How big does the coop need to be

[MarketGardener]

All sold coops seem daftly under stated?
For instance it says 30 chicken coop and is 1mx1.8m says 30 big chickens too it says
But the calculator says you need 3square ft so 10 birds needs 30swuare ft

That equates to 120x240 and is a lot bigger than ones sold ….how big does it really need to be am I calculating wrong
I’m rebuilding currently a bigger coop but now thinking I need to go bloody massive ?? I have ten birds uk Rir and Cornish

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Prefab coops go by industrial space requirements. As big as you can go is best. Most people say 4-5 Sq feet in the coop per
Bird and 10-15 in the run

 

[nuthatched]

Prefabs are undersized, expensive and cheaply made. If you can build one, or buy a used shed, you'll be better off.

 

[3KillerBs]

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

These are guidelines, not hard and fast rules, but they work for most people in most situations.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have ten birds uk Rir and Cornish

If you follow the link in my signature below you can see some of my thoughts on how much room you need. We are all unique. We have different climates, flocks, goals, management techniques, and many others so what works for one person will not necessarily work for another. That's why I don't believe in those magic numbers for coop space, run space, roost length per chicken, hen to rooster ratio, brooder space, or anything else. You can use some of those as guidelines, suggestions that will keep most people out of trouble most of the time, but with certain assumptions. They are going to be overkill for many people, but not enough for others. Then you have the issue where different people use different numbers. For roost length I've seen recommendations anywhere from 7" to 15" per chick. I've seen anywhere from 1 to 15 square feet per chicken in the coop on this forum. 4 Sq Ft per chicken is probably the most common on here but you mentioned 3 Sq Ft. which is probably the second most common.

You are in the UK, which helps some though the climate in the Shetlands would be a bit different from Cornwall. I'd assume most days your chickens will be able to be outside in the weather practically all day. That reduces the requirements on coop size. Some bigger questions are whether or not you are going to be integrating new chickens or letting a broody hen raise chicks with the flock. Those activities take more room, in the coop and outside in the run. I don't consider coop space by itself. Your coop and run together plus how you manage them to give them access to both of those have an effect.

I'll assume you are building the coop yourself or paying someone to build it for you. If you go with something prefab a lot of this won't apply.

I believe your building materials in the UK come in standard 4 and 8 feet (1.22 m x 2.44 m) dimensions. The most inexpensive 2x4's are going to be 8 feet long. A sheet of plywood should be 4 ft x 8 ft. If you plan around those dimensions you can reduce cutting and waste. How do you plan to build your run? If it uses a lot of sawn lumber like 2x4's think in 8 feet dimensions. If it is posts and mesh fencing you have a lot more freedom, maybe look at how much wire comes on a roll. Is the run going to be covered or open?

Some of this is personal preference but I think 10 chickens is too many for a small elevated coop you cannot enter. You need to be able to access everything in a coop, I have trouble designing for that if I cannot walk in if you have ten chickens.

If i were building a coop for 10 chickens the minimum I'd build is a 6 ft x 8 ft (1.8 m x 2.4 m) I know, 6 ft is not divisible by 4 or 8, but it isn;t a horrible dimension. The cutoffs are often useful to build nests or other things plus the wider the building is the stronger the roof beam spanning that has to be. You want a slope on your roof so rainwater doesn't stand on it but runs off. I'd make one side wall 8' high and the other 6 to 6-1/2 feet high. An 8' beam can cover that and give you enough overhang on both ends to leave the eave open for ventilation and still keep rain out.

I have trouble coming up with a minimum run size, so much depends on what materials you use to build it and whether you cover it. As far as you reasonably can make it big.

 

[3KillerBs]

Now that I'm home I *could* write a lot more details and explain some of the nuances of the numbers, but @Ridgerunner already did.

If you use the numbers given above as your baseline, here's the math for 10 birds (sorry, I haven't converted these to metric yet).

• 40 square feet in the coop
• 100 square feet in the run
• 10 linear feet of roost
• 3 nestboxes
• and 10 square feet of 24/7/365 ventilation.

If you can build over-sized you won't regret it.

I know, 6 ft is not divisible by 4 or 8, but it isn;t a horrible dimension.

When we need 6 feet we buy 12-foot boards and cut them in half. Not sure if 12-foot boards are available everywhere though and you do need to have appropriate equipment to haul them that not everyone has.

 

[MarketGardener]

If you follow the link in my signature below you can see some of my thoughts on how much room you need. We are all unique. We have different climates, flocks, goals, management techniques, and many others so what works for one person will not necessarily work for another. That's why I don't believe in those magic numbers for coop space, run space, roost length per chicken, hen to rooster ratio, brooder space, or anything else. You can use some of those as guidelines, suggestions that will keep most people out of trouble most of the time, but with certain assumptions. They are going to be overkill for many people, but not enough for others. Then you have the issue where different people use different numbers. For roost length I've seen recommendations anywhere from 7" to 15" per chick. I've seen anywhere from 1 to 15 square feet per chicken in the coop on this forum. 4 Sq Ft per chicken is probably the most common on here but you mentioned 3 Sq Ft. which is probably the second most common.

You are in the UK, which helps some though the climate in the Shetlands would be a bit different from Cornwall. I'd assume most days your chickens will be able to be outside in the weather practically all day. That reduces the requirements on coop size. Some bigger questions are whether or not you are going to be integrating new chickens or letting a broody hen raise chicks with the flock. Those activities take more room, in the coop and outside in the run. I don't consider coop space by itself. Your coop and run together plus how you manage them to give them access to both of those have an effect.

I'll assume you are building the coop yourself or paying someone to build it for you. If you go with something prefab a lot of this won't apply.

I believe your building materials in the UK come in standard 4 and 8 feet (1.22 m x 2.44 m) dimensions. The most inexpensive 2x4's are going to be 8 feet long. A sheet of plywood should be 4 ft x 8 ft. If you plan around those dimensions you can reduce cutting and waste. How do you plan to build your run? If it uses a lot of sawn lumber like 2x4's think in 8 feet dimensions. If it is posts and mesh fencing you have a lot more freedom, maybe look at how much wire comes on a roll. Is the run going to be covered or open?

Some of this is personal preference but I think 10 chickens is too many for a small elevated coop you cannot enter. You need to be able to access everything in a coop, I have trouble designing for that if I cannot walk in if you have ten chickens.

If i were building a coop for 10 chickens the minimum I'd build is a 6 ft x 8 ft (1.8 m x 2.4 m) I know, 6 ft is not divisible by 4 or 8, but it isn;t a horrible dimension. The cutoffs are often useful to build nests or other things plus the wider the building is the stronger the roof beam spanning that has to be. You want a slope on your roof so rainwater doesn't stand on it but runs off. I'd make one side wall 8' high and the other 6 to 6-1/2 feet high. An 8' beam can cover that and give you enough overhang on both ends to leave the eave open for ventilation and still keep rain out.

I have trouble coming up with a minimum run size, so much depends on what materials you use to build it and whether you cover it. As far as you reasonably can make it big.

So the old coop here was based off a design online and we added an extension top roost area cause it didn’t feel big enough
They have 2 roost bars in there 4ft long and all cramp in on 1 bar and leave 2 that go in nest on floor they could have a whole bar but they prefer the boxes

On the sides is 2 egg box runs they access from inside


So the new is a shed 4x6 and i have made the egg boxes off ground above where the food goes now in buckets

I am intending the coop to be the space on top of the egg boxes in the pic
The coop also sticks out the front of the shed like a doorma gaining more room outside for them in the run and allowing room in the coop while keeping room in the shed to work from and keep my tools it’s next to my workshop so is my chicken maintenance shed


There run is 96square foot
So that means the coops has to be half the size of the run
Being that I am in my only space I am going to have to build over half the run?

 

[MarketGardener]

See I planned them getting bigger space than there In currently and they seem happy and have been for years my main aim in the new coops was they get more space vertically too as well as not being limited be the square between the egg boxes

It’s wider than the current by a few inch as you can see and they would be gaining 2ft head room and basically 4ft out the front as perviously wasn’t really useable due to egg slots taking up the space

They all seem to fit happy in there. They get let out 8am every day and locked up at 10 at night from other animals
Plus he crows at 3am haha

So in Lincolnshire it’s cold most the time so they huddle up when I had them in a big shed they only used the corners so we downsized to this and they seemed happier cock staysvup perched til it’s open and girls go mad at the door lol

I’m worried every though I’m increasing space that it’s not enough after seeing the requirements

My coop would be accessible to them from the run side and inside the shed it will all be on hinges so it can be opened and inspected and cleaned out I don’t see need for me to walk in it ???

I keep them up high so they are away from predators and cold frosts too the egg boxes are below I’ve done 3 cause they had 2 long ones and they are good girls they take turns lol sometimes they lay with others but there good friends

I’m doing the roof out as a normal roof apex to match the shed water collection and cause it helps keep heat in the middle more believe it or not lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can try going smaller if you wish. If you followed that link you'll see where I say the tighter I keep them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues. I really like that flexibility. I told you what I'd do if I were building it.

There is nothing magical about any of the numbers we use on here. You quoted having read 3 square feet per chicken as a requirement. It is not like 2.99 square feet and you are guaranteed a disaster while 3.0 square feet and you have utopia any more than 3.99 versus 4.0 gives you that. Lots of people use less room than these numbers and do fine. Some use a lot smaller numbers.

You are in Lincolnshire. You let your hens out of the coop at a reasonable time in the morning so they don't spend a lot of time locked in a small space. You have the climate where they can pretty much be outside all day every day of the year. This puts a lot less pressure on the size of the coop than if they were stuck in there a lot. These guidelines are set up so that even if you do some things not really well you will still be OK most of the time. When we answer these we usually have no idea how much experience you have or how you manage them. We try to cover all bases.

I'm not young anymore. I can't squeeze into tight spaces distorting my body the way I used to be able to do to work on things. If you are happy with your access, that's up to you. You have to deal with the consequences.

I don't know how much you integrate chicks or chickens. I find that integration takes a lot more room than they need once they are integrated.

As I said above, these numbers are overkill for some people. The way you manage them and with your climate they probably are for you. Mine are larger than the minimum I could get by with but that added flexibility when something happens sure reduces my stress level.

I can't tell you the minimum size you'll be able to get by with. You can try something smaller and it will work or it won't or it will work until it doesn't. Hopefully it works for a long time.

 

[MarketGardener]

You can try going smaller if you wish. If you followed that link you'll see where I say the tighter I keep them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues. I really like that flexibility. I told you what I'd do if I were building it.

There is nothing magical about any of the numbers we use on here. You quoted having read 3 square feet per chicken as a requirement. It is not like 2.99 square feet and you are guaranteed a disaster while 3.0 square feet and you have utopia any more than 3.99 versus 4.0 gives you that. Lots of people use less room than these numbers and do fine. Some use a lot smaller numbers.

You are in Lincolnshire. You let your hens out of the coop at a reasonable time in the morning so they don't spend a lot of time locked in a small space. You have the climate where they can pretty much be outside all day every day of the year. This puts a lot less pressure on the size of the coop than if they were stuck in there a lot. These guidelines are set up so that even if you do some things not really well you will still be OK most of the time. When we answer these we usually have no idea how much experience you have or how you manage them. We try to cover all bases.

I'm not young anymore. I can't squeeze into tight spaces distorting my body the way I used to be able to do to work on things. If you are happy with your access, that's up to you. You have to deal with the consequences.

I don't know how much you integrate chicks or chickens. I find that integration takes a lot more room than they need once they are integrated.

As I said above, these numbers are overkill for some people. The way you manage them and with your climate they probably are for you. Mine are larger than the minimum I could get by with but that added flexibility when something happens sure reduces my stress level.

I can't tell you the minimum size you'll be able to get by with. You can try something smaller and it will work or it won't or it will work until it doesn't. Hopefully it works for a long time.

Thankyou for all the input yeah I see my access as really good and easy but I have 6kids that help too
I’m up most morning I generally wait til I hear the girls at 8ish they hear school kids and they wanna get up so I let them out I used to open them at 7 but only 1 got up lol
I’ve got happy lazy chickens there al really good together my new 2 are cool as they want to meet the big ones but they wanna eat em atm lol

I will do as I was and show ya tomorow