How big should a coop be for 5 chickens for a backyard, no I don’t have a farm or 5acres for a backyard

[Mr Pilo]

In

 

[JacinLarkwell]

20sq. Feet and 50 sq. Feet for standards. Depending on your climate, it can be a bit smaller though

 

[Stephanie8806]

How big is your backyard? Is it fenced? Are you planning on just building a coop and letting them wander the yard, or building a coop with an enclosed run?

General space guidelines are about 4sq ft per chicken in a coop, with 10 square feet per chicken of run room

 

[Mr Pilo]

How big is your backyard? Is it fenced? Are you planning on just building a coop and letting them wander the yard, or building a coop with an enclosed run?

General space guidelines are about 4sq ft per chicken in a coop, with 10 square feet per chicken of run room

I was thinking a 16ft to 20sf with a 8-10 sf run and yes is a fence backyard, Probly let them out every now and them

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I was thinking a 16ft to 20sf with a 8-10 sf run and yes is a fence backyard, Probly let them out every now and them

That run will be too small for 5 birds. They'll hardly have 2 sheets of paper worth of space each when they're all outside

 

[Stephanie8806]

I was thinking a 16ft to 20sf with a 8-10 sf run and yes is a fence backyard, Probly let them out every now and them

The coop size seems right, I’d say opt for larger... 20 square feet sounds pretty good. One thing to keep in mind is that during longer winter days with more time spent in the coop, chickens will often peck at each other out of boredom. I have an 8x10 coop for 9 birds with 12 feet of roost space, and they still peck each other.

I’m confused on the run... were you saying 8-10 sqft per bird? Are you planning on making the coop in the style of a shed, or elevated? If total footprint is an issue, elevating your coop is a great way to not sacrifice overall space. Especially for a smaller flock. Then they can access the ground space underneath the coop, while being outside and still protected from the elements

 

[3KillerBs]

For each adult, standard-sized bird, the usual guidelines are:

4 square feet in the coop,
10 square feet in the run,
1 linear foot of roost space,
And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation -- the pop door that's closed at night and any windows that are closed in the winter don't count.

These are, of course, guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Different situations may require more space.

My Little Monitor Coop is designed for 4 chickens. The design could be stretched to 4x6 but you'd need to move the access door to make sure that you can reach all parts of the coop and add an additional roost.

 

[21hens-incharge]

While a 20 square foot coop Is adequate a 4'x8' structure makes the most of dimensional lumber.

Remember that anything you place inside the coop reduces the usable square footage. Building bigger is not a bad idea.

 

[Mr Pilo]

The coop size seems right, I’d say opt for larger... 20 square feet sounds pretty good. One thing to keep in mind is that during longer winter days with more time spent in the coop, chickens will often peck at each other out of boredom. I have an 8x10 coop for 9 birds with 12 feet of roost space, and they still peck each other.

I’m confused on the run... were you saying 8-10 sqft per bird? Are you planning on making the coop in the style of a shed, or elevated? If total footprint is an issue, elevating your coop is a great way to not sacrifice overall space. Especially for a smaller flock. Then they can access the ground space underneath the coop, while being outside and still protected from the elements

It will be elevated and I meant 8-10ft x 5ft. Thanks for the info

 

[Stephanie8806]

It will be elevated and I meant 8-10ft x 5ft. Thanks for the info

That should be sufficient. Again, I would say if you’re capable of allowing a little more space(even 12-14 sqft per bird), I would encourage doing so. Nothing worse than putting in hard work to make a nice chicken home, and then having problems pop up because they need more space. It’s always easier to have a little more room from the get-go, than have to mitigate problems later(aka reducing the number of chickens by giving away aloe butchering, or extending/adding space).

An easy way to help the problem would be to let them out daily to range in your yard, but I understand that might not be plausible. If you do, I’d recommend trimming their wings to help prevent them flying over fences. Chickens can and WILL easily fly over a 6ft fence. Clipping their flight feathers is a good deterrent(just make sure you do it regularly)