Coop space?

[yamaha602]

I have a chicken coop 4 feet wide and 8 feet long and 6 feet high! And a run that is 8 feet. By 12 , what is the most amount of chickens I can keep in here?

 

[rohnsherd]

It really varies widely on people own personal feelings, experience and what they have read. My own personal feeling is 4sq ft per bird of coop space. The bigger the outdoor run the better is my feeling just because i want my birds to feel as free as possible while having the safety of an enclosed run. If you live in a cold climate as I do, think of the living conditions of your bird in the winter time when they are more than likely going to be staying exclusively in the coop when its too cold to go outdoors. How much space are they going to have to move around in the coop. So if your coop is 4x8 that is 32 square feet of coop space. So I would say IMO, 8-10 birds max. But do what works for you, as long as they aren't fighting and the flock is healthy than do what works! Hope this helps.

 

[buffchicks]

Post pictures!

 

[valleychicks]

Please put up pictures of your coop.

 

[teneyck farms]

no matte rhow big it is. the main thing is pearch space i do about 10 in. of pearch for a bird good luck

 

[yamaha602]

There are some pictures!

 

[valleychicks]

CUTE!!

 

[buffchicks]

I agree with teneyck farms, pirch space is very important. My coop is 3'x6' and I have 4 chickens. The run is 6'x8'. During winter they are confined to this. I actually wish it was a little bigger for my 4 chickens. I hope this helps.

 

[mainechicklet]

My coop is 6x8, minus the four wall insulation, and the run is 12x12. It was originally built for 3 hens but within 2 months I'd rescued 4 additional hens. I would not add any more to this amount of space. I'm planning to rescue 10 more but only after I build another coop and triple the run space. I personally would not want to live in a house the size of a bedroom. I live in ME where 5 months/year are very cold and/or snowy, so they need indoor space. If I were you, I'd not have any more than 6 chickens. Just think about how YOU would want to live.......

 

[YardBirdMom]

My coop is 8x12 (96 sq ft) and my run will be 12x21 (252 sq ft) for a total of 348 sq ft of space. I plan on having 41 chickens (have 16 now and 25 on the way late April) - all purchase prior to joining this community and learning a few things With that said, I think as my birds mature (since they are ALL heavies) I am going to be short on space for the amount of birds. As they grow I will watch how they act and will sell a few, down to 30-31, if it doesn't work.

We also plan on adding an additional run for alternating/fallow reasons that will be very large (not sure of dimensions yet) and in winter we plan to use heavy duty plastic and wrap the entire 12x21 run where it's opened to they can easily come out even on very cold days.

Good luck, I love your coop!