6 x 10 SHED

[Royalclutch]

Just ordered a shed from a local shed builder.It is a 6 x 10 Cottage with 2 windows across from each other and 2 roof vents and a chicken door.Do you think this is plenty for 16 birds?6 Red Stars,6 Black Stars and 4 leghorns.

 

[cullenf27]

It all depends on what your doing if they are free ranging or you have a lot of run space it should be fine. What I follow is the 4 ft per chicken rule. With the amount of chickens you want it will allow 3.75 ft per chicken it should be enough. It also depends what your weather is and if they are going to be cooped up in the winter which means they need more space.

Hope this helped

 

[BarefootMom]

The inside sq feet coop space per bird standard is 4ft but most prefer 10. Are your birds going to be able to free range or be in a run?

6x10=60 sq ft

16x4=64
16x10= 160

 

[Ridgerunner]

A lot depends on where you live as far as space. For most of us, provided they do have access to adequate outside space, you should do fine. If you live in a harsh climate or your management practices leave them locked in the coop a lot, well you may still be OK, but you are getting a little more risky. If they get snowed in a lot, you may be getting really risky.

What would concern me most about that is the ventilation. Whether in a hot climate in the summer or a cold climate in the winter, they need plenty of ventilation. The need in summer is obvious, but the one in winter is one that many people have trouble with. Lack of ventilation allows humidity to build up, which can lead to frostbite. There is also the ammonia build-up issue, but the one that gets most people is frostbite.

Also, in the winter you do not want a draft on the chickens when they are roosting. You solve the no drafts yet plenty of ventilation issue by having plenty of vents higher than the chickens are roosting. I'll include a link to Pat's ventilation page and a couple of other articles. If you are designing and building, that muddy run article could really help you set it up to avoid other problems.


Pat’s Big Ol' Ventilation Page
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

Pat’s Cold Coop (winter design) page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

Pat’s Big Ol' Mud Page (fixing muddy runs):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run