post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Granny368W]

Okay, I might not be doing something right.... we have an 8'x8' coop...do you do it this way? 8x8=64 then divide it by 3 to get how many chickens you should have. .. that's giving them 3' per brd, right? Ugh!

 

[CrazyChickLady7]

Divide it by 4 you should have room for 16 birds

 

[perchie.girl]

Well crap. I'm doing it all wrong, then. I have Orps, RIR, RIW, Leghorns, EE, Australorps, BCM, Silkies and 1 Wyandotte. I'll see how they do as they get bigger, and thin them out where needed. I wish there was a compatibility chart out there that would help you pick a good flock. I did research on each breed, for the most part, but I picked them for what I have in mind later down the road.

Its not written in stone... Its dependent on blood lines and flock dynamics....

Even if someone could do a chart it would not be accurate.... I actually prefer my chickens to be standoffish... Even flighty... Its to their benefit. Talking to different people who are "experts" will give you varied comments. Even ones who actually have had those particular birds. Another bloodline within the same breed may be a different temperament.

For instance everything you read about Sumatras is they are flighty and not friendly.... Yet According to my reading the do well in a mixed flock and even though they are considered a game the roos get along famously with other roos. Their only requirement is space.... I would give them six square feet instead of four. I want Sumatras in the worst way but even with my vast amount of reading I could not consider myself an expert on the breed because I have NEVER had any.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Okay, I might not be doing something right.... we have an 8'x8' coop...do you do it this way? 8x8=64 then divide it by 3 to get how many chickens you should have. .. that's giving them 3' per brd, right? Ugh!

Divide it by 4 you should have room for 16 birds

There is one more variable..... How much time they spend in the coop. here in Southern California we dont have winter snows and deep freeze..... So my birds only sleep there... Actually if you saw my coop you would think it a run.... Because its completely open air. With a tarp for the roof and roosts on one end.

The range of square feet I have heard runs from 2 - 4 square feet per bird.... that changes if you have bantams... or Large fowl like Jursey Giants...

Its all Rule of thumb ..... and as with rules of thumb you get variables. With experience you get to fine tune your personal rule of thumb. By keeping track of behavior, IE, Feather picking, excessive aggression... not enough room on the roost is also another issue.... Dominant birds will take the best roosting spot.... Some people solve this by making all the roosts the same level....

I had 20 Welsummers in a six by 12 coop/run.... 24 / 7 Rule of thumb of four feet said I had two birds too many in there. This flock of 20 included three Roos. All from the same breeder which was a hatchery. Outside of having eggs coming out of my ears.... they were friendly and all got along.... And these were very large fowl. This setup was not my ideal but a logistics issue.

When I free ranged them for a couple of hours they pretty much stuck together in a loose flock... In the desert here though there is not alot of forage....

So consider the amount of space in the run to be like a pressure valve..... and of course provide as much space as you can inside and outside the coop.

deb

 

[bruceha2000]

Okay, I might not be doing something right.... we have an 8'x8' coop...do you do it this way? 8x8=64 then divide it by 3 to get how many chickens you should have. .. that's giving them 3' per brd, right? Ugh!

If you divide by 3 because you plan to give them 3 sq ft each, then yes that will tell you how many chickens you can house in your coop. Not sure where you are going to get .3333 of a chicken to go with the other 21 though

If it is a night only coop you can divide by 2 - the minimum number of square feet and get 32 LF. But you never want them to be stuffed in there when they are not roosting at night. And plan to have a LOT of chicken poop under the roosts each morning!

The other concern is roost space. IF one crammed 32 birds in an 8x8 coop, there would have to be 4 roosts running the length or width of the coop. The roosts should be 12" minimum from the parallel wall (so they can sit straight on the roost) and 18" apart (so the birds can't peck each other).

So now you don't have enough room for 4 roosts at the same level. You can put two at 4' high and two at 2' high since you can shorten the space between the rear 2' high roost and forward upper roost. But you will be stressing the birds lower in the pecking order.

OK, got them squeezed in for the night. Don't expect to have any food, water or nest boxes in the coop, there is no room.

That is why it is SO frustrating that people sell coops and specify WAY more chickens than they can reasonably house. For example:
http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...que-Chicken-Coop-up-to-10-chickens-p1650.aspx

This has a 12 sq ft floor dimension (including the walls!) and they claim it can house 10 LF. Near as I can tell, there is 6' of roost space, though they claim 8'. Even so it is not even close to what is needed for 10LF. AT BEST you can put 6 birds in there.

 

[Matt in Okla]

Wayyyy to much chicken math going on here

Naw seriously this is good info and something I looked at hard when I jumped in.

 

[LeiaLayers5]

Update: Coop/aviary run is nearing completion. We need to add trim to pretty it up a bit and finish some other touches but otherwise its in full time use currently.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well crap. I'm doing it all wrong, then. I have Orps, RIR, RIW, Leghorns, EE, Australorps, BCM, Silkies and 1 Wyandotte. I'll see how they do as they get bigger, and thin them out where needed. I wish there was a compatibility chart out there that would help you pick a good flock. I did research on each breed, for the most part, but I picked them for what I have in mind later down the road.

What you do is never wrong if it's what you want or like and are willing to live with the outcomes. Many owners mix their flocks because many will send their birds to freezer camp anyway before the mature birds have time to express their assertive behaviors toward flockmates. My DH is a softie and won't eat our birds - even the mean ones he'll find homes for them! I wish there was a temperament chart on breeds too. I had to go all over the internet and contact actual owners or breeders to get the detailed info I needed on different breeds. As pullets and cockerels I found most said their birds were calm or pleasant or non-combative. It was after the breeds reached maturity at 18 months to 3 y/o where the aggressive or docile behaviors were most noticeable. Many purport that it depends on the line or strain a chicken comes from to determine temperament but I am not so inclined to think the same. There are just some breed characteristics that are what they are. I've had owners say how wonderful and friendly their Malays are but I'd never have a 3-foot tall bird in my backyard flock! Birds that were bred for fighting are not my idea of a good backyard chicken - LOL! But you get my meaning - some breeds are good for different reasons and for ourselves the docile temperaments are primary over egg production since ours are more pets than utility.

 

[Granny368W]

Divide it by 4 you should have room for 16 birds

oh I'm feeling a bit better now... I have 14 so I should be okay now... but I will still be letting them out for a lot of the day time.....
I removed the play pen which was keeping the younger ones away from the 4 older ones... they all came out today and did really well.... we will be putting the hardware cloth up tomorrow! We're getting closer, I'm excited! as if you can't tell....

 

[weezyfno]

Here's my idea for you or anyone who wants an idea for building on a slope. My coop was built on a slant because I couldn't level the ground due to the roots of a large tree behind it. The total run area is 16x6 and the coop alone is 6x4.

It's not finished yet but just an idea if you have the same issue. I can imagine that this is a common problem, with most of the plans I see people having to level the ground.