Coop Size and ventilation

[Welshies]

Yes, they do. I'm in 4-H so I know a lot of people with chickens where I live and they've given me similar figures. They've said that if the run is large and you let them free range, the coop size being below the 3-4 sq. ft. minimum isn't really an issue. And the winters aren't exactly brutal here (zone 6/7) with months of cold and darkness. Plus, my new run is covered and is protected from winds on two out of the four sides by my house and a retaining wall.

They are going by industry standards for battery chickens. 4-H isn't always right.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

If you are already having frostbite issues, as so many are, might be wise to give consideration to the circumstances before you add more chickens. How tall is your coops inside dimensions? How many feet above the roosts to the vents? If there isn't adequate space above it's hard to open things up enough without making a draft right on the birds. Adding more will make this worse.

 

[AmazingRachel]

If you are already having frostbite issues, as so many are, might be wise to give consideration to the circumstances before you add more chickens. How tall is your coops inside dimensions? How many feet above the roosts to the vents? If there isn't adequate space above it's hard to open things up enough without making a draft right on the birds. Adding more will make this worse.

So far, only my rooster got a bit of frostbite on his comb. It was on the weekend where windchill made it -3 degrees and snow was drifting. He was outside the coop longer than the hens (who popped in and out of the coop). None of the others got frostbite. The coop on the smaller side is about 4.5 ft. high and the tall side is about 5.5 with the roost being about 2.5 feet off the ground. Think Wichita Cabin coop but bigger. The Wichita coop is 5ft. x 3 ft. and they have 7 chickens with no problems in zone 6 conditions. That kind of factored into my thinking that I could fit 10 in my coop (6ft. x 4 ft.), on top of asking for advice from my 4-H educator who got her info from a poultry scientist at Cornell, and I also made the run bigger (Wichita coop: 5ft. x 10ft. Mine: 6ft. x 12ft.).

 

[Welshies]

So far, only my rooster got a bit of frostbite on his comb. It was on the weekend where windchill made it -3 degrees and snow was drifting. He was outside the coop longer than the hens (who popped in and out of the coop). None of the others got frostbite. The coop on the smaller side is about 4.5 ft. high and the tall side is about 5.5 with the roost being about 2.5 feet off the ground. Think Wichita Cabin coop but bigger. The Wichita coop is 5ft. x 3 ft. and they have 7 chickens with no problems in zone 6 conditions. That kind of factored into my thinking that I could fit 10 in my coop (6ft. x 4 ft.), on top of asking for advice from my 4-H educator who got her info from a poultry scientist at Cornell, and I also made the run bigger (Wichita coop: 5ft. x 10ft. Mine: 6ft. x 12ft.).

4 square feet per bird in the coop.

 

[AmazingRachel]

So far, only my rooster got a bit of frostbite on his comb. It was on the weekend where windchill made it -3 degrees and snow was drifting. He was outside the coop longer than the hens (who popped in and out of the coop), so I'm thinking that the wind that was carrying snowflakes settled on his comb and froze a bit. None of the others got frostbite. The coop on the smaller side is about 4.5 ft. high and the tall side is about 5.5 with the roost being about 2.5 feet off the ground. Think Wichita Cabin coop but bigger. The Wichita coop is 5ft. x 3 ft. and they have 7 chickens with no problems in zone 6 conditions. That kind of factored into my thinking that I could fit 10 in my coop (6ft. x 4 ft.), on top of asking for advice from my 4-H educator who got her info from a poultry scientist at Cornell, and I also made the run bigger (Wichita coop: 5ft. x 10ft. Mine: 6ft. x 12ft.).

 

[Welshies]

If the wichita coop is 5x10, then they could fit 10 birds in there very comfortably.
Your coop and run altogether is 6x12. Your coop is only 6x4. You can only fit 6 birds in there.

 

[AmazingRachel]

If the wichita coop is 5x10, then they could fit 10 birds in there very comfortably.
Your coop and run altogether is 6x12. Your coop is only 6x4. You can only fit 6 birds in there.

Wichita COOP is only 3 x 5. The run is 5 x 10.

I've spoken to the people who built it and they said that the 7 chickens are doing fine.
The 7 chickens: 2 Bared Plymouth Rocks, 1 Australorp, 1 Black Copper Marans, 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, 1 Speckled Sussex, and 1 Super Blue Egglayer.

 

[Welshies]

Wichita COOP is only 3 x 5. The run is 5 x 10.

I've spoken to the people who built it and they said that the 7 chickens are doing fine.

Their birds are very overcrowded.
I totally understand the lure, the want, the need for more birds. But I would rather have happy birds than bored but healthy birds. Overcrowding is just plain unhealthy, especially if your run isn't big enough.
Maybe we are misunderstanding eachother. I am referring to a "coop" as a structure birds are locked into at night to be protected from predators, where they roost, lay eggs, and preen. A "run" is their daytime pen, because out here in the Rocky Mountains i have lots of predators.
My coop is 6x8.
My run is 500 square feet.

 

[nminusyplusm]

I wouldn't get more than 6 birds with that set up (4 sq ft in the coop and 10 sq ft in the run per bird). Rule of thumb on ventilation is 1 sq ft per bird. You need fewer chickens and more ventilation.

I have a Wichita style coop/run with 5 birds in a 4' x 7' coop with a 8' x 10' run. They are never closed in the coop, always have access to the run, and still, I wish I'd built it bigger!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I think you are already having space issues. I'm having similar weather to you and my chickens who are 11 weeks and 19 weeks are in no way interested in going outside. Knowing your roo stayed out in daylight long enough to get frostbite is a clue that something isn't ideal.

I get that you really want this to be ideal but I think you'll have to make a few changes to get there. I feel the cooperative extension gave you really bad advice. The 4 sq ft info is all over the place. The only different numbers you ever hear involve caged commercial laying birds.

That's great that someone else is having good results with similar, but that's luck. Just one grumpy hen can push the need from 4 to 6 sq ft each.

I think it could be simple to expand a bit and everyone here has great ideas if you are interested. What about enclosing the bottom so they have a little more indoor space? Probably a whole bunch of ways to double their space without spending much.