Coop for 8 chickens

[Jenna14Chicken]

Hi everyone, on this thread you post pictures of your coops! If you have 8 chickens Please post how much room they need! Thanks just got more chicks and need to see ideas and need to no about how much room they need. Thanks for any ideas or help

 

[Kaylin]

I have 8 but they are only 11 weeks. They fit well for now in their open air garden coop design but I'm already making expansion plans. Right now they can't be out in their outside run without supervision. The fenced outside run is spacious but not secure. I want to give them about twice as much roofed secured space as their little coop now so when they are shut in (I work long hours) they can spread out a bit.

It is currently 6x9.5 and almost 6 feet vertical. The raused 3 sided boxed in area is where the nest boxes are and where they have taken up roosting at night on their bars. I'm worried as they grow to their full splendor they will feel crowded.

I intended to add a pic but can't seem to upload tonight, sorry.

 

[Pork Pie]

I believe the rules of thumb to be: 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop, and 10sq ft per chicken in the run, with 1 ft roosting space per bird. These are minimum space requirements for standard breed, adult chickens. Having said that, the more space you can give your chickens, the happier and less stressed they will be. There are additional factors that come into play, including climate, whether your free range (among others, I'm sure) that can influence to these space requirements.

CT

 

[Intheswamp]

Jenna, a 4x8 coop *should* handle eight chickens. But, that is total floor area with nothing taking up room in the coop such as feeders/waterers, nestboxes, roosts, etc.,. An 8x8 should handle eight chickens with ease along with their equipment. I quoted these two sizes because of the use of 4x8 sheets of siding/plywood along with standard 2x4 studs being 8' long (more or less).

What have you been thinking about size-wise?

Ed

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

Well right now we only have a 2ft by 6ft and 8 inch coop (This is the inside). And this is including a feeder,waterer,and one nesting box. So we are going to need to add on.

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

...

Well right now we only have a 2ft by 6ft and 8 inch coop (This is the inside). And this is including a feeder,waterer,and one nesting box. So we are going to need to add on. Do you guys have any Pictures?

 

[Cacique500]

This is mine...it's 8x10. The area below the roost is the "hospital" area, so technically I could open that up if needed.

 

[Intheswamp]

Care to clarify your dimensions? They're kind of...interesting.

 

[Intheswamp]

Check out the search results below. There should be plenty to give you ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=4x8+coop roughly 8 chickens

https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=6x8+coop roughly 12 chickens

https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=8x8+coop roughly 16 chickens

Remember that that is *usable* floor area. You also need a run that is 10-sqft per chicken. Eight chickens would thus need 80sqft of run space...an 8'x10' area. As with coops, more run area is *always* better!!!

If you find nothing in there, then going to the medium size coop article section my show you something... https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/medium-chicken-coop-designs-pictures-of-chicken-coops

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

Thank you so much! We have a big outside run but they are only aloud out there with supervision. We need to work on the inside but I don't now how cause my parents don't think hey need that much space. BUT I KEEP TELLING THEM! What we have now is definitely not enough space.