8x6 coop for 16 chickens?

others can give a LOT more advice than I can. but I have an 8x8 coop that is raised up 24" (on legs) I use a step ladder to get in it and it is tall enough to stand up and walk around in. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! The chickens can go under it which is great for the shade as well (it has HWC all around the bottom of it so it is closed off and part of the run area.
 
Yeah, absolutely going to have a predator proof run. I'm building some runs for quail and a rabbit colony set up, too, so having each run predator proof is important. We have badgers, foxes, skunks, and some small weasels along with the ubiquitous coyote. OP may also have those depending on where in SE NM they're at. So, a dug in apron of hardware cloth is definitely a good idea. Inside and outside the run for good measure. Going to run some hot wire around the bases, too.

This thread has good info on electric fencing. Grounding for electric can be difficult in a dry area when using a grounding rod, but there's other ways to ground a fence. If you're running multi strand, you can alternate which wire is hot and which one is ground. I don't like that as much because it depends on an animal coming into contact with several strands in order to receive a shock. You can also run welded wire along the ground, so that when a critter steps on it and comes into contact with the hot wire, they close the loop and get shocked. I'm lucky enough to be able to use a grounding rod, but offering these additional grounding tips just in case you're drier.

Some things I'm wondering about is the general lack of humidity and how that plays into our ventilation needs, as we're unlikely to ever have a humid coop or muddy run. I've been looking for posts from people in similar dry, hot states with higher population density to get ideas. My main concern is, when cutting holes in the shed for ventilation, am I just letting the heat of the sun in? So, I'm thinking about adding solar blocking screen material in there along with the hardware cloth, and having heat-minimal lighting inside like LED's so it's not just a dark cave inside.

What I've seen in a couple Arizona threads is the suggestions of timed misters in the run and coop with sand bedding. I may try that!
 
I have 16 birds currently. They have a 4x7 coop. Not bantam, not cramped, and not miserable. My management of them would be completely different than most people here. One is not better than another it's simply different.

Management style is not a one size fits all thing. Just like @KodiakChicken1909 said on the first page that run size makes a difference- it absolutely does. If you lock your birds in the coop some days then that makes a difference. If you plan to constantly integrate birds of differing temperament (breeds) it makes a difference. If you put feed and water in the coop. How many cocks you plan to have, what your climate is like and everything else that makes our situations different absolutely affects the needed size of a coop or how we ventilate it.

There is no one size fits all. If you were on a different forum they'd be giving you different "rules" that someone once said on that forum and has been repeated knee jerk style ever since. If you read state university agriculture recommendations the coop size needed is exactly half what is stated here. Just sayin'...
 
Chickens don't see space in concepts of coop space versus run space. They just see how much space is available when they need it. They don't care if it is in a coop, in a run, or free range. But a key on this is when it is available. The need will come when they are awake. If they are locked in a coop because you have the pop door closed for predator protection, the run is not available. Chickens usually hate a cold wind when it is cold out. A breeze when it is hot feels good but not when it is cold. Snow can lock chickens in the coop only. Mine will be out roaming if it is below zero Fahrenheit as long as the ground is not white and a cold wind is not blowing. In those conditions coop size is more important than if they can go outside whenever they want to.

In many parts of the country a 6x8 coop could work OK for 16 chickens as long as they have access to the outside pretty much whenever they are awake. I don't know how rough your winters are, I anticipate you will have days that are not real pleasant. Heat is generally more dangerous than cold, probably will be for you. To combat heat they need shade and water. You need ventilation in the coop year around, winter and summer. If you are in extreme heat you may need to take other measures.

For anything more than 8 chickens I would not accept anything other than a walk-in coop. The run should be walk-in regardless. You need to be able to access everything inside. That gets real hard with larger coops.

Most building materials most economical sizes are in 4' and 8' dimensions. If you use these you can eliminate a lot of cutting and waste. For you I'd suggest a 12' x 6' coop though an 8x8 could work. I would not want to go any smaller than these. Not because of any magical square feet number but because of practicality. You need room to work in there and put in roosts and nests as a minimum. A 6 x 12 gives you that room. The 12' length isn't that uneconomical to build. The cut-offs from the 6' dimension may be used to build nests. But the main advantage if the 6' dimension is that you need a sloped roof so water drains. You can't make a sloped roof on an 8' wide building with an 8' long piece of lumber or an 8' long piece of plywood. You can on a 6' wide building.

I don't know how tall you are and you will probably have a thickness of bedding on the coop floor. I'd consider making one wall 6-1/2 feet high and the other 8' high. That will give you enough slope for water to run off and you can probably move around in there even with bedding.

Another advantage of a 6' wide building is that it is easier to reach under there as compared to an 8' wide building if it is elevated. I think elevated is a good idea for the shade it provides.

For run size I like to make them as big as practical. You can follow the link in my signature below to get some of my thoughts about room. What is practical will depend some on how much room you have available but often comes down to money. If you build a totally predator proof run those can quickly get pretty expensive. If your run is a fence you can enclose a lot more space economically but you lose on predator risk. Some people free range with no fences and some just use a fence and do OK. If others tried either of those methods they'd be wiped out pretty quickly. We all have different risk tolerance and different predator risks. That doesn't make it easy for me to tell you what you need to do.

So good luck and welcome to the adventure.
 
My main concern is, when cutting holes in the shed for ventilation, am I just letting the heat of the sun in?

This is why you need to think in terms of airFLOW, not just square feet of ventilation.

Here in the Steamy Southeast I need either DEEP shade or double to triple the recommend ventilation just to keep the coop under 100F on a 90F day

But my big open air coop is the coolest place in the yard on a hot day because I not only have extreme ventilation, but also took advantage of microclimates and the natural airflow of the land.

In a hot climate don't think of cutting holes in a shed, but of putting windbreaks on a pavilion. ,🙂

If the roost is sheltered from wind they can cope with cold, but heat kills.
 
Looks like we're in a similar area. I have a prebuilt shed on property that's 4x9, and 12 chicks. So, I'm also violating the 4sq ft rule. I'm working with a college student budget, so I've consigned myself to working with what I have and having the run accessible 24/7.

I'm in the grasslands too, so I know what you're dealing with as far as wind. This is all hypothetical and hasn't been stress tested yet, but hey, it's something.

My run and shed is somewhat sheltered by a barn, but if you haven't got another structure handy, you might be able to provide a bit of windbreak on bad days with a tarp over 3 sides of the run. That's my plan, anyway. One of those 6 mil clear tarps that only gets put on during heavy winds, so they can still go out in relative peace. In order to deal with the fact that this is essentially a giant sail, I have 18" rebar spikes hammered in at each of the posts, so I can make sure the run doesn't fly off. The shed itself has earth auger anchors, like how they use for mobile homes, and it hasn't moved.

Over the run, I've got shade cloth. It's slightly permeable so the wind doesn't snag at it so bad as full tarps, and it works pretty well to keep the heat off. I have another one over my back patio, so I can actually sit outside during the summer without being burnt to a crisp. Over the top and down the west side a bit helps the best here.

A longer term solution is windbreak trees. I'm not sure if the forestry service is still selling them, so you may have to wait for december, but NM forestry sells them for less than a dollar each, and you can pick them up at your ag extension.

For the coop itself, I've seen a lot of people in hotter climates suggest open air coops. I've seen a lot with just 3 sides and a front made entirely of hardware cloth. Honestly, any search of "open air coop" on here gets interesting threads, but I most liked this one, and especially this post of a 3 sided coop that opens up into a run.

The Woods open air coop is a design I see mentioned a lot, too, and I've seen a couple designs here and there.

Personally, I'm trying to decide how many holes I can cut into my shed before it stops being structurally sound, haha.

Good luck!

Edit:
Oh yeah, and I'm feeding / watering in the run, not the coop. Not just to maximize sq ft, but also to avoid mess. My shed's a walk in, and I think I'd prefer that, anyway.
Ok This gives me things to think about. I love the concept of an open coop however the winds in this area and particularly the area I’m in are ruthless. I’m afraid I couldn’t keep drafts under control or have the coop blow away 😵‍💫. The ventilation is my main focus and I’m lucky to have some crafty family members helping put my vision to life. I’m thinking about a covered run with coyote fence on the south side to provide shade as like I mentioned before, my area is on a hill with caliche and bolder ground.. I love the idea of forest service trees, and will likely do that. In the meantime I just need to make sure they are secure. There’s lots of predators. I’ll use a side of my pump house for wind break.
 
Chickens don't see space in concepts of coop space versus run space. They just see how much space is available when they need it. They don't care if it is in a coop, in a run, or free range. But a key on this is when it is available. The need will come when they are awake. If they are locked in a coop because you have the pop door closed for predator protection, the run is not available. Chickens usually hate a cold wind when it is cold out. A breeze when it is hot feels good but not when it is cold. Snow can lock chickens in the coop only. Mine will be out roaming if it is below zero Fahrenheit as long as the ground is not white and a cold wind is not blowing. In those conditions coop size is more important than if they can go outside whenever they want to.

In many parts of the country a 6x8 coop could work OK for 16 chickens as long as they have access to the outside pretty much whenever they are awake. I don't know how rough your winters are, I anticipate you will have days that are not real pleasant. Heat is generally more dangerous than cold, probably will be for you. To combat heat they need shade and water. You need ventilation in the coop year around, winter and summer. If you are in extreme heat you may need to take other measures.

For anything more than 8 chickens I would not accept anything other than a walk-in coop. The run should be walk-in regardless. You need to be able to access everything inside. That gets real hard with larger coops.

Most building materials most economical sizes are in 4' and 8' dimensions. If you use these you can eliminate a lot of cutting and waste. For you I'd suggest a 12' x 6' coop though an 8x8 could work. I would not want to go any smaller than these. Not because of any magical square feet number but because of practicality. You need room to work in there and put in roosts and nests as a minimum. A 6 x 12 gives you that room. The 12' length isn't that uneconomical to build. The cut-offs from the 6' dimension may be used to build nests. But the main advantage if the 6' dimension is that you need a sloped roof so water drains. You can't make a sloped roof on an 8' wide building with an 8' long piece of lumber or an 8' long piece of plywood. You can on a 6' wide building.

I don't know how tall you are and you will probably have a thickness of bedding on the coop floor. I'd consider making one wall 6-1/2 feet high and the other 8' high. That will give you enough slope for water to run off and you can probably move around in there even with bedding.

Another advantage of a 6' wide building is that it is easier to reach under there as compared to an 8' wide building if it is elevated. I think elevated is a good idea for the shade it provides.

For run size I like to make them as big as practical. You can follow the link in my signature below to get some of my thoughts about room. What is practical will depend some on how much room you have available but often comes down to money. If you build a totally predator proof run those can quickly get pretty expensive. If your run is a fence you can enclose a lot more space economically but you lose on predator risk. Some people free range with no fences and some just use a fence and do OK. If others tried either of those methods they'd be wiped out pretty quickly. We all have different risk tolerance and different predator risks. That doesn't make it easy for me to tell you what you need to do.

So good luck and welcome to the adventure.
Gosh thank you for all your insight. Since this is my first flick I’m afraid there will be a lot of trial and error though this gives me good guidelines and considerations. My area has such extreme weather and I will be building it in Modular for transporting (I’m toward the end of a new home build and have other life complications impacting where I can construct the coop itself)
 
This is why you need to think in terms of airFLOW, not just square feet of ventilation.

Here in the Steamy Southeast I need either DEEP shade or double to triple the recommend ventilation just to keep the coop under 100F on a 90F day

But my big open air coop is the coolest place in the yard on a hot day because I not only have extreme ventilation, but also took advantage of microclimates and the natural airflow of the land.

In a hot climate don't think of cutting holes in a shed, but of putting windbreaks on a pavilion. ,🙂

If the roost is sheltered from wind they can cope with cold, but heat kills.

I got a little confused on what you meant by this, because I'm working with a shed that already exists. So, I am cutting holes in it, because it's already there, and building a new coop is not currently a possibility. But I get what you mean, now. If / when I upgrade to a not-shed coop, I'll keep that in mind for sure.

This is what my land looks like, so there's just no deep shade at all, for now. So, I have to create it.
tb-west-notch-wide-11.jpg

Any hole I cut is going to let some sun in, because the sun's everywhere, here. This is what I have set in stone for now as far as what I'm going to cut for ventilation, and what I hope the air will do.

1679597453861.png

Ok This gives me things to think about. I love the concept of an open coop however the winds in this area and particularly the area I’m in are ruthless. I’m afraid I couldn’t keep drafts under control or have the coop blow away 😵‍💫. The ventilation is my main focus and I’m lucky to have some crafty family members helping put my vision to life. I’m thinking about a covered run with coyote fence on the south side to provide shade as like I mentioned before, my area is on a hill with caliche and bolder ground.. I love the idea of forest service trees, and will likely do that. In the meantime I just need to make sure they are secure. There’s lots of predators. I’ll use a side of my pump house for wind break.

Yeah no kidding. This was last month here.
333299019_934084464275942_7836476643043065768_n.png

I see a lot of three sided structures for sheep, goats, with the opening facing away from prevailing winds. I think that could work, but yeah, wind is the main issue here, haha.
 

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