I was just looking to know how many chickens could you put inside a 7'x15' coop
7'x15' coop
- Thread starter leghorn890
- Start date
To answer that there is a bit more information that would be needed:
1 - LF or bantam?
2 - what is the climate?
3 - what run space will be available and/or will the birds be allowed to free-range for some or all of the day?
The generally accepted rule of thumb is 4 square feet of coop space per LF bird - plus a minimum of 10 square feet of run space - which would mean your 105 square feet would 'fit' 26.25 birds with at least 260 square feet of outdoor/run space also available to them. However, then you need to account for lost space if feeders or waterers will be inside the coop - and any other things that take up floor space. This would also depend on whether the birds would be confined in these quarters 24/7 for much of the year or would be able to get out and take advantage of additional living space outdoors in a run or free-ranging -- and how much of the year is likely to be inclimate enough that they would stay inside.
Things to consider are these are just guidelines and folks have success with more/less space - but the less space per bird the more likely you are to see stress related issues from aggression to feather picking to health issues - and the more birds per space the more mess you have to contend with so there is increased housekeeping involved to maintain a healthy environment for your birds.
1 - LF or bantam?
2 - what is the climate?
3 - what run space will be available and/or will the birds be allowed to free-range for some or all of the day?
The generally accepted rule of thumb is 4 square feet of coop space per LF bird - plus a minimum of 10 square feet of run space - which would mean your 105 square feet would 'fit' 26.25 birds with at least 260 square feet of outdoor/run space also available to them. However, then you need to account for lost space if feeders or waterers will be inside the coop - and any other things that take up floor space. This would also depend on whether the birds would be confined in these quarters 24/7 for much of the year or would be able to get out and take advantage of additional living space outdoors in a run or free-ranging -- and how much of the year is likely to be inclimate enough that they would stay inside.
Things to consider are these are just guidelines and folks have success with more/less space - but the less space per bird the more likely you are to see stress related issues from aggression to feather picking to health issues - and the more birds per space the more mess you have to contend with so there is increased housekeeping involved to maintain a healthy environment for your birds.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #3
Large fowl and the run would be about 7'x25' and I live in Ireland so it depends how bad the winter is
- Thread starter
- #4
Maybe even 7'x30'
- Thread starter
- #5
Well??
Maybe about twenty? If they are mellow birds with good outdoor access. More space is always better than crowding. Mary
I live in Ireland too, a lot of the "space rules" you will se on this site are for people who have hot summers and a couple of feet of snow in winter. We don't get much snow at all so our hen houses don't need to be near as big because the hens will spend little or no time in the house except for sleeping and laying.
For a 7' by 15' house you could put about 50 or 60 hens in it but your run is very limiting. 10 square feet of outdoor space is an absolute minimum. At 230 square feet your run could hold about 21 hens. If I were you I would go for a smaller house, maybe 6x6 or 7x7 and make the rest into run space. If you wanted 50 hens you would need a 500 square feet run, 7x70' or equivalent.
ETA I would go for about 20 square feet of outside space minimum personally but most of my hens get about 180 square feet of run space each. My main house has 10 hens in it, the house is 4x4 and the run is 25x75. In Ireland you will know that it might snow for a couple of days a year so the only problem weather wise is rain. With the smaller runs(10sq feet per hen) , hens will have the ground in dirt within a few weeks and it will quickly turn to muck and sludge and it will be like that for 8 months of the year, and it isn't pleasant for you or the hens. That is why I would recommend a very big run (research the Balfour system it works very well here if done right) or a tractor system where you move the house around every day or two to fresh grass. The only good thing about all the rain is that grass grows like mad so it isn't in short supply for most of the year. It is also cheaper to build big runs here because chicken wire (1" or 2") will keep most predators out (except for stoat or mink but if you have them you won't keep them out with fencing, they need to be trapped)
For a 7' by 15' house you could put about 50 or 60 hens in it but your run is very limiting. 10 square feet of outdoor space is an absolute minimum. At 230 square feet your run could hold about 21 hens. If I were you I would go for a smaller house, maybe 6x6 or 7x7 and make the rest into run space. If you wanted 50 hens you would need a 500 square feet run, 7x70' or equivalent.
ETA I would go for about 20 square feet of outside space minimum personally but most of my hens get about 180 square feet of run space each. My main house has 10 hens in it, the house is 4x4 and the run is 25x75. In Ireland you will know that it might snow for a couple of days a year so the only problem weather wise is rain. With the smaller runs(10sq feet per hen) , hens will have the ground in dirt within a few weeks and it will quickly turn to muck and sludge and it will be like that for 8 months of the year, and it isn't pleasant for you or the hens. That is why I would recommend a very big run (research the Balfour system it works very well here if done right) or a tractor system where you move the house around every day or two to fresh grass. The only good thing about all the rain is that grass grows like mad so it isn't in short supply for most of the year. It is also cheaper to build big runs here because chicken wire (1" or 2") will keep most predators out (except for stoat or mink but if you have them you won't keep them out with fencing, they need to be trapped)
Last edited:
I can see that; here in southern Michigan, "temperate climate" means that it averages out nice, not that it's always or often temperate. Mary
A lot!! there is no rule or minimum sf per bird. No chicken density police is going to knock on your door.
It really depends on how the chickens will be kept, full time in coop? Coop and run? Coop with run and free range?
Sounds like your coop will be for sleeping primarily. If so, it really depends on how much roosting space you can fit. My small coop has 9ft roost in 3x6. Up to 11 birds had lived at once. But I like to keep the number at 5 to 8. They have spacious run and free range.
So if you have 30 ft of roost.. 30 to 35 birds. 40 ft.. 40 to 45 birds., etc.
It really depends on how the chickens will be kept, full time in coop? Coop and run? Coop with run and free range?
Sounds like your coop will be for sleeping primarily. If so, it really depends on how much roosting space you can fit. My small coop has 9ft roost in 3x6. Up to 11 birds had lived at once. But I like to keep the number at 5 to 8. They have spacious run and free range.
So if you have 30 ft of roost.. 30 to 35 birds. 40 ft.. 40 to 45 birds., etc.
Last edited:
- Jun 25, 2014
- 247
- 25
- 131
The real question is how many do you want? If you have a lot of room to expand you can add more chooks till you are happy with the number.
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest threads
-
-
-
Does this look like water belly?- Started by Jessica241
- Replies: 1
-
-
Chickens in need of re-homing
- Started by chickensroosters
- Replies: 2
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
I know I’m probably going to upset some ppl, but I’m genuinely confused..- Started by z3lda3
- Replies: 91
-
-
-
No tails and some bald backs and other spots.
- Started by Hannah J
- Replies: 67
-
