Designing Chicken Coop for 8-10 Hens

[wab11287]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post here and I am hoping this is the right area for it. My family and I have finally decided after a few years of tossing the idea around to get some egg laying chickens to have in our back yard. I will be building a coop and run for them as well as let them out to free range daily.

I have a design in my head of how I want everything set-up after watching about 100 youtube videos on building coops and looking over chicken coop plans online.

Basically my only question I have left is how large of a coop should I build. I have read many different standards of space to give birds and I understand it also depends on the breed, free range or not, etc.

My scenario will be: In the coop at nights and in the run for part of the day. When I get home I can let them out to free range but it will be the entire day. So I would like to base my sizes for if I never let them free range in the chance of a day I might only have them in the coop/run area.

I read that 4 sq feet per bird is minimum for the coop and 10 sq ft for the run. When I try to figure out the math for it all I feel like I get way to small of sizes.

My math:

4 sq ft per bird x 10 birds = 400 sq ft coop
10 sq ft per bird x 10 birds = 1,000 sq ft run

So would a 6'x6' coop be enough room or 6'x7'? Then for the run 6'x12'?

Please help! I want to make sure I have the correct room for my birds so they are healthy and happy.

 

[Pork Pie]

This link takes a much more pragmatic approach to estimating space needs, imo -
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need

This is a useful link of BYC guides to take a look at announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3 (there's a guide on how to include your location under your avatar - including your location is very helpful). You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread who will also be able to advise re: predators etc.

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[Perris]

Hello @wab11287 ! welcome to BYC Pork Pie's advice is great - follow the link for answers to your questions

 

[rosemarythyme]

I read that 4 sq feet per bird is minimum for the coop and 10 sq ft for the run. When I try to figure out the math for it all I feel like I get way to small of sizes.

My math:

4 sq ft per bird x 10 birds = 400 sq ft coop
10 sq ft per bird x 10 birds = 1,000 sq ft run

So would a 6'x6' coop be enough room or 6'x7'? Then for the run 6'x12'?

Please help! I want to make sure I have the correct room for my birds so they are healthy and happy.

Your math is off. Assuming 10 birds, 4x10 = 40 sq ft. 10x10= 100 sq ft run.

A 6x7 coop would be 42 sq ft however I would recommend doing 6x8 in that case, or even 8x8, because wood comes in 4' increments and it makes it easier to not have to make extra cuts, plus the extra space is useful in case you get hit by "chicken math," or if you're in a cold or rainy climate where chickens may not want to come out every day during bad weather.

Your 6x12 run is tight. Even if you let them out to free range daily, it still means that they're in the run for a part of the day. I would go no smaller than 10x10 for a flock of 10, and if possible, go larger. There may be days when the birds can't go out due to a predator hanging around, or maybe you're on vacation or just not available to give them their usual free range time.

 

[aart]

Oh good, @rosemarythyme did the math and posted just as I started typing!

..and @Pork Pie had posted the links I was going to.

I'll just post this right here anyway, as it's important
Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[blackdog043]

I want to congratulate you on doing your homework and wanting to do the right thing for your chickens.

I would build at least an 8 x 8, you won't be sorry for having some extra room. I hope your planning on making this a walk in coop and run, your back will thank you. Also plan on having a lot of ventilation. Leaving roof sofits open and having windows, all covered with 1/2" hardware cloth. Check Amazon and walmart.com for the best prices on hardware cloth, compared to big box stores.

 

[flyin-lowe]

I started with about the same amount of chicks as you. I built my first coop 6'x8'. Mainly because those are easy dimensions to built with. I used 1 1/2 sheet of 3/4 ply for the floor and the half sheet I used to build my external nest boxes. My sidewalls are 7 feet tall and the roof is 8 foot at the peek, so I could just use full sheets. Not to much scrap that way. I had someone donate the roof metal and windows but I had less then $300.00 in the lumber for the rest. I attached my run to the front so it is 8 foot wide and I ran it out 24 feet.

Edit
I went back and found the link to my old build thread, sometimes pics make it easier to understand.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-got-started-on-my-coop-today-90-finished.1082634/

 

[wab11287]

Yeah when I did the math I for some reason added an extra zero at the end for the sq ft.

I know in the future years we will probably end up adding more to the flock. Might end up sending some of the original birds to get butchered at some point but most likely wont be for at least 3 years or so.

Having a slight cushion is what I am looking to do so I will go on the higher end of sizes.

I live in New York as well. To be specific right on the border of New York and Pennsylvania. We normally get pretty cold winters and hot summers.

I have started a layout and design of the coop/run and once I finish that I will post a preview to have you guys take a look at and see what you think. Probably will get it here by Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks for all the help.

By the way, one of the links in the "How much room do chickens need" article is not working.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/redirect.php?requestPath=products/category/chicken-breeds

 

[aart]

By the way, one of the links in the "How much room do chickens need" article is not working.

Maybe this will work?:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
ETA: tested it and it works, but so does the one Pork Pie posted<shrugs>

I have started a layout and design of the coop/run and once I finish that I will post a preview to have you guys take a look at and see what you think. Probably will get it here by Monday or Tuesday.

Being an old drafter I love to see drawings/plans/layouts!!
Are you planning to build this year or next spring?

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you still cannot get to that article go to the "articles" tab at the top of this page and "search articles". Put in my user name and part of the title. Or read it below.

I don’t believe in magic numbers for chickens. We keep them in so many different conditions, in different climates, with different flock make-ups, use so many different management techniques, and have different goals so no one magic number will cover us all. Summer in Miami may be different from winter in Nova Scotia, for example. I find that the tighter I crowd them the more behavioural problems I am likely to have, the less flexibility I have in dealing with problems, and the harder I have to work.

The behavioral problems from overcrowding could be anywhere from them being loud, feather-picking, bullying, fighting, all the way to cannibalism. Flexibility is not just dealing with behavioral problems but maybe integration and broody hens, predator problems or many other things. As an extreme example, say you have damage to your run where you cannot safely keep your chickens penned during the day. Do you have to miss a day’s work or not take your kids to school to deal with it immediately or can you lock them in the coop until you have time to deal with it on your schedule? As for hard work, think poop management. The smaller space they are in the more you have to physically manage the poop.

What is important is how much space is available when they need it. Whether that space in in your coop, coop and run, or they sleep in trees and totally free range doesn’t matter. If all you use your coop for is to provide a safe place for them to sleep and you commit to getting up when they do 365 days a year so you can open the pop door, you really don’t need much space in the coop itself. The space available is the coop plus the run or maybe free range. But the more you commit yourself to a specific way of managing them, the less flexibility you have. For instance, how hard will it be to find someone to take care of your chickens when you go on vacation if they have to be there at dawn as opposed to 9:00 a.m. being OK?


I understand that people without experience need general guidelines to go by. There are several rules of thumb to help people get started. A popular one on this forum is 4 square feet per chicken in the coop along with 10 square feet per chicken in the run. This is geared toward people with a small backyard flock in suburbia, not a big flock in a rural setting. It will keep most people out of trouble in a wide range of climates and using different management techniques. That means it is overkill for a lot of people as far as the bare absolute minimum they could get by with, but occasionally it proves to be a bit tight. Still it is a good starting point.

Some of the things that make up the space requirement are, in my opinion:

1. Personal space for the birds. They have different personalities and different individual requirements. Some are very possessive of personal space and some can share. Each flock has its own dynamics. There are breed tendencies but individual birds of the same breed can have totally different personalities.

2. Access to feeder and waterer.

3. Being able to put the feeder and waterer where they will not poop in it when they roost.

4. Roost spacing. They not only need to have enough room to sleep on the roost, they need to have enough room for them to spread their wings and fly to the roost and to sort out who gets to sleep next to whom and who gets the prime spots once they get on the roost. When they get on, they may jump from some midway support or fly directly to the roost, but either way, they like to spread their wings. And some chickens seem to enjoy blocking the entry points if there are limits. When they get off, mine tend to want to fly down, not jump to a halfway point. They need room to fly down without bumping into feeders, waterers, nesting boxes, or a wall.

The more chickens you have the less roost space per chicken you need. They don’t take up a lot of room when they are roosting once access and maneuvering room is provided. But I find that mine can be pretty vicious on the roosts as they are settling down, especially when I am integrating. I find it helps to have lots of roost space, not the bare minimum.

5. Poop load. The larger area they have the less often you have to actively manage the poop. They poop a lot while on the roost so you may have to give that area special consideration, but mucking out the entire coop can be backbreaking work plus you have to have some place to put all that bedding and poop. 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.

6. 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 factor so there is no one correct length of time for everyone.

7. Do you feed and water in the coop or outside. The more they are outside, the less pressure on the size of the coop.

8. 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.

9. The breed of the chicken. Some handle confinement better than others.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. What is the maximum number of chickens you will have. Consider hatching chicks or bringing in replacements. Look down the road a bit.

13. Do you want a broody to raise chicks with the flock? A broody needs sufficient room to work with.

14. The more space you have, the easier it is to integrate chickens. Chickens have developed a way to live together in a flock. It’s called the pecking order. 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.

15. The more space you have the more flexibility you have dealing with problems or altering your management techniques. That’s just basic.

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. I generally cringe when I see a post asking “How many chickens can I shoehorn into this size space?” I think the better way to look at it is to first decide how many chickens you want, then ask “How can I provide sufficient space?”

Some people consider giving chickens extra space to be coddling the chickens. Let’s examine that. If I give them extra space I have to deal with fewer behavior problems, I have more flexibility in managing them or in dealing with problems that come up, and I don’t have to work as hard. Is that coddling the chickens or is that not going out of my way to make my life harder than it has to be?

To me some of the key components for you are your location, they will be stuck in the coop reasonable amount of time because of weather. It can be hard to know where you will end up in number of birds until you get some experience with them, you may be surprised with how many eggs you can get from 10 hens but that can slow in winter. You plan to integrate at some future point so some extra room can be helpful. For these reasons I'd build larger rather than smaller. It gives you more flexibility.