coop big enough

[cody trevor]

Have a coop that's 9 foot tall 4 foot wide and 8 foot long. Is that big enough for 10 hens? This is my first coop and first time with chickens. Coop has 4 nesting boxes. Sound good?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Welcome to BYC!
Your coop may be a little small - but that will depend on your climate and whether the birds will have access to an outdoor space (either free ranging or an enclosed run space) during daylight hours. Other factors that will contribute to the coop being enough space will be whether feed/water stations will be inside the coop (taking up available living space) or outside the coop and whether you intend to keep large fowl birds or bantams. 4 nest boxes is more than sufficient for the number of birds.

 

[PapaChaz]

8x4=32 sq feet. The height of the walls doesn't really matter, it's floor area you're interested in.

I'll give you the general rule of thumb for what is considered minimum space per bird, it's 4 sq ft inside the coop. According to that, your coop would be best suited for 8. Not to say 10 won't fit because they will. Will there be available space for them to get in and out? Unless you're locking them in the coop for days at a time, they're basically just sleeping in the coop at night.

If you leave the food and water in there, with open access to get in and out all day to eat and drink, it will still be a rare occurance to have them ALL in there at the same time trying to eat. I would say you'll probably be ok with 10, unless there will be times you'll have them stuck inside for extended periods of time. They get cranky if they're overcrowded

 

[cody trevor]

Thanks for the response. And they will have a 10x10 enclosed run to be on just when nobody's home, when someone is home they will be able to run around on as much ground as they can cover.