how much space per chicken

[ninny]

hi we have a large barn that will have runs in it for the birds . i can't free range, we have way to many predators around here. i lost 40 birds in a week last time i tried. so my question is most of these are bantams but some are not, so how many feet per bird in the runs ? ive heard 2ft per bird but wanted to make sure. im breeding so some coops will have mixed sexes but some won't they will be male coops and female coops. then for those groups ill use breeding pens. (don't worry there will be some outside time under our watchful eyes) im thinking that the roo pens will need extra space so that they don't kill each other. any suggestions?

 

[Davaroo]

I need to be more sensitive here to the newcomers. I tend to get a little harsh when this subject comes up. Please forgive me.

It says it is a good coop for up to 10 "free range" chickens.

My guess is its for ten birds that use the outside run and go the coop to roost and lay. There isnt room for much else by the look of it!

When they say "free range" do they mean all day long? See, I'm in Raleigh, and our chickens must be penned.

Well sorta. What I think is intended there is that they aren't in the COOP anytime but at night. Freerange is SUCH a misused term. Penned, even if in a large yard, is not freeranged. Sorry.

Would this coop and run I've listed above be suitable for 4-6 full-size hens (egg layers, no breeding), if they will only get to be out and about for a limited time?

With the run, barely. Without it, I'd say no. I wouldn't want half a dozen heavies all day in something that comes to me via UPS. Chickens belong OUTSIDE during the day - not "cooped up" (thus the term).

Look at it like this. Go out to the garage, or wherever, and find a floor tile. Or go into the kitchen or somewhere that is tiled. Each common floor tile is one square foot.
Now, measure off 4 of them together on two sides, which equals 16 total in a square. That is 4 square feet. If you dont have chickens right now, find a five gallon bucket and put it in the middle of the tiles. The bucket simulates a large laying chicken, like a Rock or Australorp.
This experiment graphically illustrates what I have been saying. It's not much room for a large, active animal like an adult hen, let alone a grown cock.

But, wait, we're not done.

Now, cram those big layers and their boys into your coop - into which you also shoehorn feeders, waterers, roosts, nests, grit feeders and whatever faddish things you think the chickens will like.
Getting kinda cramped, aint it?

Truth is, chickens belong outside. The exceptions are roosting (sleeping at night) and laying. For the most part they should eat and drink outside, breed outside and just generally be, well... outside. But there is still a problem you have top face.

Chickens tear up whatever landscape they are on. Most people who have them take this for granted - most newbies don't know about it 'til it happens!
Soon, all grass is gone and the entire area is devoid of life. While all this is going on, the birds never stop pooping everywhere. Did you know that about 70% of the food that goes in the front end of a chicken goes right back out the rearas droppings? And then the rain comes...

Remember when I talked about waste control. Well, you probably get the picture. Unless the earth can absorb them and there "wasteful" habits, then you have to manage it. You'll want to move that pretty little coop once every few days to new ground to do that.

I started out like everyone else and learned alot, the hard way. Currently I have a 40 by 40 pen, with NO birds. The earth in there is resting and sweetening for the next crop. When I get them, I wont have many more than 8 in there, maybe 10. That's it. If I do it this way, I find I have no problems with flies, muck, disease, whining neighbors and so on.

I don't want to scare you; remember what I said about being sensitive earlier. But this is chicken reality. I believe it's better you hear it now, than later.​

 

[Davaroo]

Ah the old "how much space" question. I didn't even look and I'll bet there is at least one answer that says 4 sq ft. in the coop.

It's better to ask "How much space you got?"

Here's what you do: Decide how may you can keep in your space by following the rules - and then cut that number by at least a third.

The "Rules" as we have come to know them, are an amalgam of practices, mostly influenced by the commercial poultry business.

Chickens are active creatures and need room. In days gone by (before the advent of intensive management practices), 10-20 sq ft/bird was considered just adequate. Inside, In the areas where they will roost, lay and then get back outside where they belong - that can be minimal: 4-5 sq ft or so. But if they are to spend any time inside, then that will not do.

Outdoors, it was always considered that 500/acre was tops. That means a minimum of 87.5 sq ft/bird. To give them less is tempting fate and will ensure that they turn whatever outdoor area you provide them into a moonscape.

Most of this has to do with waste, otherwise known as filth. The more you crowd them, the more you must become a waste managnement specialist - never on anyone's fun list. They also get testy with one another when ovecrowded and begin doing heathenlike things to one another.

Bottom line, give them as much as you can... more, in fact, than you think they need, since you'll be under the influence of "chicken want-itis" in the beginning. Overcrowding is the number one cause of disease and other maladies. All preventable, mind you, if you but refrain from cramming as many chickens as possible into the available space.

My $.02 worth? Consider the 4 Sq Ft Rule as one to throw out.

 

[Davaroo]

I followed the 4 Square Foot Rule in the past, mostly because that was the average of all the modern wisdom. I built an ark according to that and I even wrote an article on the mathematics of the whole concept.

Then I began to read the archane texts, by guys like Kains and Hastings and Robinson. I learned that this whole 4 sq ft thing was an offshoot of modernistic commercial practice, which has filtered down into poultrydom at large. Since then I've dumped it. It is true that there are no absolutes here but you can come close - and should try.
So here it comes, the Revised Space Allowance guideline, or "RSA" for short:

"It is far better to have fewer chickens than it is to cram too many of them in to a small space without respite."

Now this will go against the grain for those whose nature it is to overdo things. If a BOGO sign (Buy One Get One...) in front of a store causes you to whip out your wallet and careen into the parking lot, be careful here! If your OTHER favorite website is FreeCycle, becuase you can get lots of "cool stuff" there, BEWARE! - - -
You will surely suffer from "chicken want-itis," which is simply wanting as many of the cute little darlings as you can get your clutching hands on. Unless you have planned for this you will do no one any good. This is where the old adage, "Know Thyself," will come in handy.

Barq has a small roost area, yes, but a chicken only needs about 18 square inches for that activity. I've had hens that fit 4 of themselves in a standard nest box and be happy that way. But day to day living is another matter. Think about the size of your bed, when compared to your house, for example.

Also note the admission the the birds go in the house only to lay and roost. The rest of the time they are out. Wise, wise, wise. Chickens need fresh air and lots of it. Their metabolic rate is high and they use a lot of oxygen.

Someone mentioned ammonia. When you confine them tightly, their droppings exude huge amounts of ammonia gas as they breakdown. This gets in the lungs and can cause all sorts of respiratory problems if not dealt with - again, waste management. The commercial poultry business has devised all sorts of methods to combat this. Near as I can tell, it is perhaps their primary concern, from which most other problems arise.

When I said chickens do heathenlike things to each other when crowded, I meant everything from disease to cannibalism stems from that one factor. I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but you can't "fudge" this basic element of poultry care. Pollyanna idealism wont help you when you fail in this matter.

 

[Windy Ridge]

A point to be made, too, is that it's not just a matter of having a rather ravaged landscape, crowded girls and more frequent cleaning chores (although those are all good points!). The less room you have for your chickens, the more you're likely to have problems with parasites and illness passed quickly amongst the flock... with picking... with aggressiveness and so forth.

If your birds are crowded together closely, it's easier for lice, mites and worms to make their rounds. It's easier for a birdie bronchitis sneeze to infect everyone. And it's harder for the birds lowest on the pecking order to find a place to get away from the bossy Alphas.

That's not to say that you have to follow FOUR SQUARE FEET absolutely, because these are rules of thumb only--dependent on your particular conditions--and obviously you can have mites, lice, picking and everything else whether you have one square foot, four square feet or 10 square feet per bird. However, with more space, when you do have problems, it may be easier to get those problems under control

One hopes!

 

[bruceha2000]

I have a 16m2 roofed run. Not sure what that works out in ft I'm terrible with maths. I also have a hen house that stands high enough of the ground so birds don't lose any ground space. I'd most defiatly be letting the girls out during the day for a few hours as we are pretty predtor safe here. I'd just like to know honestly how many would be happy. Not just ok but generally comfortable and happy. I'm gonna be buying some soon and want the best for the flock. I'd love to get 6. My hen house has 6 nesting boxes. My friends a carpenter so has built it with extra room etc. Would love a reply for this. Many thanks guys

You don't have to be good at math, Google knows everything!
16m2 = ? sq ft
172.223

The general rule for birds that do spend time in the coop is 4 sq ft (.37 m2) minimum and 10 sq ft (.93 m2) for the run. You don't say how big the coop is but the run is well more than the minimum for 6 large fowl. They will take more than the minimum if they can get it

My 16 birds complain when they are "trapped" in an area that is 10X the minimum run space. Why? Because they get to be outside that space when we are home and they have their favorite resting and foraging spots.

As for nest boxes, 3 will easily suffice for 6 birds and you will likely find that they would rather be in a nest that another girl has laid in than have one with their name on it for exclusive use. That said, they individually will most likely have a favorite nest and get bent out of shape when they are ready to lay if "their" nest is occupied by another girl.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

chicken
coop 4 square
run 8 square

bantam
coop 2 square
run 6 square

Breeding I would say give them as much space as you can!

 

[LisaJean]

Hi David!

I appreciate your input very much! Yeah, I am glad I asked, because that coop did look MIGHTY small for ten birds.

What I think I am going to do is get that coop-and-run combo, and then also get a large chainlink dog kennel with a cover, and sort of daisy-chain it onto the run to give the girls more room.

The state fair is coming up. If I can get all my (expletive deleted) together in time, I may purchase a couple of birds then.

 

[PurpleChicken]

I've read a little on this subject and believe:
"The more space the better".

However, most of us here don't own farms so we are limited
by available space. The less space, the more maintenance.

My current setup:
Coop area inside my shed/barn in 12'x3'.
My run is 6x18.
I currently have 12 birds who spend 12 to 16 hours a day in the coop(3ft/bird),
4 to 8 hours in their run(9ft/bird) and I do my best to let them free range
on my property bordering some woods for a few hours every afternoon. They
stay in an area around 1/4 acre. It's a diverse piece of land with good shade,
dust bath area, bug pickin zone, and of course my front lawn with all those
juicy pieces of fresh grass.

We change the pine in the coop every 4 or 5 days. We have more of a problem
with the ammonia smell after 5 days than with a poop smell.

Everyone who sees my setup, especially those with poulty experience, say I have
happy and spoiled birds.

Don

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I've seen this coup at a local feed store. First impressions were "Wow, that is so cute".

I'd say 4 hens max for it with a run they have access to all the time. They
would only sleep, roost, in it.

Concerns: What about the cold months? This thing would be drafty on not
hold heat well. If there is snow on the ground the chickens will spend a lot of
time "cooped up"

Conclusion: Good for a few Bantums but a cheap shed with some minor modifications
would work much better. More room, easier access and cleaning, etc...

Good luck