Coop height question

[OneCuteShasta]

I'll be building a coop and run when the weather breaks. The question I have is, does the inside height of the coop count as square footage for the chickens? For example: if one coop is 4x4x4 (LxWxH) and one coop is 4x4x8, would the second one hold more chickens? Or is the height of the second coop just "wasted" space? Any ideas or opinions? Thanks!

 

[jetdog]

No it's just floor space that counts, 4x4=16 sf enough room for 4 birds.

 

[flyboy129]

Yes. The above post is correct. I dunno how keen you are as far as math or basic geometry goes, but think also like this: Draw a square (or rectangle, triangle, etc) on a piece of paper. You are working in 2 dimensions, length and width. Now picture floor space. Same thing. Length and width. Represented by this: ft². When you are talking about square feet/inches/miles, etc, you are caulculating only length and width. A 2 dimensional space.

Volume is where the 3rd dimension comes in. Height. Think of the square again. Now add the height aspect. You now have a box. Not 4 sides, but 6. When you measure all three dimensions and multiply them together, you come up with the volume the box can hold (liquid, styrofoam peanuts, sand, etc). This is shown as cubic measurement: ft³.

Hope I didn't confuse you.

 

[Irishhenman]

No it's just floor space that counts, 4x4=16 sf enough room for 4 birds.

enough for 4 birds in a place where you would get several days of snow a year

and to answer the original question when people are talking about square footage they are referring to floor area. If you include the height you would be talking about the houses volume.

 

[Trefoil]

Its enough for a coop if you don't have them locked in.

 

[OneCuteShasta]

Thanks for the input. I was thinking that it would be "wasted" space. I've got shed plans I'll be using to build a coop, but I can't see wasting the materials to make it taller if it won't really be used.

 

[chickkrakidd]

Yes. The above post is correct. I dunno how keen you are as far as math or basic geometry goes, but think also like this: Draw a square (or rectangle, triangle, etc) on a piece of paper. You are working in 2 dimensions, length and width. Now picture floor space. Same thing. Length and width. Represented by this: ft².  When you are talking about square feet/inches/miles, etc, you are caulculating only length and width. A 2 dimensional space.

Volume is where the 3rd dimension comes in. Height. Think of the square again. Now add the height aspect. You now have a box. Not 4 sides, but 6. When you measure all three dimensions and multiply them together, you come up with the volume the box can hold (liquid, styrofoam peanuts, sand, etc). This is shown as cubic measurement: ft³.

Hope I didn't confuse you.

That's what I was gonna say. When dealing with only 2 dimensions (LxW) it's area, which is in sq ft. 3 dimensions (LxWxH) it's volume, which is cu ft. Great job explaining!

 

[chickkrakidd]

So now that that's figured out, at what height should a coop be? I mean from floor to ceiling, what should the height be? Bc I'm thinking of building a multi-story coop.

 

[blucoondawg]

it really depends on what you are going for, I have a flock between 25 and 35 birds and built a shed type coop 12x12 and 8 foot high on the front wall and 6 feet high on the back wall, I wanted a walk in coop like a large shed rather than a small coop that I had to open doors and reach in to clean and collect eggs, also I feel a larger taller coop is better for providing maximum ventilation without putting a draft on the birds, my coop has open eves under the roof overhangs with hardware cloth over them to prevent weasels from getting in, the roost bars start at about 16 inches from the floor and angle up to about 4 and a half feet high, this allows the ventilation to flow mostly above where the birds perch, some of the small coops made for a few birds like the coop/run combo tractor type units provide for a very small coop where it would be difficult to have good ventilation without having a draft on the roost bars.

 

[aart]

it really depends on what you are going for, I have a flock between 25 and 35 birds and built a shed type coop 12x12 and 8 foot high on the front wall and 6 feet high on the back wall, I wanted a walk in coop like a large shed rather than a small coop that I had to open doors and reach in to clean and collect eggs, also I feel a larger taller coop is better for providing maximum ventilation without putting a draft on the birds, my coop has open eves under the roof overhangs with hardware cloth over them to prevent weasels from getting in, the roost bars start at about 16 inches from the floor and angle up to about 4 and a half feet high, this allows the ventilation to flow mostly above where the birds perch, some of the small coops made for a few birds like the coop/run combo tractor type units provide for a very small coop where it would be difficult to have good ventilation without having a draft on the roost bars.

Exactly!

Height does matter.... when you think about the stack up of depth of bedding/pop door, height of nests/roosts and overhead ventilation.

But you still need that floor space when calculating how many birds....

....also think about whether feeders and waterers are going to take up floor space and maybe ramps to roosts and nests depending on your overall design.