108 square foot coop?

[Harleychicks]

Did the 4 square foot 'rule' for coop living space, 27 chickens will be living in luxury.
I have been reading quite a few unfavorable reviews of pre made coops and am thinking of attempting a DIY pallet coop,http://www.oklahomahistory.net/chickencoop.html. Any ideas on if this would be too large of a coop or would this be a non-issue.
When would one stop feeding chicks scratch and graduate to the next food AND WHAT WOULD THE NEXT FOOD BE?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Scratch is not a sole feed. Chick starter or grower is. Grower feed can be the only feed you ever give your birds if you supply oyster shell on the side free choice when they start laying. But I start my birds on a higher protein starter. My choice is unmedicated and that way all the birds under my care can be on the same feed at any time.

The coop in your link looks to be 4x8 which is 32 sqft. I'm not a follower of the 4 sqft per bird in a coop situation. That kind of space is for those that lock birds in for periods of time. Some people don't let birds out in coldest winter months. I'm not one of those people and my birds go outside by their choice even on -20F days if there is no wind. I like 2.5 sqft per bird in coop but again they only use it to roost at night or wait out the coldest mornings before going out to the run.

The run you shold have as much space as you can manage. 10 sqft per bird is a good number that's used but more is always better.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

We have 6 chickens, they have a 72 sq. ft. area in the coop. It's a great space for them and me when I need to be in there. They have a 128 sq. ft. run attached. We could add more chickens in the future but it's nice for them having that space. I don't think there could ever be too much space.

Scratch is like a treat, not a main feed. Chicks start out on chick starter then moving on to grower then layer when laying. Some never use layer, just supplementing the grower with oyster shell for added calcium.

 

[Harleychicks]

Cool info ,I was wrong about the feed they are on chicken started,looks like little Grape Nuts,when do I we need to switch them over to the next step? Also we

came home to this should we be worried