What size of coop for 8-10 hens?

[mrwoodboat]

I have been following along and there is a lot of good info here- now to muddy the water a bit- Our pen is a 12x12x6 dog lot that have put a full metal roof over (we have varmits). The coop is a 4x5 elevated house made from insulated aluminum panels with 2 nesting boxes situated to the rear so egg gathering is easier. There are 2 roosts inside. We have multiple roosts situated around the pen at various heights. When it was in the teens here, I went out at night and would move them one by one to the inside of the coop, and they would be right back on the top and roosts the next day...we were lucky in that no one got frostbite- I did remove the water at night and replace it in the mornings but our pens are very dry to begin with

The birds used the coop for a couple of years but have taken to sleeping on the roof and on the roosts in the pen. We clean the coop out regularly and replace the straw- So .it is not a case of a dirty coop but rather the fact remains that we as keepers can do our best to care for our birds but in the end, they are going to do what they want.