Coop help?

[Countrypunk92]

So.. I was expecting to buy some chicks that was coming in about a week(About 3 weeks ago) decided to get 4, and I spent some time designing and building a coop...well they came in and bought 9...LOL.
Well They frame to the coop I was building was destroyed by a huge storm that hit us..wasnt so bad as the coop was going to be to small anyway.. So let me ask you guys...What is the smallest I can build for my 9 birds, as I only have limmited wood.

 

[Judy]

Really it depends on where you live, what the climate is like. The standard often quoted on here is 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop and 10 in the run, but in a cold climate they should have more coop space IMO, and in a hot one they need very little, mostly they need lots of shade and breeze.

 

[Shiphted]

Ddawn: Not to tell you your wrong but wouldn't you want less space when its cold so they can bundle together and more space when its hot so they can breath?

Countrypunk92: As for you ill warn you on 1 thing. You wanted 4 chickens. You bought 9. So build a coop that's bigger than fitting 9 because i guarantee you will buy more later we always do.

I start with telling the PREGNANT wife i wanted 6, then i said OK ill just do 10. Then we get to the store and i bought 15. Being pregnant share complained to me but i did it anyway

.2 days later i got 2 more (1 rooster), 4 days later i get 5 more. then 4 more days later i bought 13 more and 2 turkeys.


So all in all i wanted to start with 6 and i ended up with 35 chickens 2 turkeys. ( I STILL WANT MORE DON'T TELL THE WIFE ) The pen in the basement right now is 8' x 4' lol

 

[Countrypunk92]

True Shiphted, But I do not plan on getting anymore anytime soon. I remember it being 1 square foot...then told 2 square feet.
I will just build a nice sized coop like shed, hopefully I have enough wood.

 

[aggie9296]

If the weather is cold, wet, miserable, the birds will spend more time inside, hence bigger space needed.

Nice weather, they usually only sleep in coop and can be smaller.

You need adequate ventilation regardless of the weather.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
No, certainly there are many people who DO try to "improve" winter conditions by crowding them together, but they tend to end up with unnecessarily high rates of frostbite and cannibalism.

Unless you have radically-insufficient ventilation (see "frostbite", above) you are not going to make them any warmer by crowding the coop -- they can of course snuggle together on the ROOST, and often do.

If anything you want MORE space per chicken in cold weather b/c they tend to go outside less. (although to some extent this depends on whether we mean "cold by Miami standards" or "cold by Minnesota standards" LOL)

Pat

 

[Countrypunk92]

You got me, I went out today for FFA Poultry practice competition..and decided to buiy another Barred Rock pullet.

Now I have 10 chicks. hehehehehe