2sq.ft or 3sq.ft?

[ccarver80]

So they say anywhere between 2-3sq. feet of coop per chicken??? well I bought a 8x10 shed/coop and by that math is 80sq. feet
2sqft/per chicken = 40 chickens
3sqft/per chicken = 26 chickens

26-40 chickens???!! This is similar to the cable man saying he will be at your house anywhere between 2pm Wednesday and 5pm Friday ....

I know I'm being a bit sarcastic here but what's everyone else go by??? I do have a HUGE run for them.... a 50' x 100' fenced in area... so I figured I can get away closer to the 2sqft. per chicken rule.... If I had a smaller run I might go with less chickens then.....

 

[cavemanrich]

Thumb rule is 4 square feet per chicken for Large Fowl . You can get away with 2 feet for bantams. You will be crowded with the amount of chickens you want to keep. Its not the end of the world. Battery hens are squeezed into less space. Overcrowding creates problems and headaches for owners. Some peeps it does not bother them. You may end up with less than Ideal results. I suggest that you START OUT. with 20 chickens, and evaluate how many you are able to add comfortably.
WISHING YOU BEST.

 

[rjohns39]

So they say anywhere between 2-3sq. feet of coop per chicken??? well I bought a 8x10 shed/coop and by that math is 80sq. feet
2sqft/per chicken = 40 chickens
3sqft/per chicken = 26 chickens

26-40 chickens???!! This is similar to the cable man saying he will be at your house anywhere between 2pm Wednesday and 5pm Friday ....

I know I'm being a bit sarcastic here but what's everyone else go by??? I do have a HUGE run for them.... a 50' x 100' fenced in area... so I figured I can get away closer to the 2sqft. per chicken rule.... If I had a smaller run I might go with less chickens then.....

The standard is 4-5 sq foot per chicken (unless you're a coop manufacturer). That said the subject get's complicated fast. There's a great article out here that I read over a year ago and can't find anymore--but it references cubic feet for a chicken. Basically arguing that a chicken needs about 1 cubic foot of sleep space, plus space to get to and from the roost and space to spread its wings. Here's another article that is pretty good as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

 

[B Redhawk]

Our chickens like 1 cu. ft. per hen or rooster on the roost. I use that space calculation only for the roost area. Our chickens don't usually stay indoors, preferring to roam the hog pen area which is 3/4 acre. I allow them floor space of 2 sq. ft. each for such a time that they need to stay indoors all day long, which is very rare. So far this has kept things calm in the hen house.

 

[lazy gardener]

The standard is 4-5 sq foot per chicken (unless you're a coop manufacturer).

How true. Climate also plays into it. If you live in the north, where blizzards and below 0*F temps for days or even weeks at a time are the norm, 2 - 3 s.f./bird in the coop would be a recipe for mass murder. If you live in a warmer climate, and have a secure run with a roof over it, I could see that you could get away with tighter spacing in the coop. Not so for me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They say 2 to 3 square feet per chicken? On this forum I've seen anything from 1 square feet to 15 per chicken, and that's just in the coop. They often don't think of the run. Even commercial operations don't use 1 square feet per chicken yet someone on here was very serious about it.

I wrote that article Rjohns39 linked. There are a lot of different components that make up how much space you need. I generally find the tighter I put them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues. I don't like to make my life any more difficult than it has to be so I try to give them plenty of room. Right now they are a bit crowded but I plan to put some in the freezer tomorrow.

In North Dakota you are going to have several days they will probably be stuck in the coop alone so your big run will not be useful on those days unless you roof it and block wind so snow and a cold breeze don't blow in. You can carry a lot of chickens in good weather but in your winters you'll find that pretty limiting as long as that run is open to the weather. In effect, you will not have a run.

Another limiting factor is if you are going to add any new chickens in the future. Integrating new chickens into a flock generally takes a lot more room than a flock that has learned to work together. Most people don't integrate in winter so your run will help you out a lot them. Your management plays into how many chickens you can keep too.

I don't know why you want chickens, what your goals are, or how many you want. I suggest you start kind of small and expand later if you think you can.

 

[ccarver80]

honestly I just googled "how much square feet of chicken coop per chicken" or something like that and the first answer was 2-3sq. feet..... I have 16 in my 8x10 shed now and things do seem tight so I think ill be sticking to the lower number thanks!

 

[Mrs. K]

In the summer, you can cheat a bit if you are adding chicks, which are smaller, and due to the long days of summer.

In the winter, extra feet in the run, really don't make much difference as they will be roosted up near 16 hours on the shortest days. This time of year, take a good look, measure and count heads... cull down.

Do understand that this is what I say, what I am trying to do, BUT what I am thinking of right this moment of the two broody hens in the coop, and could I hatch 16 eggs?

mk

 

[PetesChicks]

The normal recommendations here are 4 sq. ft. for the coop, and 10 sq. ft. for the run, per bird, as a minimum. When I built my coop, I planned on winter snow days (three years ago, we had 2 storms with more than 4' of snow, about a month apart. 10' total for the winter) when they wouldn't go outside and figured I'd make sure I had 15 sq. ft. per bird in the coop. My 10 x 16 shed has a wall separating the chickens from the storage area, I have 5 x 10 and they have 11 x 10. Right now, I still only have 4 but town laws allow me to have 6 chickens, even with a couple more they will have over 18 sq. ft. per chicken. My outdoor run isn't much bigger right now, it's 10 x 20, with plans to build on to it hopefully before winter hits.