How much coop space do chickens need

However, outside run space should extend to a full 10 square feet per bird, another minimum recommendation. Even better would be doubling the run area to 20 square feet per bird, construct the run height to 6 feet tall, and install roosts the chickens can fly to. The goal in confinement should be to mimic real outdoor living. Leave Room For Chicken Math Inevitably, most of us become obsessed with our chickens, so three chickens turns into five chickens turns into 12 chickens, and so on.

This is called chicken math—the unintentional multiplying of a flock size. Build more space now and your future chickens will thank you with happy lives and healthy eggs. She lives with her family, pets and small flock of hens in Louisville, Ky. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.

In my opinion, totally cleaning out the coop is something that needs to happen as seldom as possible. You can help manage poop load by using a droppings board but that commits you to regularly scraping the poop off and dealing with it. How often are they able to get out of the coop? How often they are allowed out of the coop may depend on a lot more than just weather. Your work schedule, when you are able to turn them loose, what time of day you open the pop door to let them out or lock them up at night, all this and more enters into the equation.

The 4 square feet recommendation assumes they will spend extended time in the coop and not be able to get in the run occasionally. What that extended time can safely be depends on a lot of different factors so there is no one correct length of time for everyone. Do you feed and water in the coop or outside. The more they are outside, the less pressure on the size of the coop. The size of the chicken. Bantams require less room than full sized chickens. This has to be tempered by breed and the individual personalities.

Some bantams can be more protective of personal space than others, but this is also true of full sized breeds. Young chicks need less space than mature adults but in a mixed age flock, extra room is important. The breed of the chicken. Some handle confinement better than others. The number of chickens. The greater the number of chickens, the more personal space they can have if the square foot per chicken stays constant.

Let me explain. Assume each chicken occupies 1 square foot of space. If you have two chickens and 4 square feet per chicken, the two chickens occupy 2 square feet, which leaves 6 square feet for them to explore.

If you have ten chickens with 4 square feet per chicken, each chicken has 30 unoccupied square feet to explore. A greater number also can give more space to position the feeders and waterers properly in relation to the roosts and provide access.

In general the more chickens you have the less space per chicken you need. What is your flock make-up? Adding one rooster to a flock of hens does not greatly increase the required space needed, though it sometimes helps flock dynamics if they have more space.

But adding a second or additional roosters can greatly affect the amount of room they need. Often multiple roosters will split the flock into separate harems with each rooster claiming his own territory. That reduces conflict. What is the maximum number of chickens you will have.

Consider hatching chicks or bringing in replacements. Look down the road a bit. Do you want a broody to raise chicks with the flock? A broody needs sufficient room to work with. The more space you have, the easier it is to integrate chickens. Chickens have developed a way to live together in a flock. But establishing that pecking order can sometimes be pretty violent. One method they use to take most of the danger out of establishing the pecking order is that the weaker runs away from the stronger when there is a confrontation or they just avoid the stronger to start with.

They need room to run away and avoid. The more space you have the more flexibility you have dealing with problems or altering your management techniques.

I'm sure I am missing several components, but the point I'm trying to make is that we all have different conditions. There is no magic number that suits us all.

Is that coddling the chickens or is that not going out of my way to make my life harder than it has to be? Reactions: Trish , Fastrak , Beccackle and others. Latest reviews allenw 5. Good information. The standard recommendations are a good starting point but one has to temper them with their own knowledge and situation. HeathenHavenHomestead 5. Excellent article - I love how you cover free ranging instead of just runs as mine free range.

ChickChick 5. Excellent information. I'm new here and this answered a lot of my questions. And put me at ease on my 8x8 shed coop for 12 hens 3 are jersey Giants. Read more…. Thanks for the posting -- good article and lots of common sense. Very nice article. I admit I don't wake up early and don't let them out until about 10 am, but they don't mind since they have enough room in their coop Plus I keep their food in the coop, I think that helps, haha.

I would give them as much room as you can, but I understand that everyone has a different way of doing things.

So a good set up for them would be an 8 foot x 5 foot coop with a 10 foot x 12 foot enclosed run. This is my first year with chickens. And this site has taught me so much. I want to thank you for sharing your expertise. Very helpful. We are just starting out with our very first back yard chickens! We have four adorable chicks right now. Soon they will need an outside home. I notice most coops only have two nesting boxes for chicks. Is it a waste of space to give them each their own?

We are hoping to build our own coop…. Hi Meredith! Welcome to the world of chickens! It is really unnecessary to give each bird their own nest box. Usually you need a box for every birds — but honestly they will pick out their favorite nest box or two and everyone will cram into that box sometimes at the same time! While they are out you can check water ,clean,feed, ect,, you may need extra nest if they start setting on eggs to hatch,so other hen,s can lay eggs in.

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