Question on housing

[chickenboy]

Hey everyone I'm making a coop that is going to be 6x6' how many chickens do you think I could fit in their

 

[silkiechicken]

Is this coup just where they are going to sleep at night? If not, for standard sized chickens, it is recommended something like 10 sq feet per bird of ground area.

 

[justusnak]

I wrote MM...and they said....4 sq ft per standard size chicken....I might be wrong..so 9 chickens?

 

[chickenboy]

Yes this is just primarily a coop for them to sleep at night because during the day they go outside. I have rhode island reds so that might change something

 

[silkiechicken]

My nite coop is 8x8 and one time I had 16 RIR's in there and it was a tight fit. At that ratio it was 4 ft per bird, which is fine if all they do in there is sleep, the had access to an enclosed run where they could pop out for the day, from where when I got up, I would let them out of that too to range over a few acres. See how they act and if some get picked on, then you're pushing the limit. Maybe someone more offical on footage can chime in.


In commercial egg laying places, the minimum square footage for a hen is about the size of a sheet of printer paper...