Looking at this coop 🐓🏠

[aart]

All of these little prefab coops in a box lie about how many birds they can hold.

..as well as making the dimensions very hard to accurately assess.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Maybe check Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for cheap sheds. Depending on the predators in your area, predator proofing alone can cost $$ hundreds (not including the coop and run). A correctly sized coop (with enough sq footage/ventilation) and run for 6 chickens + predator-proofing for less than $800 is going to be VERY challenging to find.

Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Why do they say 56sq. Ft if that’s outdoor space?. It’s so confusing when this is all new and I’m trying to wrap my head around it It also said for 14 chickens, so I thought that would be better if they tend to exaggerate..

You need to math it out, they generally will have a photo or diagram with the measurements, and then doing some guesstimating will yield you a rough answer. So in this case:

- Coop (aqua) is approx 40" x 35.5" which equals 9.86 sq ft.
- Run (also aqua) is 136.5" x 35.5"= 33.65 sq ft.
- Ventilation (purple) is 23.5" x 7" (technically divided by 50% because it can only open halfway, but it says there's another on the other side, so it's a wash) = 1.14 sq ft.

6 birds should have a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird in coop (24 sq ft), 10 sq ft in run (60 sq ft), and 1 sq ft in open ventilation at all times in moderate temperatures (6 sq ft). So this unit is large enough for 2-3 standard hens, with only enough ventilation for 1 bird.

 

[User105877]

I've got about $700 and three days work in this. You could do something similar on a smaller scale if you do not need all that room.

 

[Gax000]

You need to math it out, they generally will have a photo or diagram with the measurements, and then doing some guesstimating will yield you a rough answer. So in this case:

- Coop (aqua) is approx 40" x 35.5" which equals 9.86 sq ft.
- Run (also aqua) is 136.5" x 35.5"= 33.65 sq ft.
- Ventilation (purple) is 23.5" x 7" (technically divided by 50% because it can only open halfway, but it says there's another on the other side, so it's a wash) = 1.14 sq ft.
View attachment 3600792
6 birds should have a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird in coop (24 sq ft), 10 sq ft in run (60 sq ft), and 1 sq ft in open ventilation at all times in moderate temperatures (6 sq ft). So this unit is large enough for 2-3 standard hens, with only enough ventilation for 1 bird.

Good catch. I used the 63” x 40” measurements, but 63” includes the nest boxes!

 

[21hens-incharge]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/top-10-hoop-coop-ideas.76490/

The above article is a good one to look through.
They aren't expensive compared to standard wood coops and are quite sturdy with minimal lumber and minimal tools to build them.

They work very well as a run as this member shows in their post here.

I've got about $700 and three days work in this. You could do something similar on a smaller scale if you do not need all that room.

 

[3KillerBs]

All of these little prefab coops in a box lie about how many birds they can hold.
False advertising.

Not so much false as misleading. They use the legal minimums for commercial birds kept in an intensive management system -- which are considerably too small for backyard birds kept in a typical backyard management system.

So this unit is large enough for 2-3 standard hens, with only enough ventilation for 1 bird.

And that ventilation is only adequate in a moderate climate. My personal experience is that hot-climates require at least double or triple the usual recommendations just to keep the coop under 100F on a 90F day.

 

[Gax000]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/top-10-hoop-coop-ideas.76490/

The above article is a good one to look through.
They aren't expensive compared to standard wood coops and are quite sturdy with minimal lumber and minimal tools to build them.

They work very well as a run as this member shows in their post here.

Excellent suggestion! This may be your best bet given your budget and flock size.

 

[MiMito3]

Welcome to BYC and the wonderful world of chickens.

Here's some basic info for you:

The Usual Guidelines

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.

6 hens

• 24 square feet in the coop. 4'x6' is the only really practical build for this given the common dimensions of lumber. If you can't walk into it, put the access door in the middle of the long side to make sure you can reach all areas of the coop because a stubborn chicken WILL press itself into/lay an egg in the back corner where you can't reach.
• 6 feet of roost
• 60 square feet in the run. 6'x10' or 8'x8'.
• 6 square feet of ventilation.
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice

Hot Climate Chicken Housing and Care

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

In a hot climate consider an Open Air style coop:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

If you want to work with a plastic shed, here's a really excellent conversion that has a way to deal with the ventilation problem: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-scoop-on-a-rubbermaid-big-max-coop.76444/

Is this ventilation amount still applicable in the dry high desert of Colorado where the temps are near 20 below for a few months every night? Just think it may get too cold in there. It’s very windy here during snow storms as well. TIA.

 

[paintedChix]

One of the hoop coop variations not mentioned is Blooie's method using T-posts instead of a wood or PVC base.

GREAT! JUST REMOVED 3 PARAGRAPHS!! Grrrr.

X 2. I give up for now... not sure hoe I've managed to do that. Maybe 1 more time will work. & on 1st edit, I think I hit cancel which removed everything I had typed...
********

1 - 16" cattle panel (CP). Hooped & sitting on ground @ 8' is 4' deep. 32' square - 6 chickens have a little more than 4'/bird. You can turn that into a secure coop.

Add 2 more panels 8'x8'= 64' square. Bare minimum of 10' square footage/chicken for your run.

This will make your full structure 8' wide by 12' long (a bit longer - panels are 50" tall).

Looks like panels in your area are $54/each? Not sure.. I changed my store & TSC was giving me fits! For 3, that would be $162.

T-posts (part of those "fits") - 6' = $7.29. My TSC sells in bundles of 5, you need 8 for the sides. 10 = $70.29.

Your wire - recommended is 1/2" HC. I did not do the price on that. My hoop coops so far have been a mish-mash. Chicken wire (my birds could rip it apart, let alone predators), 2x4 wire & HC. You can figure your cost based on what you use.

Front, back & roofs. So many options!!

My TSC currently has this.



I bought 2 gate fronts & 1 2 piece sides - giving me 2 fronts to refurbish my original hooped tractors.

For roofs, I was using originally medium weight tarps purchased @ lowes or TSC. They've changed a LOT. Heavy weight now is lighter & not as well made as light weight was years ago! But I will probably stick to heavy canvas tarps - working great on my A-frame CP tractors...

I think I've done about 5 edits to get this to work on this thread!!