Old shed, new coop? How many chickens should I put in it?

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BYCforlife

BYCforlife

Crossing the Road
7 Years
Mar 18, 2017
2,370
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Canada
I have an old shed, the inside dimension is about 12 feet by 14 feet. It also has a 2 foot wide, 14 foot long shelf about 6 feet up. I am planning on making this into a chicken coop with a run, and I estimated I can hold about 45 chickens, if I am going with 4 square feet per bird. Is this a good idea? 45 chickens seems like a lot for a shed like that...
 
My calculations spat out 42, but... nothing says you MUST have a bird every 4 square feet. Also if you have extremely bad weather in winter they may not want to go out at all, so a little extra space wouldn't hurt. If you only want 10 (or 20, or 30), just get that many. Maybe you can even cordon off a section of the shed to for food and bedding storage in that case.
 
Okay, that sounds good. Yes, my estimate came out as 42 also, but I was sort or thinking I might also make a ramp up onto the shelf, and that could possibly count as 28 extra square feet. That would work out to about 45 chickens I could hold, but that would probably be pushing it. Maybe some private nesting boxes up there for broody hens? Who knows!
I also have a coop that has 9 chickens, it is about 4 feet by 5 feet, and I made it like that because I have a large run. (400 or more square feet) They like it in the coop, but they get very bored. Would more space (E.g. the shed I am talking about) make them not as bored? I know that's not really the topic question, but I don't want to start too many posts on my first day :)
 
I wouldn't say they'd get "bored" by the amount of space (or lack thereof), but if there's nothing for them to do (dirt to bathe in, ground to scratch up, maybe some branches to hop up on) and/or space is tight, they may resort to picking on each other.

You could try putting nest boxes on the ledge though it's pretty high for nest boxes... want to build a ramp that high? Nest boxes don't count as usable space though as the birds should lay and then vacate them.

Your other coop is really packed but if your chickens are already adults and ok with it it's probably fine for right now. I have 4 chickens in a coop 15 sq ft with a run of 525 sq ft but will need a new coop in the future for more.
 
Okay, that sounds good. Thanks! I am thinking of building another insulated coop, bigger this time.
 

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