What are signs of a chicken coop that is too small?

[Aquatic_blue]

I am wondering what are some good signs that my coop is too small for my chickens? I am getting a bit concerned it may be even though we bought one that said up to 8 chickens and we have 4 so we assume it is plenty, but now I am not so sure. We have the Innovation Pet Chicken Homestead Coop from Tractor Supply.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/innovation-pet-chicken-homestead-coop-222-87?cm_vc=-10005

 

[21hens-incharge]

Boy they make it rough to interpret their measurements.

Your link took me to a home page...which is weird cause your link looks good.

Ok I tried to link too and got the same result.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It looks like the coop portion is roughly 3'x3' with nests taking up a lot of that.

From my perspective it is to small, to flimsy and should be modified or replaced entirely.

Signs that it is to small....

The 2main signs.
Birds fighting
Birds roosting in the run area

 

[imnukensc]

Link took me straight to the referenced coop. The actual coop part is about 3X3 which is probably too small especially if you're located in northern climes where your chickens may end up being confined to the coop due to weather. Following the "4 sq ft per chicken" guideline, the coop is good for about 2 1/4 chickens.

 

[Aquatic_blue]

Sorry about the link...I am not sure why it went to the home page. The link does look good. Kind of bizarre. Sorry for the confusion.

Yeah, this makes me so mad...we got this coop on sale after chick days was over. I am so shocked it says 8 chickens if it is too small for 4. I am not sure what we are going to do with winter upon us in another month or so. This coop is also a piece of junk, please do not buy it! It has started falling apart since we have got it. It has been less than a year and the maintenance on it has been pretty high because pieces are falling apart and we don't have a lot of funds or even power tools to build one.

I have seen small smears of blood in the coop like on roots and on the inside walls of the coop. Nothing major, but I figure they are pecking each other. There are two of them that have scratches with dried blood on their combs. We had some chickens coming out at night when the weather was warm and just sitting out in the run once in a while. It is evident that 3 out of 4 of our hens have been pecked. Their feathers aren't looking too hot.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Oh dear.

Can you look at Craigslist for a shed someone is getting rid of?

Here there is a shed company that builds coops (really nice ones) and allows payments on them.
Maybe someone there does similar???

Pallets are often used to make coops.....look for untreated and all the same size to make things easier.
Hoop coops are another fast and reasonable cost way to get through. They are easy to build with limited skilks/tools too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not sure what your climate is like/where you're located, but... are you willing and able to make some changes to it, to at least get by for winter?

The main idea would be to turn the entire thing into the coop - tear out the inside walls, run a roost bar lengthwise across the new open space, and board or cover up any of the wire mesh walls that face prevailing winds. Depending on your climate you might need to cover up more or less of the walls, but do not board it all up, you still need gaps to allow for ventilation.

 

[Aquatic_blue]

Oh dear.

Can you look at Craigslist for a shed someone is getting rid of?

Here there is a shed company that builds coops (really nice ones) and allows payments on them.
Maybe someone there does similar???

Pallets are often used to make coops.....look for untreated and all the same size to make things easier.
Hoop coops are another fast and reasonable cost way to get through. They are easy to build with limited skilks/tools too.

We have two sheds, but the situation with them is complicated. One leaks so we won't use it and the other needs to be cleared and converyed, but it is technically too close to the property line to use because of our in city chicken laws.

There is a shed company that makes nice sheds, but they are like the only one so they charge what feels like an arm and a leg. Easily over $1,000 for one. Either way, we can't afford to be in anymore debt at this time so it is complicated.

Found the hoop coop guide. I wonder how much these usually cost to build?

 

[Aquatic_blue]

Not sure what your climate is like/where you're located, but... are you willing and able to make some changes to it, to at least get by for winter?

The main idea would be to turn the entire thing into the coop - tear out the inside walls, run a roost bar lengthwise across the new open space, and board or cover up any of the wire mesh walls that face prevailing winds. Depending on your climate you might need to cover up more or less of the walls, but do not board it all up, you still need gaps to allow for ventilation.

We live in the desert. A typical winter doesn't get below 10 degrees fahrenheit. Although, it has been getting cold early. I am thinking we may have an intense winter for here.

We have thought of making changes to it, but we are afraid the whole thing will fall apart because it is barely hanging on as is. The roof pieces didn't like to stay together do we had to add pieces. The small sliding window has a cracked frame around it already and the wood split in an effort to fix. Plus many other issues. I don't know if it would hold to a renovation. However, it is not a terrible idea.

 

[21hens-incharge]

We have two sheds, but the situation with them is complicated. One leaks so we won't use it and the other needs to be cleared and converyed, but it is technically too close to the property line to use because of our in city chicken laws.

There is a shed company that makes nice sheds, but they are like the only one so they charge what feels like an arm and a leg. Easily over $1,000 for one. Either way, we can't afford to be in anymore debt at this time so it is complicated.

Found the hoop coop guide. I wonder how much these usually cost to build?

A cattle panel runs roughly $25. Each panel will yield about a 4'x8'x6' hoop. That means front to back 4' side to side 8' and 6' tall. I used 2 panels to get an 8x8 run on my small coop.

Base framing will depend on what you use. Mine has 2x6 pine boards. They are roughly $8 each.
The cattle panel will need wire attached over it. Again that will depend on what you choose. What you choose should be based on your predator load and what kind of predators.

Then there will need to be a dry section. A good tarp helps a lot with that.

I would say it can be done under $250 to get an 8x8 space secured.

Yes it is still a chunk of money especially when the budget is tight.

The nice thing is expanding later on is pretty easy.