4 square feet per chicken?

[ekofke201]

Our coop is nearly finished, but just so that I am clear.... If the general rule of thumb is 4 square feet per chicken, that the coop and the run combined, right? Our run will be quite large for 7 chickens and 2 ducks, but there certainly is not that much space in the coop itself. They'll just be sleeping in there, right? This has always been my understanding. Thoughts?

 

[Fred's Hens]

You are right. It is a general rule, not a law descended from on high.

The 4 feet idea speaks to the coop only. This supposes some longer periods of cold, windy, or nasty weather. Frankly, birds in southern Texas or Florida need considerably less coop space as they won't be in there much other than to sleep on the roost. The large fowl each need 8"-12" of roost space to call their own. Those are the issues for you to consider.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

4 sq.ft. per bird in the house is very generous. Many people have 2-3 sq.ft. in the house with no problems at all. The run is where they spend the majority of their time so just make sure they have enough room in the run.

 

[ekofke201]

Thanks! I was starting to panic... And I would have one cranky husband if I mentioned that we built too small. I figured we would be fine!!

 

[NovaAman]

Our coop is nearly finished, but just so that I am clear.... If the general rule of thumb is 4 square feet per chicken, that the coop and the run combined, right? Our run will be quite large for 7 chickens and 2 ducks, but there certainly is not that much space in the coop itself. They'll just be sleeping in there, right? This has always been my understanding. Thoughts?

No, that is WRONG. Rule of thumb is 4 sq feet per bird IN THE COOP. 10 sq ft per bird IN THE RUN.

 

[NovaAman]

So you need a 90 foot sq run, and a 36 sq foot coop, or a 4x8 foot coop...

 

[Jennsbirds]

So you need a 90 foot sq run, and a 36 sq foot coop, or a 4x8 foot coop...

Ouch. I'll have to rethink my bird and coop plans entirely.

Thatmeans I can have fou birds and a duck. And I can't get the easy-to-build coop I want ( too big).

 

[Time-Out]

Buy a shed?

 

[OzarkBecky]

what is the general rule for space per chicken in the run?

 

[Time-Out]

On here: 10sqft per chicken, but that quickly results in a bare run completely devoid of plants and insect life. I use twice that as a minimum to allow grass to grow.