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

[NatJ]

Ironically for those of you who don't see ads, the header ad I see for this post is an ad for Nestera coops featuring a tee-tiny coop.

I've been seeing that ad too.

But I notice two good things about that ad, that are not in most:
--they have real people standing next to the coop
--they appear to have a real chicken perched on top of the coop

Those two details make it obvious how small the coop is, unlike many others that are photographed to make a tiny coop look much bigger than it really is.

(Yes, I think the Nestera coops in the ads are too small for the number of chickens they are claiming can live in them. I'm just saying the photos in the ads are LESS deceptive than many others.)

Edit to add: now I see that there are several Nestera ads with different photos. So far, I see at least one person in each ad, but not all have chickens. So partial credit for showing scale.

 

[Iluveggers]

View attachment 3415344

2 game bantams, comparable in size to small Dutch bantams or larger seramas. The hen is full grown, and the cockerel is almost grown. There would be plenty of room for a couple more hens.

Glad to see this. I was thinking of maybe getting a smaller coop for a bantam trio in the next year or two. I would provide more run space, but something this size (with ventilation tweaks) seems it would be ok for bantam sized chickens.

 

[aynesidea]

They’re good coops for brooding chicks or keeping very small bantams. They’re light enough that they can be moved like a chicken tractor.

Which is what we will do with ours, my DJ is new to this and is sure it will be fine. I'm not going to argue because it will be obvious to him soon. Our flock is only 3 days old. Plus I have a large formex snap lock coop in the back yard waiting in the wings (pun intended). We also have a 10 x 12 run, just needs a new roof. We are good!

 

[aynesidea]

re the Eglu and some other small plastic coops:

• measured in centimetres, not even in inches!
• there's an 'insulating' double wall so the inside's noticeably smaller than the outside
• the 'insulating' double wall doubles up as a ventilation air flow (???)
• if you can't see how to adjust ventilation then you can't
• if you can't see how the lid (or side) opens up then it doesn't

I keep tweaking the Eglu so my chucks are ok but I feel deceived by the marketing ploys which are aimed at newbie chicken keepers.

Do your research. Yesterday waiting at TSC for our flock I spoke to a woman who the thought the purchase of a Jersey Giant guaranteed her eggs forever.

 

[alinas2010]

May I add my Rules of Thumb?

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 a man of average height can't lie down in the run and stretch out comfortably it's too small.
• 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.

I wish I would’ve seen your rules of thumb before buying our TSC coop! They’re great!

 

[aynesidea]

Glad to see this. I was thinking of maybe getting a smaller coop for a bantam trio in the next year or two. I would provide more run space, but something this size (with ventilation tweaks) seems it would be ok for bantam sized chickens.

We are getting ready to start ours, in the living room. First is adding vents in the "coop" eves. Will need lots of mods to be a decent tractor for maybe 2 birds during the day.

 

[alinas2010]

When they use toy chickens, photoshopped chickens, or even bantams in their marketing photos that is intentionally deceptive marketing.

IMO, if a coop company or even an independent individual marketing plans is afraid to take actual photos of full-grown chickens of common dual-purpose breeds in the actual coop they know perfectly well that they're trying to take advantage of ignorance.

I agree with you. I think they are marketed falsely. I remember the box of ours showed like 5 chickens in it that were adults and they had plenty of of room. It was really reassuring to see. Now that ours are full grown I know that picture was photoshopped.

 

[sybonbon]

I agree with you. I think they are marketed falsely. I remember the box of ours showed like 5 chickens in it that were adults and they had plenty of of room. It was really reassuring to see. Now that ours are full grown I know that picture was photoshopped.

Measurements don't lie.

We are getting ready to start ours, in the living room. First is adding vents in the "coop" eves. Will need lots of mods to be a decent tractor for maybe 2 birds during the day.

It's pretty heavy once the roof is on. JS

 

[alinas2010]

Measurements don't lie.
It's pretty heavy once the roof is on. JS

I understand the measurements are on the box, but even you know that six chickens couldn’t fit in there full time, you have yours all split up.

I think the point we’re trying to make is it’s just hard for new chicken owners to know that those measurements aren’t enough room for up to 6 full grown chickens. It’s hard when they’re so tiny to know that they’ll get really big and not fit in there anymore.

I remember crying because i was so upset that this was advertised for that many chickens and once our 4 started to grow they just didn’t have enough room in there. The frustration was very real and I just would hate for any new chicken keepers to make the same mistake I did.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Totally agree. I had one and the roost was (no joke) about a foot off the ground. What adult chicken would roost on that?? The nesting box is higher then that thing. The rod broke almost instantly and the luxurious “run” was about 3 feet. Horrible, the nesting box was worst. With a thin little rod jammed in the corner and my adult chickens had to hunch over because they couldn’t stand up.