Am I crazy!?

[TClay]

I'm in the process of figuring out what coop size to build. I'm reading everywhere that I need X square feet per bird. For the sake of the calculation let's say 4 square feet per bird. Let's say I want to have 3 chickens. The next thing I'm reading everywhere is that that calculation is 4 feet X 3 birds, or 12 square feet of floor space for my coop. I'm thinking that is incorrect. I'm thinking it's 4 feet X 4 feet (four square feet) x 3 birds or 48 square feet of floor space. Am I crazy? Bottom line I think I need to build a coop with a floor space that is 6 X 8 feet (48 square feet). Anyone else out there having problems understanding this chicken math?

 

[Madddawg]

I am not well educated in raising chickens, as in this is my first year of doing it, but I would go as big as you can, space, time and money as you can afford. Don' look for the minimum, look for the maximum. You won't regret it in the future..

Unless things turn south on you for one reason or another with the chicks...

sorry not help with the math...

 

[ChristieB]

^^ always go as big as you can, you say in your example 3 hens, so according to chicken math you will end up with maybe 6 probably more, if you say 6 expect 10 say 10 you'll probably have 20

 

[Madddawg]

Yup, I started with 8 chicks, within 3 weeks there was 16 total, not sure that happened but I guess that's chicken math....

 

[Bradfordj]

I agree with all above posts, however Im not sure your location or climate, so if winter is a factor keep that in mind!

 

[TalkALittle]

I'm in the process of figuring out what coop size to build.  I'm reading everywhere that I need X square feet per bird. For the sake of the calculation let's say 4 square feet per bird.  Let's say I want to have 3 chickens.  The next thing I'm reading everywhere is that that calculation is 4 feet X 3 birds, or 12 square feet of floor space for my coop.  I'm thinking that is incorrect.  I'm thinking it's 4 feet X 4 feet (four square feet) x 3 birds or 48 square feet of floor space.  Am I crazy?  Bottom line I think I need to build a coop with a floor space that is 6 X 8 feet (48 square feet).  Anyone else out there having problems understanding this chicken math?

No, you're not crazy. You're just confused. The answer is 12 square feet. The way you did it gives the birds 16 square ft. each (4x4=16). If you used your 4 square feet per bird then each bird would have a space that is 2'x2' or 4'x1'. Either of those dimensions yields an area of 4 square feet. Then to figure for 3 birds you multiply by 3. Drawing it out as squares on graph paper should help you visualize easier.

 

[TalkALittle]

Anyone else out there having problems understanding this chicken math?

BTW, "chicken math" is a term that many on here use to explain how the number of chickens that we own seems to multiply. That's why the answers you got all suggested building as big as you can so you'll be ready when you want to expand your flock.

 

[georgiagail]

For what it's worth.....

We helped my son build his coop and run. He has four chickens. His coop is a 4 by 4. We did this size because he wanted only four chickens and it was easy to cut a sheet of 4 x 8 plywood in half.

However, the focus on size was on the run since chickens are out during the day. Like our coops/runs he used a dog run and set this up as an 5 by 15 run. This gives his girls plenty of room to roam during the day.

I've attached a couple of pictures so you can see the size of the coop and the run. We had to put some shade cloth around the bottom portion of the run as one of his dogs is a bit too curious about his hens.

 

[lereg15]

You'll be crazy when you try to fit 10 chickens in that coop!! LOL. I would suggest going big enough for the chicken math to unfold. I know somebody on here that started out with six hens and now has a small business selling them.

 

[DCortez]

Plan on one, build for 30.

I started with one found rooster in July and now have 13 other adults, 17 chicks, and 23 more chicks on order. Building a new coop soon. Didn't plan on one, much less 50