Can a coop have too much space?

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile people will be able to give you better-targeted advice when you ask questions.

Generous space is not a problem. Chickens benefit from having plenty of room to move around and do chicken things. My 2-week-old chicks use every inch of a 4x8 brooder.

20F is not cold to a chicken. They wear built-in down parkas and tolerate cold much better than they tolerate heat. They key is good ventilation, which removes excess heat in the summer and excess moisture year-round.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

 

[NatJ]

If you have more space than you need, section off part of the shed to use for storage of feed and other poultry supplies.

Most folks would love to have that excess space to use for things like storage, or an isolation cage/brooder/integration pen.

The original question was whether "too much space" would be bad for the chickens.

Taking space away from the chicken part does not answer that-- it just shows how taking space away from the chickens can be handy for the person.

(I'm not saying it is bad to use some of the space that way, just pointing out that leaving the entire space available to the chickens has NO DOWNSIDES for the health and happiness of the chickens.)

 

[aart]

Would the chickens get too cold in that much space?

This suggests that the chickens warm the space they live in, a common misconception.
It often leads people to close up the coop in winter to 'hold heat'.
Not good.
More space is always better, for the birds and the keepers to store needed supplies.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

No that's a great coop for that number of birds. Please read the ventilation posts and convert appropriately. Normal buildings don't have adequate ventilation for housing chickens.

 

[RoyalChick]

This suggests that the chickens warm the space they live in, a common misconception.
It often leads people to close up the coop in winter to 'hold heat'.
Not good.
More space is always better, for the birds and the keepers to store needed supplies.

Yes that. I supposedly have excess space. Until recently I had 4 chickens in a 10x14 space which at peak of roof ridge is 10’ plus.
I also have a lot of roosts to choose from.
Mine use every inch of that space and though they have a favorite night-time roost they do use they others to congregate for a chat.

 

[SourRoses]

All of the recommendations are minimums, there is no maximum.
Bigger is always better.

 

[gtaus]

Please read the ventilation posts and convert appropriately. Normal buildings don't have adequate ventilation for housing chickens.

We are renovating a shed that is preexisting in our yard to be our coop.

As to ventilation, we here in Minnesota typically are more concerned about our cold winter months. Here is a link to a good article on Coop ventilation: Here’s exactly how much your chickens need.

Basically, for us in Minnesota, we need about 3-4 square feet of ventilation for the coop in cold months. Since you are converting your shed, based on my experience, I would recommend installing some sliding windows on opposite sides of the shed to allow cross ventilation, and some vents as high up on the roofline as possible. Avoid placing the ventilation that would cause a draft to come up underneath the chickens on their roosting bar.

I just bought some inexpensive garage utility sliding windows for my coop, and what I like about them is that I can easily slide them shut, or partial shut, if we have a winter storm coming in. Don't forget to open them again after the storm. The windows also provide enough daylight inside the coop that I don't need to install lights in the coop. The high vents on the roof line allow warmer, moister air to escape.

As much as I like my chicken coop, if I had to do all over again, I think I would do a shed conversion instead. My chicken coop is really only good as a chicken coop. If someday I decided not to raise chickens again, I will have an empty coop that really can't be used for anything else. With your shed conversion, you could easily convert it back into a storage shed. Good for you.

 

[3KillerBs]

Ventilation is still required in the winter to prevent moisture from building up and fostering frostbite.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[Chzikken]

Is the shed insulated? My 8×10 has insulated walls and 2" foam panels in the trusses. Allows for ventilation in the peaks, and has 3 windows. Solar fan to help draw out excess heat on hot days.

I run a heat plate and heat lamp to take the edge off the humidity and keep the water from freezing.

 

[gtaus]

We live in the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. The lows are typically in the 20s with the few days in the teens. Would the chickens get too cold in that much space?

Is the shed insulated? My 8×10 has insulated walls and 2" foam panels in the trusses. Allows for ventilation in the peaks, and has 3 windows. Solar fan to help draw out excess heat on hot days.

When I was designing and building my chicken coop, I thought I too would need an insulated coop for my cold northern Minnesota winters where we get -40F in the dead of the season. But, none of the typical chicken owners around here have insulated coops because why do you need an insulated building if you are going to have windows thrown wide open for ventilation? Insulated or not, your inside coop temp and humidity should be almost the exact same as the outside temp and humidity if your ventilation is adequate. If your coop humidity is higher than outside, then you probably have a ventilation problem that could lead to more frostbite problems. Someone told me that the difference should +/- 3% if ventilation is adequate.

I do know of one breeder that has a climate-controlled chicken coop, with an insulated building, and he runs heat and AC as required to maintain about 72F year round. That is because he is breeding show birds year-round. He told me that it costs him a lot of money to have a climate-controlled environment for his show birds, but he sells them commercially and it's just a cost of business for him. He advised me not to think about insulating my coop because, normally, it would not be money well spent. Like everyone else, he said ventilation is key and you can't control the outside temp or humidity, so you only need a coop that is basically draft free.

I don't think OP will need any kind of insulation for their coop in Utah in the winter. The chickens maintain a body heat of 105F, and they can trap air in their feathers to keep warm even in my cold -40F nights here in Minnesota. Just have to make sure that no draft is coming up from underneath the birds while sleeping on their roost bar.

Relating to a cold weather link in a previous response, I respectfully disagree with the notion that you need to keep your water outside the coop. I keep my feed and waterer inside the coop 24/7/365. In the winter, I have a metal base heater to keep my metal waterer fount from freezing. Although it is only rated to keep the water from freezing down to 10F, inside the coop it has been able to keep the water from freezing even down to -40F. I suspect that is because there is no wind blowing over the water inside the coop.

Also, I was concerned that heated water might raise the humidity inside the coop. But, according to my inside and outside weather sensors, my temp and humidity inside the coop was the essentially the same as outside the coop. So, I just stopped worrying about heated water causing a frostbite issue inside the coop. Of course, this may be related to the size of my coop and the number of chickens in it. I have almost 8 square feet per bird in the coop and I have a Gambrel roof with the peak maybe 9 feet high. Lots of room in my coop for my flock similar to what OP has.