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

[alinas2010]

We just have hybrids. One sapphire gem, 2 cinnamon queens, and a Rhode Island blue. The sapphire gem and one CQ are very large, the other two aren’t quite as large.

I don’t have pics of them as adults in this because they moved out pretty quickly after this picture, but here are ours when they were still somewhat small pullets hanging out on the roost I put up. It was a very tight fit and I rarely saw them all roost together for a short period of time before they were let out in the mornings.

 

[fuzzi]

Yes, there is so very much difference between a new-hatched chick at the store and an adult chicken.



I think a lot of people buy chickens on impulse.

Not good for any live animal, but especially for one that will be kept confined.

I bought my first chickens on impulse, lost three of the four within a week due to a predator. I learned from the experience, did better with the remaining hen who was broody, and sitting on eggs in a wire cage saved her.

 

[fuzzi]

I bet you’re referring to sybonbon’s sign. I agree with you lol

Yep. I edited the post to make the distinction but you were too fast!

 

[alinas2010]

I bought my first chickens on impulse, lost three of the four within a week due to a predator. I learned from the experience, did better with the remaining hen who was broody, and sitting on eggs in a wire cage saved her.

Everyone starts somewhere. And everyone chicken keeps different. It’s hard to start off with no knowledge but all you can do is promise to do better for them in the future.

Yep. I edited the post to make the distinction but you were too fast!

I was like oh man do I have a cool sign hanging in there, I need to get that to the other coop! Lol

 

[Canadian Wind]

It's not just chickens. I've had aquariums for years, and people overload their tanks with too many fish, incompatible fish, and commit any number of errors that impact the health of their pets. I think it shows that most people don't consider doing research before acquiring livestock, but rely on the $eller$ to guide them with their impulse buy.

Herein lies the problem. A lot of people don't WANT to do the research and will just do as they please. My son worked in a specialized aquarium store and tried to educate customers, but they still bought goldfish and to put in a 5 gallon tank, or mixed African cichlids with south American schooling fish.

Also, a lot of people cannot translate dimensions into RL sizes. They think 60", and that sounds like a good number! 5' is a lot, right? But that's the total length of the enclosure, including that coop, and it's only 2' wide.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Also, a lot of people cannot translate dimensions into RL sizes. They think 60", and that sounds like a good number! 5' is a lot, right? But that's the total length of the enclosure, including that coop, and it's only 2' wide.

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

 

[alinas2010]

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

Same here. And in our case total length didn’t equate to the run length, it was including the nesting boxes jutting out the end.

 

[sdm111]

It's not really the coops fault. The buyer has to use common sense.

 

[NatJ]

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

Things also appear large if bring them home in a car, or assemble them inside a house or garage. They appear much smaller when they are outdoors, and especially when they have chickens in them.

I've seen a suggestion to make a mock-up from cardboard when planning a coop, to get an idea of how large it will really be. That probably works well for some of the small and medium sizes, but could be impractical for big shed-sized or barn-sized ones.

Having a coop already can make it easier to visualize, because you can plan it to be "the same size" or "this much bigger."

 

[3KillerBs]

Things also appear large if bring them home in a car, or assemble them inside a house or garage. They appear much smaller when they are outdoors, and especially when they have chickens in them.

I've seen a suggestion to make a mock-up from cardboard when planning a coop, to get an idea of how large it will really be. That probably works well for some of the small and medium sizes, but could be impractical for big shed-sized or barn-sized ones.

Having a coop already can make it easier to visualize, because you can plan it to be "the same size" or "this much bigger."

We laid ours out with landscape flags.

Standing in it, DH said "8x10 looks small. How about 12x16?"

A week later he was planting posts and came in to tell me that 12x16 didn't work and would I mind 16x16 so that the posts worked out correctly.

Of course I agreed.