Chooks

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nitrambur

Settler
Jan 14, 2010
759
76
53
Nottingham
I've always said I wanted chickens, so SWMBO got me a coop for my birthday.

I put it together yesterday, and now she's worried that it's too small, looking at it, it is a tad on the petite side, apparently it's a mini so a third smaller than their standard coop.

Main compartment is 21" by 17" with two long perches and a catch tray under that, so no other floor as such, there's two nest boxes on the side, and a run that's probably 3 times the inside area.

I'm guessing we can only really have bantams or other smallish birds, but how many? Any recommendations?


Cheers
Nit
 

HillBill

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 1, 2008
8,141
88
W. Yorkshire
My Mum n Dad have a similar sized one.. they keep 4 in it. But, they also have access to an area outside of it during the day... they just sleep and lay in the coop itself.

If they have to be in there permanently then yeah, a couple of bantams will be plenty. Too many and they will stress and not lay much. Ideally they need somewhere to scrat and forage too.
 

nitrambur

Settler
Jan 14, 2010
759
76
53
Nottingham
I'm intending to build a bigger walk-in cage around the whole thing, so there will be more foraging space, just don't want to overcrowd the coop.
 

HillBill

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 1, 2008
8,141
88
W. Yorkshire
Well just get a couple to start with then and you can add to it later. Have a look about for birds that lay well, but are small and cheap to feed. If space is limited avoid the larger birds ( meat or dual purpose) You don;t need to do anything fancy for them to be out during the day.. mum lets them wander round the garden, so long as they can't get out... they only really need to be really secure from foxes at night. And you will want wire under the ground where the coop is (assuming its not got a wire base already) as foxes will quite happily dig underneath to get to them
 

slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
1,980
933
Devon
Foxes will often take chickens during the day, possibly more likely if you're in a town or city but I wouldn't risk leaving them to roam about unless you're around. We used to have chickens for several years and have had to chase foxes off occasionally during the day.

I'm hoping to get some more and I would happily get bantams, although the eggs are smaller the yolks don't seem much smaller than normal hens eggs. I would suggest getting 3 bantams if they'll fit.
 

tent peg

Nomad
Jan 13, 2014
297
3
Sherwood Forest
could do with a pic, but from what your saying three bantams max. we have three Perkin bantams. they are amazing chooks, not prolific layers, we get ten eggs a week from our three, cream egg size. Very friendly.

Were abouts are you? anywhere near Derbyshire? if so, I would recommend a trip to see Rachel at Back view Farm, Totley.[/QUOTE]
 
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nitrambur

Settler
Jan 14, 2010
759
76
53
Nottingham
here it is, excluding nest box it's 47" wide by 22" deep by 31" high

IMG_0879_zpsa45bf332.jpg
 

Lister

Settler
Apr 3, 2012
992
1
36
Runcorn, Cheshire
I have 2 co-ops slightly larger than that:

537838_10151528196808252_1431041016_n.jpg


housing 9 chickens between them, the runs aren't used anymore so just the nesting area, the nesting areas will comfortable house 4 with 5 at a push (the 5th will get a cold bum), the runs however i would limit yourself to 2 maybe 3 chickens.

Just for a bit of fun:

534790_10151528196353252_1339361639_n.jpg


Between the 2 coops we have, we have our 9 birds:

1x Leghorn Star - white eggs
4x rhode rocks - light brown/standard eggs
1x Sussex (med/large bird) - can go broody
1x cream legbar - blue eggs - incosistant layers
2x columbian blacktails - light brown/standard eggs

All the birds (bar the Sussex) are small/medium birds, The Sussex is a large/medium bird.

Sussex and 2 Rhode Rocks:
155608_10151542889678252_1709410951_n.jpg


The Cream Legbar and Leghorn Star:
45746_10151735705888252_915736026_n.jpg


Visible differences between the 5:
559967_10151735706333252_912710337_n.jpg


The 2 Columbian Blacktails and 2 more Rhode Rocks from chicks (raised by the Sussex - she turned broody so we made the most of it):
999424_10151767645038252_1780752750_n.jpg


The Blacktails and the Rhode Rocks grown up:
1969161_10152226970398252_1771290507_n.jpg


Not meaning to hijack the thread, just give an idea of sizes, apologies if it looks like a hijack
 
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