How many chickens will fit in this coop?

[corvid]

I have a 20 square foot chicken coop with 16 nesting boxes. I was wondering what the maximum amount of chickens I could have. They will only be in there to sleep and lay eggs. During the day they will be totally free range, no fencing.

Edit: Thank you everyone for your feedback/tips! Since the nesting boxes are removeable, we will be cutting down the amount of boxes to about 2-3. Instead of keeping chickens in there, we will probably keep pheasant. We do have a covered run, but I didn't mention it when I should have.

 

[Aunt Angus]

5.

Waaaaay too many nesting boxes. For 5 chickens, you need 2 or 3.

 

[nuthatched]

5 chickens, though like aunt angus said, you have way too many boxes.
I would like to strongly suggest you build some sort of run for days when predators are about (and they will be) or when you're gone.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I have a similar size coop and it easily sleeps 8 chickens, 10 if they all get along. Like you just for sleeping and egg laying. They have an additional covered area they hang out in when it rains that's about twice the size of the coop though. I'm just a little confused how you got 16 nest boxes in a coop that size? Do you mean its 20 feet each side?

 

[cluckcluckhens]

We have a 10x20 coop. Half of that is our equipment side and straw. We have nine chickens including two roosters. We use three laying boxes. Most times all the eggs are in one box.

What we would do is have only eight chickens.

 

[gtaus]

The rule of thumb is to have 4 square feet per chicken. I live in northern Minnesota, and when the chickens are expected to live in the coop for the better part of the winter, then you should about double that space to prevent the birds from going crazy and start to fight with one another. Hence, I have almost 8 square feet per bird in my coop.

You might want to consider adding your geographical location to your name icon data, and that will help people better assist you with answers.

If your coop is 20 square feet, then a rule of thumb is that you could have about 5 chickens. For 5 chickens, you would only need 2-3 nest boxes as mentioned, not 16 boxes. I have 3 nest boxes for 10 chickens and there is no problem.

Having said that, a rule of thumb is only general guidance and your setup and the way you decide to raise your chickens is your decision. There are some YouTube videos where people pack their hens in small coops for the night but they are outside all day long otherwise.

Check out this Justin Rhodes Chickshaw mobile coop video. He packs up to 16 chickens in a 16 square foot mobile coop - but only for the night. Maybe he can get by with that because of where he lives, and his commitment to getting up early in the morning to let the birds out and then put them away in the evening. So they are only in the coop a minimal amount of time per day.

OK, that is not how I raise my chickens. I don't get up first thing in the morning before the sun comes up to let them out, and besides, half of the year my hens live inside their coop and don't go outside at all. But I thought I would mention alternative setups because not everyone believes in the 4 square feet per bird rule of thumb guidance.

BTW, I have some old commercial chicken cages that were used back in the 1970's and they had individual compartments of less than 1 square foot, and from what I understand, they might even have had 2 chickens in each section. My dad bought the cages from a farmer who went out of business and we used the wire to make rabbit cages. I still have some of the original battery chicken cages and wonder how the chickens lived in those conditions. Must have been a very sad, short, life for those birds.

Picture from Google, of the type of battery chicken cages I have, but NOT my setup. You can see how they used to pack in the chickens for egg production. I doubt if that type of setup is even legal anymore, but I really don't know. Anyway, for a backyard flock, I think the 4 square feet per bird is a good starting point, and that means you could have about 5 chickens in your 20 square feet setup.

If your setup is 20X20 feet, or 400 square feet, then you could have as many as 100 chickens and then maybe your 16 nest boxes makes more sense. I hope you verify your housing measurements, because 16 nest boxes in a 20 square foot coop is a real head scratcher for me.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Yeah, maybe the way it's set up might make it possible to cram more in there. I had a 32 sq ft coop, and it felt tight with 6, even though they had a large covered run and lots of outside time. I guess it depends on your purposes. I wouldn't do more than maybe 6, but my chickens are pets, primarily, so different preferences.

 

[aart]

I have a 20 square foot chicken coop with 16 nesting boxes.

Got pics?

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[corvid]

I have a similar size coop and it easily sleeps 8 chickens, 10 if they all get along. Like you just for sleeping and egg laying. They have an additional covered area they hang out in when it rains that's about twice the size of the coop though. I'm just a little confused how you got 16 nest boxes in a coop that size? Do you mean its 20 feet each side?

Thank you for your tips! When we were building the coop I told my dad that we would probably only need 5 boxes absolute max. But he insisted on 16... They're removable, so I probably could cut them down to 2-3 easily. We do have a run with netting and the coop is lifted off the ground so they have a little bit of space to get away from the rain if needed. I'm also thinking on keeping pheasant in it instead, and turning our old gardening shed into a pretty neat coop. Thank you again!

 

[african chickens]

The rule of thumb is to have 4 square feet per chicken. I live in northern Minnesota, and when the chickens are expected to live in the coop for the better part of the winter, then you should about double that space to prevent the birds from going crazy and start to fight with one another. Hence, I have almost 8 square feet per bird in my coop.

You might want to consider adding your geographical location to your name icon data, and that will help people better assist you with answers.

If your coop is 20 square feet, then a rule of thumb is that you could have about 5 chickens. For 5 chickens, you would only need 2-3 nest boxes as mentioned, not 16 boxes. I have 3 nest boxes for 10 chickens and there is no problem.

Having said that, a rule of thumb is only general guidance and your setup and the way you decide to raise your chickens is your decision. There are some YouTube videos where people pack their hens in small coops for the night but they are outside all day long otherwise.

Check out this Justin Rhodes Chickshaw mobile coop video. He packs up to 16 chickens in a 16 square foot mobile coop - but only for the night. Maybe he can get by with that because of where he lives, and his commitment to getting up early in the morning to let the birds out and then put them away in the evening. So they are only in the coop a minimal amount of time per day.

OK, that is not how I raise my chickens. I don't get up first thing in the morning before the sun comes up to let them out, and besides, half of the year my hens live inside their coop and don't go outside at all. But I thought I would mention alternative setups because not everyone believes in the 4 square feet per bird rule of thumb guidance.

BTW, I have some old commercial chicken cages that were used back in the 1970's and they had individual compartments of less than 1 square foot, and from what I understand, they might even have had 2 chickens in each section. My dad bought the cages from a farmer who went out of business and we used the wire to make rabbit cages. I still have some of the original battery chicken cages and wonder how the chickens lived in those conditions. Must have been a very sad, short, life for those birds.

View attachment 3034563

Picture from Google, of the type of battery chicken cages I have, but NOT my setup. You can see how they used to pack in the chickens for egg production. I doubt if that type of setup is even legal anymore, but I really don't know. Anyway, for a backyard flock, I think the 4 square feet per bird is a good starting point, and that means you could have about 5 chickens in your 20 square feet setup.

If your setup is 20X20 feet, or 400 square feet, then you could have as many as 100 chickens and then maybe your 16 nest boxes makes more sense. I hope you verify your housing measurements, because 16 nest boxes in a 20 square foot coop is a real head scratcher for me.

sadly most of the eggs you buy in the store this is there origin that is why i try to get my parent to use the eggs from our ducks same with milk