Can't find answer in search, I know there is one, so asking again

[eggcited2]

I am sorry, I know this has been asked tons of times by so many people, but I could not find the answer using search and couldn't find it at all. Please forgive me for asking again:

How big of a coop/house for how many chickens?

Answer example - 2 square feet for each chicken (standard size chicken).

Thanks.

I am wanting to add new coops/houses for all my chickens. I have one house, but want to add more houses (what they use for shelter and roosting in)

 

[chicktwins]

I was just reading another post subject line How many chickens in a 10' x 12' coop? it is under same subtitle of Coop & Run-etc. There are a lot of answers there.

 

[eggcited2]

Quote:
Thanks for trying, but I am not really comprehensive today. I am running a fever, extreme pain in my joints and beyond extreme pain in my knees, and I am barely able to do simple thinking and was not able to get any answer from what you said.

Please just very simple answer of: if you have 10 chickens you need a coop/house that is 'x' number of feet long by 'x' number of feet wide. Or this for an answer: you need 'x' number of square feet for each chicken you have (example: allow 2 square feet for each chicken [so if I have 10 chickens I would need 20 sq ft - 10 times 2 equals 20] ).

Sorry, but between the fever, pain, pain med doctor gave me and suspected infection: I just can not comprehend anything but super simple stuff.

 

[Judy]

There really isn't a single answer. The usual answer on here is 4 sq ft in the coop and 10 sq ft in the run per chicken. But there are people with this amount of space who have had pecking problems, and people with half the space who never do. Climate, snow, whether the particular flock will go out in the snow, are just a few of the factors to consider. If you are going to turn them loose where there is good forage (weeds, bugs), they will be less disturbed by a smaller coop. In the tropics, 2 sq ft is plenty because they are rarely inside except to sleep and lay. In the end, most on here will tell you, build as big as you can -- and many will say they built too small to begin. You cannot give them too much space. I have 20 chickens and about a 60' x 60' yard with a fair amount of greenery, yet they love it when I open the gate and let them wander.

I will say, I am so glad I have a walk in coop, and I would never have been happy with something 3' or 4' tall, even if I only had 2 or 3 hens.

 

[BuffaloWings]

Standard chickens = 4 sq ft/bird in coop, 10 sq ft/bird in run. For bantams, about half that.

 

[patandchickens]

I'm sorry you're not feeling well today; but there really is no single One True Answer.

It just depends on what you're after.

It is popular on BYC to cite "4 sq ft per chicken indoors, plus 10 sq ft per chicken outdoors" as some sort of mystical number. Other groups of chickenkeeping people have their own somewhat-different mystical numbers. So if you want to join a religion, so to speak, take your pick and just go with it

But in reality, it depends a lot on two things. First, your climate. If you have cold snowy winters, it tends to work best to give more rather than less indoor space, as it's easier to maintain good air quality (avoid frostbite) and reduces the chances of cannibalism/pecking when nobody wants to go outdoors for weeks at a time. If you live on Maui, you may not need any more indoor space than just a sheltered roost.

And second, your aims. If you are trying to keep the largest possible number of chickens alive in the smallest possible space without feeling like you are just duplicating a battery-hen situation, then the main concerns are keeping the odds of cannibalism reasonably lowish and not making sanitation any more difficult than you, personally, feel like keeping up with. With the right breeds and a certain amount of luck you can pack a fair number of chickens into a fairly small space and still have them lay eggs for you. OTOH they really do behave differently with a lot more space than the BYC "4/10" allowance, plus which management is MUCH easier.

So you just have to decide what suits you best.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, who has tried various different stocking densities and having seen how much of an effect it has on their behavior I will never go back below 10-15 sq ft per chicken indoors PLUS ample run... but that's just me.