Is my coop too small?

[ckeene1990]

I built a coop that is 4x4. I built a ladder type perch that takes up a bit of room, and two perches higher by the ceiling, I’m afraid there is not enough room for the chickens. Do they need a lot of room to walk around inside the coop? I will have a big run and sometimes free range. I have 6 chickens coming, is this too small?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, good question. The general rule of thumb is that you should plan to provide 4 sq ft of floor space for each LF* chicken in your coop, and 10 sq ft for each bird in your run. 4×4 = 16 sq ft, Divided by 4 = 4 so there is room for 4 birds in your coop. BUT you have to subtract any floor footage occupied by waterer, feeder, nests or anything else.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oops. *Lf = Large Fowl, not bantams.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I fixed my typos, sorry.

 

[whatthechickens]

What type of chickens are they? Is this just for sleeping, ie they will roam outside during the daytime either in run or free ranging?

 

[ckeene1990]

What type of chickens are they? Is this just for sleeping, ie they will roam outside during the daytime either in run or free ranging?

They are splash laced red Wyandottes. They will have a large run that will be available to them. I am going to post pics of the coop in the morning.

 

[ckeene1990]

What type of chickens are they? Is this just for sleeping, ie they will roam outside during the daytime either in run or free ranging?

Their run is 10x13 feet

 

[rosemarythyme]

It'll be tighter than what's usually suggested on here though you might be able to make it work as long as there's enough roosting space and ventilation, and the birds get to leave at daybreak.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Their run is 10x13 feet

By my calculations that's about 21 sq ft each for 6 chickens. Plenty of room.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My coop is a little overcrowded by conventional standards, also by about 5 birds too many (I often have about 25 birds counting the rooster, in an 8 x 10 building), but it works. I have roosts along 3 walls so there's really adequate room at night. During the day they have an enormous run for the first half of the day (to keep them near the nests) and about five acres to free range the second half of the day. Just watch out for bullying, resource guarding, and feather picking, signs they're stressed due to overcrowding. Good luck!