How big of a coop do I need for 12 chickens?

[Shadrach]

How big of a coop do I need for 12 chickens?

It depends on how you are going to keep them.
If your chickens are going to be completely free range all year round then realistically all you need is perch space and nest box room; say 2 square foot per chicken.
That all goes horribly wrong the minute you need to confine them in their coop, so your climate will dictate coop size to a certain extent.
I there is any reasonable chance that you will need to confine them to their coop for more than a couple of hours then even 4 square foot per fowl is likely to produce chicken version of cabin fever giving mental and physical health issues.

 

[Cryss]

Thanks, it looks we should make that run wider so we can give our girls more run room!

How wide is it? You only gave one dimension, 12ft.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How big of a coop do I need for 12 chickens?

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined. You might start out by following the link in my signature below. I don't believe in magic numbers for chickens. There are so many differences in our goals, climates, ways we manage them, flock make-up, and so many other things that no one number for square feet per chicken covers us all. I find the more I crowd 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 that pop up. It's not that you can't get by with less space sometimes, but that your life could be a lot easier if you don't crowd them. Of all that I value flexibility the most.

It sounds like you plan to integrate new chickens as you go along. You will find extra space is invaluable for that. And consider your coop and run as a system instead of isolated parts. Chickens do not see it as coop space versus run space, they see it as how much room do I have available right no as I need it. The way you manage their access to all that room can help you or hurt you.

Good luck!

 

[ValerieJ]

We want eggs and plan to also feed them to our dogs. .

You mean, feed the eggs to your dogs, right?

 

[Ghosty]

I give my dogs broken, badly cracked, or very dirty eggs, but it doesn't always make for the most solid poos. They also find the occasional eggs laid outside or under the coop shed. I feed them raw though.

 

[ValerieJ]

I give my dogs broken, badly cracked, or very dirty eggs, but it doesn't always make for the most solid poos. They also find the occasional eggs laid outside or under the coop shed.

I hope you are rinsing them or shelling them, particularly if they're dirty, as you say.

 

[Ghosty]

I hope you are rinsing them or shelling them, particularly if they're dirty, as you say.

Of course I shell them. Unless it is their find. I don't give them very often. By dirty I mean laid on the poop board, pooped on. My dogs eat chicken poop regularly anyway, lol, but it isn't like I feed it to em. They like to eat dirt too. Dogs will be dogs.

 

[PotatoHead]

I have a 6’x8’ coop with an attached 12’x8’ run with 12 hens. While I don’t think they are crowded I wouldn’t want to squeeze any more birds into there.

 

[Echilde]

Mine is 12x12 with 43 chickens, but they are only in there at night and there are tons of roosts. They free range about an acre all day. If they didn't free range I'd need a larger coop lol.

 

[ZaDoxie Chickens]

How do you control predators while they free range?