Coop Size??? HELP!!!!!

[lux_interior]

So... I have 5, six week old chickens living outside in my dream coop , that we just finished building... and 2 less than week old babies living inside. THEN, today.... I ventured to my nearest Farm & Fleet to buy 2 more baby pullets, because we decided 9 was a good number for our coop.

However, as we all know, 2 more turned into 4 more... and when The sales guy was writing out my ticket, he told me along with the 4 i was buying, I could also take 4 for free..... SO.... on top of the 7 chickens I have at home already, I just brought home 8 more.

Now, obviously, my run needs to be added to, they will definitely need more run space. I need help with two things though. #1 how big of a run space will these chickens need? and #2 is the coop I have big enough for 15 chickens?

I know the 4 square foot formula, but my coop is already built, and they need to be snug in the winter because I live near chicago. My coop is 8'x4' and 6' tall. There are six nesting boxes, and about 6, 4' long roosting posts inside.... is THIS enough room inside, and enough nesting boxes for 15 chickens?

help!!!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Er. That's only a smidge over 2 sq ft per chicken. I sure wouldn't do it myself. You'd have to be pretty lucky and have chickens that got along *awfully* peacefully.

You don't need snug for northern winters -- Chicago winters aren't *that* cold for well-chosen breeds, and anyhow it is real easy to make a drop ceiling or hover around the roost, or partition off a 'coop within the coop' if you should find yourself wanting to concentrate their body heat in a cold snap, thereby preserving all the best of both worlds. Actually there is a considerable advantage IMO to *extra* room in cold-winter areas, since chances are good they will not be wanting to spend lotsa time outdoors for significant periods of time.

You've got plenty of roost area and nestboxes (really probably only need 4 at most), fwiw.

If you are honestly going to go 2 sq ft per chicken for the winter, I'd suggest doing whatever you possibly can to not just have the largest run possible but make it somewhat winterized and pleasant -- roof part of it if you can do so with sufficient strength to withstand snowload, and protect three sides as well as you can from the wind so that the chickens at least have a south-facing sheltered area.

People will pop up now and say 'oh, my chickens only have <some even more miniscule amount of> space for the winter, and they are totally fine'. Yes, sometimes you can get away with it. But please bear in mind that many people have tried it with quite the opposite result and you're not hearing from them because they don't have chickens anymore. How lucky do you feel?

Good luck,

Pat

 

[mikecnorthwest]

I'm a newbie so take it for what it's worth.... I'd just go with what you have. Don't sweat it unless it becomes apparent that you need more room. It's funny how we take on these projects and then needlessly fret over the details.

 

[lux_interior]

The run that I have now that is 12'x 8' is covered with a shingled roof, and I can put plastic over three walls in the winter.

I'm sure you don't agree, because you're from Canada, which is probably colder, but chicago winters are indeed very very cold.

 

[sherrydeanne]

I have an 8x8 coop and am going to get my flock down to 10 before winter; there's no way I would want my birds to live in that cramped of conditions. If you go off the normal numbers, you have enough room for 8 or 9. Just my $.02.

 

[Thomas423]

First let me say, nice coop.

Second, I understand what you mean by cold winters. I'm in Maryland and we don't have extremly cold winters but we do have extremly cold periods (days or weeks at a time). So we built our coop to allow for the extreme cold as well as the extreme heat that we also get.

Third, could you expand the coop section and enclose part of your run. Then add a new run onto the existing run. It seems to me that chickens need enough room to be happy and not fight. Also, you probably get more snow up there and from what I've read, alot of chickens are afraid of snow. During bad weather they will be spending more time inside the coop and enclosed area.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Roofed and walled is good. That's a real small run for 15 chickens though.

I'm sure you don't agree, because you're from Canada, which is probably colder, but chicago winters are indeed very very cold.

Still, though, a cold-winter coop does NOT want or need to be 'snug', it wants to be *roomy*.

My chickens have 10-15 sq ft per chicken indoors (plus roofed runs outdoors) and I would not consider keeping them in much tighter quarters than that for chicken-happiness reasons. You can go smaller without too much risk of cannibalism, but when you're down at the extreme end of the scale like you are (2 sq ft per hen indoors, and 6.4 sq ft per hen outdoors) it is really the great big kick-me sign for violent problems that you *may not be able to fix except by culling the whole flock*. (Once they start on picking and cannibalism, they can't necessarily be stopped even by reducing flock size or increasing space. Read numerous sad tales on this subject by browsing old threads...)

Good luck,

Pat​

 

[lux_interior]

I know that is a small run for 15 chickens, which is why I said I'm already extending the run.. I'm just trying to figure out about the inside quarters. I was saying that the 8' x 12' part though will be covered in plastic in the winter, which will give them more accessible space than just their 8'4' coop. I know I'm no expert, but I'm really not worried about my chickens becoming cannibals. As for your 10 - 15 square feet per chicken, it's very nice that you have that kind of room... but by those calculations, I could fit 2 chickens in my 8'x 4' coop. That seems a bit ridiculous. My coop is extremely roomy, and with the additions I plan to make, I think they will be fine.