Chook Me!

What size do you think for my chicken coop, for chickens to lay eggs & everything?

Okay, I want to build my own chicken coop, I can't find any I like. I want to have a run as well, still don't know what Im going to make that out of.... Anyway, Ive had 12'x12' in mind, until I read that it would be very hard to transport..I need something I can move, we might move in a couple years, and I would want to take it with me...so do you think I should go smaller? I have 6 chicks now, and I want to store their food in their. Please share ideas. I just wanted a bigger area, so they will be happy, I'm already thinking about getting more as well, so I might expand my chicken tribe...I have NO idea how I'm going to build this, its like a shed....has to be made of pressure treated wood, has to have a frame...so if you have any websites that have good plans & detailed items needed list, that'd be great!

Public Comments

1. Just get yourself a garden shed, and build into it.
2. 12X12 is okay for 4-6 chicken and one rooster to Fuc* them and keep the laying eggs. Make it 1/2 inside (under cover) and 1/2 outside...count on 1 chicken per member in your family is a good rule of thumb. Make roosting areas...just poles to roost one, plenty of good quality of feed and water and put out oyster shells as well
3. Ok, so i have 3 full grown chickens and they have a coop that is about 3' x 2' so your coop should be twice that size since you're going to have twice as many full grown chickens soon....so a coop about 6' x 4' i think and then. But we have a run attached too so the whole structure is about 3' x 6' so your whole thing should be 6' x 12'. Make it so that it is easy to transport by building the coop and run separately and then attach them so they can be detached to....hope this is what you were looking for!
4. Well I have some chickens of my own and a home build chicken coop made of recycled wood and its aprox 7x7and is used for them to roost (sleep) in and lay eggs and it is actually a little too big for them and i have 9 chickens! and a rooster! But on the other hand i have a yard i just let them walk around which can actually be good for your yard. If you are going to transport it i would say 12 by 12 is wayyyy to big! unless you are taking it apart are you going to just have a small area for them to walk in? if so maybe around 7 by 7 will be good for healthy chickens well dont take my word for it heres a link for some great chicken coop ideas http://www.backyardchickens.com/ Then go to coop designs one and one more thing to SAVE SPACE you should probably put roosting sticks raised at least 2 feet above the ground on the opposite side of the egg laying because the egg laying is soley for that purpose easy to maintain but the chickens will poop ALOT in the rosting area so you will have to clean frequently if they are behind eachother it can be a real hassle I HOPE THIS HELPED ALOT
5. Size is probably one of the most important elements when building your chicken coop. There are small, medium, and large design plans for a chicken coop and of course each one which will hold a specific number of chickens. One of the usual mistakes folks make when building chicken coops, is fitting too many chickens in it. Chickens need a certain amount of space so that they feel comfortable enough to lay eggs properly. Would you want to lay eggs with someone practically on top of you. When building your coop or buying one, It's better that it be too big as you will be able to fill your chicken coop with more chickens if you wish in the future. Usually, they need 10 inches of length of roost to fit comfortable. So a medium sized coop will hold about 6 - 8 birds comfortably. Something like 6x6, 8x8 or 10x10 will do for what you want. Going with the larger size will be better for the chickens in my opinion. Don't feel you need to go with 12x12 however. Good luck.