Too much sun?

[TracyMom22]

Hello! We are behind because of much rain. New chicken people, and there has been so much to learn! We have 5 chickens, about 7 weeks old. Placing the coop has been a problem, because we know there is a fox in the general vicinity. I decided to put it up kind of in our courtyard, not far from the front door.

With so much information, it slipped my mind about the sun. I’m really embarrassed about this! There is sun on this coop (tractor supply prefab) from about 1:30 to 5:30 PM. We are located in Maryland. It has been chilly chilly, then suddenly 85° this week!

Does anybody have a recommendation? I can take it. Was this the wrong place? We don’t have much ‘deep shade’ as I now read about. Thee is some on the side of the house, but it slopes a bit.

Thanks for any help at all! They are going to be put in tonight.

 

[Tookie]

Sorry to say this but that coop is way too small for 5 chickens. Prefabs are cheaply made, hardly holds any chickens, and are usually overpriced. Each chicken needs a minimum of 10sq ft in run, 4 sq ft in coop, 1 linear ft of roost, and 1 sq ft of ventilation. It seems like a lot of space, but that's what they need. That coop will work for now for your chicks, but you need to start working on a bigger coop now, they grow fast. So for 5 chickens you would need 50 sq ft in run, 20 sq ft in coop, 5 linear feet of roost, and 5 sq ft if ventilation.

 

[Tookie]

Also that coop probably does need more shade.

 

[TracyMom22]

Sorry to say this but that coop is way too small for 5 chickens. Prefabs are cheaply made, hardly holds any chickens, and are usually overpriced. Each chicken needs a minimum of 10sq ft in run, 4 sq ft in coop, 1 linear ft of roost, and 1 sq ft of ventilation. It seems like a lot of space, but that's what they need. That coop will work for now, for your chicks but you need to start working on a bigger coop now, they grow fast. So for 5 chickens you would need 50 sq ft in run, 20 sq ft in coop, 5 linear feet of roost, and 5 sq ft if ventilation.

I appreciate your input! I knew those prefab’s had a reputation of being under sized, but I thought 8 to 10 would work for five. As we were putting it together yesterday I was thinking to myself, good grief! We could’ve made something bigger for a lot less! We don’t really know how to do it, but it doesn’t look that difficult.

 

[Tookie]

I appreciate your input! I knew those prefab’s had a reputation of being under sized, but I thought 8 to 10 would work for five. As we were putting it together yesterday I was thinking to myself, good grief! We could’ve made something bigger for a lot less! We don’t really know how to do it, but it doesn’t look that difficult.

Look at the coop article page, there are thousands of coops you could get get ideas from.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/chicken-coops.12/

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

First thing -- the sun. Put a cheap picnic pavilion over it.

Second, here are the general recommendations for space:

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.

So, for 5 birds you need:

• 20 square feet in the coop
• 50 square feet in the run
• 5 linear feet of roost
• 2 nests
• and 5 square feet of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation.

Here's one person's renovation turning a prefab coop-and-run combo into a coop that would hold the flock more comfortably: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/

 

[ashcons]

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 1/4 of a nest box,

Gross over-estimation. You only need 1 nest box for your whole flock. Every birdbrained hen will try to use the favorite nest box, selected by a secret hen council, and complain loudly when they can't get in to sing the egg song because 2-3 other hens are occupying that space laying egg on each other.
(I am joking and no one should take this as advice)

 

[Lor]

An inexpensive canopy or some shade cloth should help with the sun issue.

 

[3KillerBs]

Gross over-estimation. You only need 1 nest box for your whole flock. Every birdbrained hen will try to use the favorite nest box, selected by a secret hen council, and complain loudly when they can't get in to sing the egg song because 2-3 other hens are occupying that space laying egg on each other.
(I am joking and no one should take this as advice)

I have 21 hens and 6 boxes.

I took eggs out of 3 boxes today.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Gross over-estimation. You only need 1 nest box for your whole flock. Every birdbrained hen will try to use the favorite nest box, selected by a secret hen council, and complain loudly when they can't get in to sing the egg song because 2-3 other hens are occupying that space laying egg on each other.
(I am joking and no one should take this as advice)

I get eggs in all 3 boxes, my chickens don't know how to chicken properly!