Battle of wills against one of my chicken...

[pennyJo1960]

The pen is 12 by 10 and the coop has about 24 SF. How much room do they need?

so it is 12 ft by 10 ft ?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sounds like the outer pen is 10x12. The coop itself looks to be 6x4 including both nesting boxes on the sides. She said 24 sq ft. So if each nesting box is 1x4' that's 4 sq ft less on each side, so subtract 8 sq ft from 24 and you get ...16 sq ft. total. That's about enough for four hens comfortably if there are no territorial or social issues. But if one hen wants twice as much space as her allottment and pecks at your outlier, then yeah, she's going to look for quieter digs, like a nesting box, where she won't get bullied.

 

[kellyiland63]

When you say the coop is 24 sq ft, does that include the nesting boxes? How big is it if you subtract the nesting boxes?

That is the SF without the boxes, They are about 6 sf each.

 

[kellyiland63]

so it is 12 ft by 10 ft ?

The pen is 12 x 10. The coop is about 24 sf w/o the nest boxes

 

[aart]

That is the SF without the boxes, They are about 6 sf each.

Have you put tape measure to that coop?
I'd bet it's smaller than you think...but can be hard to tell from pics with nothing for scale.

 

[kellyiland63]

Some of my silkies sleep in there nest box but dont poop there my eggs are always clean.

There is always poop on the eggs after she slept there. I would not mind if the eggs were not poopy...

 

[kellyiland63]

Well, I moved the nesting boxes lower than the roosting areas. That stubborn chicken is finally roosting with the others. And the girls approve of the new nesting boxes...

 

[aart]

Well, I moved the nesting boxes lower than the roosting areas. That stubborn chicken is finally roosting with the others. And the girls approve of the new nesting boxes...

I can't quite picture how there nests are part of the coop in the first post<scratcheshead> Pic from father away, please?

Have you put tape measure to that coop?
I'd bet it's smaller than you think...but can be hard to tell from pics with nothing for scale.

Did you ever measure the coop?

 

[Cryss]

The pen is 12 by 10 and the coop has about 24 SF. How much room do they need?

When you say the coop is 24 sq ft, does that include the nesting boxes? How big is it if you subtract the nesting boxes?

Just estimating the pop door to be about a foot square makes me think the coop minus nests is somewhere between 3x2 and 4x3. Three hens would be the most it could handle if it is 4x3. Three hens really only need 1 nest, 2 at most, so having nesting on both sides is wayyy overkill. Can you build up a bit on top of one nest side to match the main coop height removing the wall it would cover thus expanding coop floor space?
Your bigger problem is ventilation. Any cracks or gaps that cause a breeze on the birds is not ventilation, it's a draft. Ventilation needs to be at the top of the coop well above the head of chickens fully standing on their roost. Warm moist air will rise to the roof and condense if it doesn't have an escape route. This can cause respiratory infections and/or wet frozen birds. I see a sliding door over the pop door which I am assuming is the only ventilation. When open it is probably 3inchesX6inches, educated guess. You need 1 square foot of ventilation per bird. You have enough for one and one half birds if it stays open 24/7/360 and there is enough roof overhang to keep rain out. The interior of the coop must be dry in all seasons. My solution would be to raise the roof while extending it to cover the raised walls of the unused nest, create a good overhang at the same time, and cover the openings with 1/2 inch hardware cloth.
There may be others with better suggestions than mine but I wanted to give you a starting point. If your birds are comfortable, not crowded, find their home meets their instinctive needs, you won't have problems with poopy eggs or bickering birds.