4 square feet per chicken?

[rachelwillow]

This thread is making me feel so much better. I read that super long thread from a couple of years ago...lots of arguing going on about how much space they need and some even said 5 sqft per bird and I was sort of freaking out. We got 8 chicks and have a big backyard but my hubby certainly wasn't anticipating building a ginormous structure. We live in southern Oregon and it's really not all that chilly here. Winter maybe a handful of nights down in the teens, days always somewhere between 35-45F. We get a few inches of snow that sticks around for a couple of hours at the most, so snow isn't a concern. The run will be close to the side of our house, so I'm thinking there won't be a whole lot of wind there. Do you think they will be ok with a 24 sqft. coop (so 3ft per bird) and an 8x20 run?

 

[BGMatt]

With that big of a run, barring some weirdness (unusually large breed, extended time locked in coop only, etc) they should be just fine.

 

[pmcatnip]

This thread is making me feel so much better. I read that super long thread from a couple of years ago...lots of arguing going on about how much space they need and some even said 5 sqft per bird and I was sort of freaking out. We got 8 chicks and have a big backyard but my hubby certainly wasn't anticipating building a ginormous structure. We live in southern Oregon and it's really not all that chilly here. Winter maybe a handful of nights down in the teens, days always somewhere between 35-45F. We get a few inches of snow that sticks around for a couple of hours at the most, so snow isn't a concern. The run will be close to the side of our house, so I'm thinking there won't be a whole lot of wind there. Do you think they will be ok with a 24 sqft. coop (so 3ft per bird) and an 8x20 run?

Yes, I think so. I'm in the Willamette Valley so the weather is pretty much the same as yours. I have about 20 birds, 10 standard size and 10 half pints. The coop is 16 sq ft and the run is about 14'x30' (about 20 sq ft per bird, same as your proposed run). They only go into the coop to lay and sleep so they don't soil it very much. They tore the run down to dirt in about three weeks but there's plenty of space and they're happy. It doesn't seem to bother them to have such a small coop because they have a large run. Once they tore up the run I let them out to free range all day. Now 9-10 of them sleep in the coop and the rest started sleeping on the porch railing. Clearly they've decided on the optimal number of birds for the amount of roosting space. (I agree with the other poster that in cases like this the amount of roosting space seems to matter more than the square footage of the floor. They are averaging about 12" roosting space per bird. I'm going to add more perches in the coop to see if they start sleeping inside again.)

 

[Jennsbirds]

If I add a tree and split the coop into two 'stories', would that count as extra space for the birds?

 

[TheCrazyChick]

If I add a tree and split the coop into two 'stories', would that count as extra space for the birds?

Check on the search thread at the top for 2 story coops. There are a few responses to that idea. Most are negative, however, I have done something similar, but am using the space below the coop through a pop door in the floor for additional winter time space. I like the idea of a story or loft aspect. I think that the other responses basially said that it seems good in theory, but the chickens all still gather on one floor. Certainly wouldn't hurt to give it a try! Let us know how it works for you.

 

[Ga Boy]

The 4sq ft per chicken rule I'm not sure i agree if you have a 8'X8' coop that's only 4 chickens.

 

[Kevin565]

8 by 8 is 64 square feet. That would mean 16 chickens.

 

[Ga Boy]

Lol Kevin your right it's to late for math.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

You can put one healthy full size adult chicken in a 4'x6' (24 square foot) pen or run and in 48 hours the grass will be almost completely gone. In a week there will be nothing but bare dirt. Chickens don't just eat grass, they scratch, trample, and pull it up, cultivate the soil, and till and plow the earth. They are Maw Nature's feathered rototillers. Nothing less than about 200 square feet per bird will allow chickens and grass to coexist and even then the chicken has the upper hand.

 

[aart]

Rule of thumb is 4 sq feet per bird IN THE COOP. 10 sq ft per bird IN THE RUN.

That's a minimum IMO....the more room the better, depending on predator and severe weather issues.