Coop upgrades

[Steve P]

I had chickens a few years ago but moved and wasn't allowed to have them at my old house. I recently purchased a house that has a coop already here. The previous owner raised meat birds so the coop itself is small with a small attached run. It has no roosts or nest boxes. My plan is to build another attached coop and enlarge the run. I cant remember how many square feet it required for each bird. Is it 4 sq feet and is this only for roosting or is the run included or extra footage. I don't know the exact measurements of the coop and run now but to guess I would say coop is 4'x5' and 4' high with the run being 8'x5'. The plan I have is to attach to the current coop and build another coop that is 4'x8' and tall enough for me to stand in to collect eggs. The run will be added onto also to the same measurements as it is now but out the extra 8'. Roughly IM thinking the coop will be about 52Sq feet. About how many birds will I be able to house. Thanks

 

[Odelia]

How many birds you can have depends a lot on what kind of birds you have. Bigger birds need more space than little birds. More aggressive birds need more space than docile birds. Birds that get to free range need less coop/run space. The general feeling on this site for birds that don't free range is 1 bird per 10 sq feet. That is coop plus run space. Many find that they can have a denser population than that. Others with more aggressive/larger birds can't without having pecking or other problem in their flock. I free range mine part of the time so I don't find that mine need that much space in the coop/run.

 

[Steve P]

I only plan on having maybe 10 to 15 birds. I still haven't decided on what breed I will go with. I had RIR's before.

 

[Steve P]

Ok I got out and measured existing coop. The coop is small it is 7'x3' with a 7x7 run. I am planning on adding onto this setup with the following. I am going to connect a 6x12 foot coop that is going to be 6.5 feet tall so that I can enter the coop to clean and gather eggs. Current coop is 5 foot tall on one end and 3.5 on other. I will add some roosts in the small one but bigger coop will be the main house. Plus I am going to add another run onto these coops that will be 10x13 and 5.5 feet high. So when all is said and done I should have between the coops and runs at total of 272 square feet.

 

[Steve P]

That's the small coop that was here when we bought this house. Upgrades will be alot bigger

 

[Odelia]

Have you considered not attaching the new coop to the old? Then you could keep two separate breeds. The smaller could also be used for quarantine, or for a broody hen with chicks.

 

[Steve P]

I never thought of that but then I wasn't planning on having a rooster.

 

[Steve P]

Well hopefully Monday I get to start building the new coop. I have all the materials now and a design in mind. I will post pictures as Im building.