To anyone thinking of getting one of those cute little coops….

[SituationalLefty]

I have found this to be true as well. We have a TSC and a family owned feed store in my town, and a Rural King will be added in the next year or so. The family feed store doesn’t sell coops at all, and when I ordered my chicks last month (they only do by order, they don’t keep any in store), the owner made sure to ask me whether or not I had two brooders just in case the two breeds I ordered arrived a week or two apart. And amazingly, he called me as I was typing this because he (like everyone else) is having a hard time getting chicks, and to get his normal price, he orders in batches of 100. He wasn’t able to get up to 100 orders for the breeds I was after, so he was making sure I still wanted them if they’d cost a little more per chick and I’d be ok with May delivery instead of April.

He sounds like a good guy. You could buy your chicken stuff from him to support his high level of service even if it's more expensive than Tractor Supply.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

OMG. I'm glad predators didn't get them.

It happened shortly before I got home that night. If I hadn't gathered them up, I'm sure at least one would have been snagged. Frame is still tweaked (I can't move it myself), so I can't open the bottom doors. But it's livable now and the birds don't seem to dislike it now

 

[becstalls]

He sounds like a good guy. You could buy your chicken stuff from him to support his high level of service even if it's more expensive than Tractor Supply.

That’s my plan.

 

[Shadrach]

Nope it's not a flatpack coop, someone built this. What's more, 4 hens lived in it. No, I don't know how much time they got out of the coop.

 

[Shadrach]

 

[SpringHillChikin]

Can anyone recommend a nice coop for say 6-8 full grown hens? I am in the planning stages and have a space in mind, but want to be sure the girls are comfortable. I also plan to have a sizable run to protect them from the hawks and eagles. There is shade as well!

Has anyone converted an old metal shed into a coop? i have one at a rental property that I've been considering using, but it does not have a floor at the moment. I'm looking for EASY, but also appropriate.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC!

Can anyone recommend a nice coop for say 6-8 full grown hens? I am in the planning stages and have a space in mind, but want to be sure the girls are comfortable. I also plan to have a sizable run to protect them from the hawks and eagles. There is shade as well!

Has anyone converted an old metal shed into a coop? i have one at a rental property that I've been considering using, but it does not have a floor at the moment. I'm looking for EASY, but also appropriate.

It's really difficult to buy any coop that's truly appropriate for keeping chickens. The OverEZ coops have the reputation of being better-built than most prefabs, but they are woefully under-ventilated and claim to hold many more chickens that is actually appropriate. But I've seen people who were happy with them after fixing the ventilation and getting the actual dimensions (not counting the nextboxes), so as not to overcrowd them.

That said,

Where, in general, are you? Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing, so if you put your location into your profile people can give better-targeted advice.

Also, it's helpful to have your own thread when you start your build so that people don't get confused about who is building what.

I haven't done a metal shed conversion, but there is no reason that it couldn't be done well -- the main thing is the ventilation.

A floor is not necessary. The Deep Litter method (moist, actively composting), works best on a dirt floor. But do put a predator apron around the outside.

Here is some basic information for you:

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

6 hens

• 24 square feet in the coop. 4'x6' is the only really practical build for this given the common dimensions of lumber. If you can't walk into it, put the access door in the middle of the long side to make sure you can reach all areas of the coop because a stubborn chicken WILL press itself into/lay an egg in the back corner where you can't reach.
• 6 feet of roost
• 60 square feet in the run. 6'x10' or 8'x8'.
• 6 square feet of ventilation.
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice

8 hens

• 32 square feet in the coop. 4'x8' is approaching the limits for a non-walk-in coop even with the access door in the middle. 6'x6' should be walk-in because even the tallest chicken-keeper won't be able to reach the far wall.
• 8 feet of roost
• 80 square feet in the run. 8'x10' is a nice looking number but, remembering the common dimensions of lumber, a roomier 8'x12' is actually easier to build. 6'x14' looks good on paper but would require a lot of weird cuts.
• 8 square feet of ventilation.
• 2-3 nest boxes.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Can anyone recommend a nice coop for say 6-8 full grown hens? I am in the planning stages and have a space in mind, but want to be sure the girls are comfortable. I also plan to have a sizable run to protect them from the hawks and eagles. There is shade as well!

Has anyone converted an old metal shed into a coop? i have one at a rental property that I've been considering using, but it does not have a floor at the moment. I'm looking for EASY, but also appropriate.

Like @3KillerBs said, it's almost impossible to buy a decent coop. Even if you find one of a decent size its likely to be made out of very thin wood thar won't hold up to weather. My husband bought me one and even though he did some serious modifications it is ready to fall apart five years on. You can buy a used homemade coop sometimes that is worth the money. That's what I have had the most success with.

 

[KansasLarry]

Any new chicken tenders this year thinking of buying one of those cute little coops from Tractor Supply - DON’T do it!

We made this mistake and IMO it’s really easy to do. They’re cute and small, advertised for up to 6 chickens. You just don’t realize how big they will grow, they grow for almost a year! But other than that issue, check out what your chickens will be stuck in if you live in a winter climate.

Every day I am so thankful that we did something else for them. I will say this is a nice little grow out coop or isolation unit in the right temps!

It takes a lot of time and effort to research but those new to raising chickens really need to do their homework. I've spent hours a day learning. Three square ft. per chicken in the coop and more in the run. It's a learning curve. Maybe I'll write a book when I'm done researching...

 

[aynesidea]

I know I have this issue too. Even planning it out on graphing paper doesn't translate for me. It always appears way larger on paper than in person

My DH did the research and built a great brooder for our 4 chicks. He CANNOT envision what 4 adult hens look like or how much space they need. Luckily we do have a formex snap lock coop to accommodate 6-8 hems and a 10 x 12 run plus free ranging. So I just shut up, he will figure it out before he needs to.