Total noob. Bought some chicks 3 weeks ago.

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DobieLover said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
How many chicks do you have? Pre-fab coops do not house the number of birds they claim to. Ever. They are built from extremely cheap, flimsy wood and are always very poorly designed with inadequate ventilation. If there is any way you can convert an existing outbuilding on your property into a coop or find a used shed that could be delivered to your property you will be far better off and so will your flock.
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https://www.wayfair.com/pet/pdp/tucker-murphy-pet-aminullah-chicken-coop-w008085804.html
This is the coop I bought. When I emailed to ask how many chickens would fit they replied telling me 62. That seemed way off. I have 15 chicks currently. I’m really worried this coop won’t be large enough for them. As I’m doing more and more research I’m finding myself regretting the purchase but this was one of the better options for the price I could find. Im certain I’ll need to do some modifications for better ventilation. I plan to put an anti-dig apron around it and change the latches to make it more secure from raccoons.
 
Kirball said:
https://www.wayfair.com/pet/pdp/tucker-murphy-pet-aminullah-chicken-coop-w008085804.html
This is the coop I bought. When I emailed to ask how many chickens would fit they replied telling me 62. That seemed way off. I have 15 chicks currently. I’m really worried this coop won’t be large enough for them. As I’m doing more and more research I’m finding myself regretting the purchase but this was one of the better options for the price I could find. Im certain I’ll need to do some modifications for better ventilation. I plan to put an anti-dig apron around it and change the latches to make it more secure from raccoons.
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Not only will it not house 62 (it should be illegal that they even wrote that!!!), it will not house 15 either. Oh, you can cram them in there but it won't be healthy for the birds and you will likely see a lot of pecking damage, or worse.
It also has the roosting split. Flocks roost together. They aren't going to want to retreat to separate housing.
Did you look into the shed to coop conversion I mentioned in my original reply?
 
DobieLover said:
Not only will it not house 62 (it should be illegal that they even wrote that!!!), it will not house 15 either. Oh, you can cram them in there but it won't be healthy for the birds and you will likely see a lot of pecking damage, or worse.
It also has the roosting split. Flocks roost together. They aren't going to want to retreat to separate housing.
Did you look into the shed to coop conversion I mentioned in my original reply?
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Yeah I’m pretty angry about it. I’m considering returning it but I’ll need to find something else really quick. I may use it temporarily and get something larger ASAP. Unfortunately I’ve had a bunch of unexpected expenses in the past couple of weeks so money is very tight. I haven’t had a chance to look into used sheds yet but have considered that. I don’t think I can find a decent coop in the same price range that will house 15 chickens. I will be free ranging the birds so the included run is not essential.
 
DobieLover said:
Not only will it not house 62 (it should be illegal that they even wrote that!!!), it will not house 15 either. Oh, you can cram them in there but it won't be healthy for the birds and you will likely see a lot of pecking damage, or worse.
It also has the roosting split. Flocks roost together. They aren't going to want to retreat to separate housing.
Did you look into the shed to coop conversion I mentioned in my original reply?
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I’ve started the return for this coop. Thankfully I haven’t built it yet. Do you think a galvanized steel shed would be easy to convert to a coop? I was thinking something like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arrow-Comm...-7-5-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Storage-Shed/1115349
 
Kirball said:
I’ve started the return for this coop. Thankfully I haven’t built it yet. Do you think a galvanized steel shed would be easy to convert to a coop? I was thinking something like this https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arrow-Comm...-7-5-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Storage-Shed/1115349
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Metal is usually not recommended. It tends to sweat and up the humidity in the coop. That said, there are some people who have succefully converted metal sheds to coops. You're going to need a lot of ventilation. Make sure there is a generous roof overhang. It's still a much better option than a prefab.
 
janiedoe said:
Have you looked at plans for hoop coops? They are very simple and cheaper to build. You can use a dirt floor. The most complicated thing to build is the door.
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I did look into those originally but it didn't seem like a good fit for my yard. Most of them I looked at were moveable and while I have a lot of land around my place it's all leased to a farmer and trees in my yard would make moving it around a bit difficult and would probably have to put it in the front yard. Since there's a 2 lane road with people that drive 60+ MPH all day I want their coop as close to the back of the property as possible. I'm going to go with that metal shed I linked before. I found a youtube video where someone converted the same shed. They raised it up on a wooden frame about a foot off of the ground then put chicken wire around the base and large stones to increase the ventilation. I was thinking if I put a few solar exhaust fans on it or ran some power to the shed and added ventilation fans and cut some windows into it and covered them with hardware cloth it would probably provide adequate ventilation and lighting.
 

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