How Much Room Do Chickens Need?

Very thorough with adjustments for all situations. I have 7 mongrel 'garden' chickens and 3 big fat Orpingtons. I had to take down a divider between 2 nest boxes to accommodate hens that cover a 9"x15" area when sitting! They're all in the coop at night & free range all day, with access to the coop. The 'jardineros' like to roost in trees during the day if it's hot. Over the past 9 months I've made a few changes to the coop to make life easier for them, especially in width of ramps in the coop for the Orpingtons.

Great article. I have a solar door so they come out at dawn and are in their coop at sunset. It works great and you don’t have to be there exactly when they wake up as they have come out on their own.

A very good, and well thought out article. I tend to want to give my chickens and ducks more room than they need. I wake up at 6am every morning to let them out and put them all up whenever the sun goes down. I take care of my birds because they take care of me.

Good information.

The standard recommendations are a good starting point but one has to temper them with their own knowledge and situation.

Excellent article - I love how you cover free ranging instead of just runs as mine free range.

Excellent information. I'm new here and this answered a lot of my questions. And put me at ease on my 8x8 shed coop for 12 hens (3 are jersey Giants)

Excellent information and a terrific explanation of why guidelines aren't hard and fast rules.

Hi! I know this is an older article, but this makes me feel more confident. I am going to have 13 chickens in a 8 by 5' space (40') I have a few bantams, and one big bird (a Brahma) so I was getting worried, as people said at least 4' per hen, and they would have about 3'. But now if I think about it, they will 27' of extra space, so that seems ok. Anyway, thank you!

I was told that I was giving my chickens too much room. However, they cannot always free range( a family of foxes and a couple of coyotes). So I fenced off a 30' X 30' area. Maybe overkill, but my 9 chickens seem to love it. So, I agree, more is better than less.

Good article. Now I feel more comfortable with my set up. My birds are out free ranging all day. I’ve recently added more perches as the flock nearly doubled this year with those broody hens.
Having an electronic door really makes life easier especially in the mornings. I still check nightly to make sure everyone got in.
thanks so much.

Very good article!

Thank you for your insight. Knowledge is key.

Very helpful for a newbie!

Very helpful article. Answered several of my questions. Thanks

I always enjoy @Ridgerunner's comments and responses to questions asked in the forum, and this article did not disappoint! Well thought-out, balanced, thorough and articulate, it not only discusses chickens' standard space requirements, but also explains the reasons behind those requirements. Armed with this information, the chicken owner can better determine the space requirements for their own situation based on their flock size, climate and location, breeds and temperaments, and even their own personal habits. The standard four square feet per bird of coop space thus becomes more of a general guideline than a rule set in stone. Thanks, @Ridgerunner. Nicely done.

Very good article and very good information! I have a 6x8' chicken coop with only 3 chickens in it and was wondering how many chickens were too much to get. This article explained to me with good information about how much space your chickens need.

Thank you for ALOT of great information.

Excellent for beginners. Should have read this article before I bought chickens and turkeys. Live and learn. Thank you to who ever posted this read.

This is a new experience for me and your article was extremely helpful, thank you!

Great article! Well written and very informative.