Coop capacity

[northeastfla]

I have an 8x8x8 coop with an 8x8x10 run...can anyone offer a suggestion for how many chickens this can sustain!!??

 

[Egghead_Jr]

16+ easy. The run is limiting, if your birds wont be free ranging then they'll be crowding with 25 birds which your coop can hold if you provide enough roosting space.

It really depends on your management style and no clear cut number is "right" for you. If you plan to heat your coop or lock them inside during cold days then 16 would be a good maximum, it provides 4 sqft per bird in the coop and 10 sqft overall space per bird adding the run space. If you don't heat and let the birds out every day then you can easily have more birds. Depending on breed and if or how often they get to get out and stretch their legs free ranging will tell you absolute maximum of birds. Like I said the run size is limiting. I've gone as low as 2 sqft per bird in a coop and do find that tight so do recommend 2.5 sqft for large fowl and that's 25 birds.

 

[buffchicks]

I have 4 chickens in my coop. The enclosed section is 3x6 and the run section is 6x8. I wish I made the enclosed section bigger. You should be able to sustain around 10 comfortably, but that is just my opinion. I want my chickens to be happy.

Good luck!

 

[buffchicks]

25??? If the coop is 8'Wx8'L that is 64 sq ft. If you give 2.5 sq ft. per bird that equals 10-11 birds. Right?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

64 sqft/25 birds=2.56 sqft/bird

 

[sam1980]

25??? If the coop is 8'Wx8'L that is 64 sq ft. If you give 2.5 sq ft. per bird that equals 10-11 birds. Right?

I make it 24

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Seriously? It's simple division. Anyway, that's what my opinion is for maximum large fowl chicken (64/2.5=25.6 so 25 chickens). And this has to be weighted by how much if any free range time they get as the run and coop combined would give less than 6 sqft per bird to scratch about and that's not much.

 

[northeastfla]

They get out everyday...

Thanks for the information!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might follow the link in my signature to get my thoughts on how much space is needed. It does depend a lot on your management methods, your climate, you flock make-up, how hard you are willing to work, and many other things.

Good luck!

 

[Biologrady]

Our seven girls (all large to very large breeds) are very content in a similar sized setup, even though they have ventured out of the coop very little with the horrible weather this month. They are two joined flocks and when they were first put together there was a lot of infighting because it was hard to keep out of each other's way, wished I had more space. Now that they have sorted out the hierarchy it seems just right. When the weather is decent they usually get to free range a few hours each afternoon too.