sprawling houses (4 bedroom 2 bathrooms is considered a "family home"). Even units/apartments can have 2-3 bedrooms. Houses have back yards and gardens. Even a townhouse/unit will have a small courtyard or garden.

Here, we would say that you shouldn't get a dog at all unless you have a back yard. In Paris, people have dogs all over the place. They all live in apartments. But they take their dogs out every day, they can take their dogs everywhere (we can't take our dogs hardly anywhere, we have to leave them at home). Those French dogs aren't deprived. Their needs are met. They get their room and their running around at the park, not in their own back yard.

It's horses for courses. I don't judge unless there's something really wrong from all of the circumstances.

EDIT: Having said all that, pet suppliers shouldn't sell teeny weeny cupboards as sufficient for larger numbers than they really are. It isn't the inexperienced keepers' fault that they believe what they are told. They do the same with aquariums, telling people they can shove heaps of fish in tiny tanks. THAT is wrong, there should be better advice available when people are just starting out as to the real needs and requirements of a pet.

 

[centrarchid]

I don't know about everyone else, but it really bothers me when I see people with tiny"urban" chicken coops that could house ONE chicken MAX and have three or four chickens in it. I know that they probably let them out during the day but the coop is still way too small. Anyone agree with me?

I do not like making such a general call without seeing the coops. Such a generalized statement as worded comes across as rude and potentially provocative.