Building a chicken coop - Does this sound okay for size?

[Katari]

okay, I guess I'll increase the coop to a 7x6 which would then give the girls almost 5 sq ft. each assuming I stay with 8 birds since the most I would have would be 10 that would still give them a little over 4 sqft each. I'll be going out in a little bit to do some measuring and mark off the area and see what I'm dealing with. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

[MadHens]

okay, I guess I'll increase the coop to a 7x6 which would then give the girls almost 5 sq ft. each assuming I stay with 8 birds since the most I would have would be 10 that would still give them a little over 4 sqft each. I'll be going out in a little bit to do some measuring and mark off the area and see what I'm dealing with. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Or you could just do what we did, and just do 8' x 8' because the plywood (or whatever it is that DH bought) comes in 4' x 8' sheets. Less cutting!

 

[RonC]

The size of the coop depends alot on climate. A warmer climate where they won't be confined to the coop for long periods you can get away with less area. If a cold climate where they may be confined for days you want more room. I live in a warm climate and my six have about 2.5 sq ft per bird in the coop but they only sleep and lay in it. Their run is about 90 sq ft. Even before I covered the run they would go outside in the rain and get under the coop to stay dry. Haven't had them through a winter yet but suspect they will stay outside except on the worst days. Might enclose 3 sides of the area under the coop in the winter for a little protection from the elements