Chicken coop construction and size

[liaanne17]

I'm making a 8x5' chicken coop is it large enough for 11 buff orpingtons and I also need ideas on how to finish this coop

 

[redsix]

Should be large enough if you keep the floor area open as possible.

 

[henless]

I'm making a 8x5' chicken coop is it large enough for 11 buff orpingtons

That depends. Your looking at 40 sq ft, which "technically" is big enough for 10 chickens if you go 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop.

Looking at your pic, I'm assuming this is a coop with attached run? The coop is on the left and the run is on the right and runs under the coop? If this is correct, there is no way that little section will be big enough for 11 Buff Orps. Even if you free range them every day all day, there will still be times during bad weather that they will want to stay in the coop. At night when they roost, they will all want to be up on the highest roost, and they won't all fit in that little section.

What size is the coop section itself? Looks to be about 4'x5' or so. That's 20 sq ft so should be good for up to 5 chickens, depending on the interior. Where are the nest boxes? Are they inside the coop? If so, that will take up more space. If you have exterior nests, that will help but still won't be big enough for more than 5 chickens.

How about the roost bars? You need about 12" per chicken for roosting. This gives them room to flap their wings and settle in. Winter time they will roost close together, but summer they will spread out.

I would make this whole thing into a coop. Make the roof all one level and maybe put the coop up on legs so that you can tend it better. Then put the whole thing in a secure run, or attache a run to it. Then you might be able to get by with 11 chickens.

I like how your using 2x4 lumber for the framing. That will make it really sturdy. Another thing you can do is add a 2nd floor. Take off the roof framing, and use the top line for your coop floor and build it up from there. Attache a run to one side and make it to where the chickens can access the area under the coop.

Here is a good article on chicken room: How much room do chickens need
eta: Please excuse all the spacing. BYC is doing something funky with my post.

 

[liaanne17]

thank you so much this is so helpful

 

[Rachel07]

Wow! I have just read this and I am now afraid my coop will not be sufficient in size. I plan to have my girls free range and dont want broody so I assumed it would be big enough for 6 chickens. It is 5'x8'. But now that I look at it looks small.

I didnt consider them roosting either. So glad I havent purchased my chickens yet! Still have ALOT to learn.

 

[henless]

Wow! I have just read this and I am now afraid my coop will not be sufficient in size. I plan to have my girls free range and dont want broody so I assumed it would be big enough for 6 chickens. It is 5'x8'. But now that I look at it looks small.

I didnt consider them roosting either. So glad I havent purchased my chickens yet! Still have ALOT to learn.

Your coop is 5x8, so that is 40 sq ft which should be enough for 10 hens, depending on how they get along. Some chickens get along good together, some don't. There are times when you can get by with less space in the coop as long as they have plenty of room outside. It's just those times that they are "coop bound" that problems can arise.

I had a 10x20 coop/run combo. It was big enough for 20 hens, since I was using it as the run too. I ended up with 21 hens, and it was just too much. I sold 6 and you could immediately tell the difference. Now I have a 10x10 coop with a 20x20 run. The coop should be big enough for up to 20 chickens. I don't plan on ever having that many in one pen. I have 12 in it now, and plan on reducing that just a bit before winter.

Everything just depends on how well your chickens get along with each other. The 4 sq ft for coop and 10 sq ft for run is just a guide line.

 

[Rachel07]

Thank you!! I have a large nesting box in the coop. Will the chickens sleep in it? Is it necessary to have roosts in the coop? Should I partition the nesting box?

 

[henless]

Chickens need something to roost on. The roost need to be in the most secure area of your setup. They should be higher than your nests, or else they will roost/poop in the nest resulting in poopy eggs. A big nest is ok, lots of people use communal nesting boxes instead of individual ones.