Show me your coops for 15 chickens please?

[mnmom4]

I am trying to convince hubby we need a coop 8'x10' for 15 chickens. He thinks it's way too big. We live in MN, winters get verrrrrrry cold and lots of snow so I'm thinking more room is better. Am I on the right track? I'd love to see pictures of your large coops if you have up to 15 chickens. Plus... I can't guarantee that I won't want more at some point, right?

 

[thomasboyle]

We have 18 chickens and 15 ducks. They share a common run, but have separate areas inside the coop to sleep. And yes, they know which door to go into at night!

 

[mnmom4]

We have 18 chickens and 15 ducks. They share a common run, but have separate areas inside the coop to sleep. And yes, they know which door to go into at night!

It's beautiful! Thanks for sharing

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I am keeping 16 chickens in a 7x8 shed type structure. It's adequate, not overly spacious. I have 14 ft of roosting space of which they probably use about 3/4.

I have another group of 22 chickens in a 7x10 shed (half of a 14x10 shed) and that seems a right size to me. I provided way too much roost space, but I guess it comes in handy when the flock splits into two separate entities which mine did for a while. (I have two 10ft roosts). They are using probably about half of that. These are full size chickens.

Some things i like about my setup -- both are walkin height. Saves a lot of trouble when checking up on the birds and cleaning. I can just rake the stuff out of it without having to go on hands and knees.

My 10x14 shed has two parts, each 14x7, (a duplex coop) each of those has a separate run. It was great when I needed to separate 4 roosters from the group that was in one half. I can keep two separate flocks in there or I can use it to temporary relocate sick birds or birds that need some isolation for a while for whatever reason.

in terms of cold -- My climate isn't that cold but from what I have read the conventional wisdom is that cold is not the issue with chickens, they can cope well and will just huddle together. What is important is that you keep providing adequate ventilation and no heat to prevent frost burn on the combs. I have open ventilation in the apex of the building and it blows across, even when we had subzero temps. They were fine. The other thing you will be grateful for in your winters is electricity in your coop to hook up a heated base for their water. Saves your back so that you don't have to haul water several times a day to keep it liquid.

 

[marilyn1954]

This is our coop for 15. (On the right) the one on the left is for storage ( it's a purina coop) it will hold up to six more but as I said we are going to use it for all the chicken supplies, and in the event one gets hurt or sick we can put it in the smaller coop and keep it away from the others