How Many Chicken's Can I Fit In A 6x8 Coop?

[speckledhen]

The 4 sf is just a sort of arbitrary number, but when I have more than that, the coop is much dirtier, smellier and just overall harder to keep dry. Too many breathing and pooping in a too small space makes for wet litter. With my BBS Orps, I would never try to have only 4 sf per bird since my rooster alone is almost turkey sized, so in their coop, which is 4x8, I put only 4-5 birds in there; seems almost crowded when they have to stay inside during bad weather.

 

[greathorse]

Yep there are guidelines to virtually everything and then there are circumstances that make for huge variables. I beleive that roost space is very important and after that the size of the acutal coop is affected by many other things. Do they range during the day? How large is the run? What is your climate? Do you feed and water indoors or out.

I have had as many as 50 hens in a 100 sqft coop with a lot of roost space and roost boards. I feed and water outside I live in a dry climate and my run is about 400 sqft and they range evenings and weekends. I have healthy good looking birds.

If the run was muddy the birds spend a lot of time indoors and the climate was damp I am sure my amount of space would have created some real issues.

Watch the birds they will tell you a lot.

 

[valerieb]

You guys will probably be horrified but I have 65 chickens of various breeds, ages and sizes in my 8 x 10 coop right now. I did just buy another smaller coop the other day which, after waterproofing it, I will transfer several to. If does work for me but only because I free range my birds from dawn until dusk. When it starts getting dark they go into the coop, I go count them and make sure everyone is there, and then the lights go out. It is a little chaotic in there until the lights go out but they are not in there long before that happens. I have 40 feet of roosts and 12 nesting boxes and it seems to be fine. It also helps that 20 of the them are only 10 weeks old and another 21 are 16 weeks old so they are not full grown yet. As soon as it gets light I go and let them out. It also only works because I have poo trays that I clean every other day that sit below the roosts and catch the majority of the poo. I wipe it down and add new shavings every other day also. I do not plan to keep that many in the coop but I just finished building it about a month ago and will be building another one asap. I always keep my eye open for coops or buildings on Craigslist so it is just a matter of time. My chickens do seem to be healthy and happy. There are a few that get picked on a little more than others but I will probably move them to the new little coop I just bought. None get picked on to the point of being abused though. It works right now but is definitely a bit of work with the cleaning every other day.

 

[norcal]

The numbers are a good guideline for newbies. I think I would have thought about how many I could fit in my coop, but really w/o the "suggested" numbers, it would have been a shot in the dark. It helps to have information before you dive in. And it's a good thing to think about as your flock grows. jmho

 

[Kim_NC]

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These scenerios sound fine to me, really. Ours either free range or have outside pastured 'yards' for daytime. They have protected places - roof areas on cinder blocks, high weeds - that they can dodge under in rainy weather, or for extra shade, or when threatened by birds of prey. Often they will stay outside in the rain, during very windy days, etc.

They are locked in at night for safety. I *try* to stay around 4 sq ft/adult chicken inside...but it doesn't always work out that way. At times it'll get down to 3 sq ft (plus roost areas) when a grow-out batch is almost mature, or when moving breeding flocks around, waiting on sold birds to be picked up, and so on.

Are they ready to go out in the mornings? Sure! Can I leave them indoors for 24-36 hrs while we take a short day trip? YEP, no problem.

 

[paridisefarm2009]

I built a coop from wooden pallates hear is a picture , itis no prize But it is there house and free , i had to spend very little on extra materials, nails roof 2x4's and paint.

And No husband or child helped me , I built this in 1 day by myself , Yea I paid the price the next day when I was sore , But the Kid dissapeared the minuite I said i need .......................................help.
LOL I have made a few adjustments to it since then some wire and security measures , But it is Big enough for me to stand in and I am 5'4 It it home to only 5 road island reds now because I had 10 and Lost 5

 

[CityChook]

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I'm with Pat here. I think that the formula is a good place for people to start, but then they have to evaluate what their weather is like, what their maintenance practices are like, and how they want to keep their chickens. I don't know how cold it gets in Vermont, but I'm guessing that you get quite a bit of snow. My chickens HATE snow, and we have frozen ground for about 5 months of the year. And when it gets really cold, they could be locked inside for days at a time. Last winter, when we had daytime highs that didn't get to 0F, I was VERY VERY glad to have 12 sq/ft per chicken INSIDE. Like you, my coop is 6x8. But I only have 4 birds. And personally, I couldn't imagine putting more in there. But that's me.

Look at it this way, with 22 birds in 48 sq/ft of space, you probably won't need to heat your coop. But you'd better make darned sure that you have really excellent ventilation or you will very likely have some frostbite problems on your hands.

Since you can't change the coop size, don't want to downsize your flock, and they are free rangers anyways, Pat's suggestion for setting up the warmest, driest and most snow-free outdoor zone possible is probably in your best interests. I'd consider roofing a run, making hay-bale walls or wrapping it with plastic to keep the snow and wind out, thus extending the size of your coop. Keep the inside for mostly sleeping or warming up.

 

[elmo]

How much work do you want to do keeping things clean? The higher the ratio of chickens to space, the more work you'll need to do.

Keep the ratio lower, and you can have more time to relax and enjoy your chickens.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I have 13 chickens, large breed and my coop is 7x10. I have a dropping board, the nest boxes do not sit on the floor and I have a feeder that is full of Layena pellets and waterer under the dropping board-- so the floor space is all theirs. My run is 10x12 --a little less per bird than the 'stated needed run space'.. In the run, I have five feeding 'stations'-- two have BOSS and oats mix with premium birdseed and two have suet cake cages stuffed full of greens or treats such a pumpkins, squash, tomatoes etc..and one has grit.. It works for us but I sure wish my run was two or three times larger.. I can only let them free range for about two hours every day and this makes me sad....

But they seem happy and health.. they lay very well and don't pick/peck at each other...

 

[LucyDidi]

I just got my first three chickens on Saturday, and their run is six feet long. Not sure of the square feet-measurement, but they seem totally fine with it!