How big should my coop be?

[ImaChickenGirl]

OK so I have been needing to build a new coop for 5 years now but never had the money, but I think I have enough now so I am trying to plan my coop!

Since I am useless with math or numbers I am going to ask for your guys help

I recently bought Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow, she is really smart and I love her book. I was looking at the space requirements for light breeds of chickens, she says that each chicken needs 3.0 sq feet, so if I am keeping 50 chickens in the coop how big would the coop need to be? These measurements are for free ranged chickens. But my chickens would only be free ranged in the summer so should I do it for the Confined housing measurements? If I am building a coop with the Confined housing measurements then the measurements will be 7.5 sq ft per bird so if I am keeping 50 birds looked up all winter how big should my coop be?

I hope I made this clear enough...

 

[Judy]

3 sq ft X 50 chickens is 150 sq ft, or about 12' X 13'. 7.5 sq ft per chicken is about 425 sq ft, or roughly 20' X 22'.

Really, though, unless you are way north, I would consider having a winter run, so the 3 sq ft or so would be enough for the coop. Granted, they usually aren't fond of walking in snow, but a roofed or partly roofed run, maybe with a windward side barrier, is of course less expensive than a closed coop.

I don't believe there is a cut and dried best answer to this question, even for a particular area. I'll give you a couple of links you might find helpful in making your choices.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700308/coop-and-run-size/0_20#post_9504811

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/445004/woods-style-house-in-the-winter/0_20 (this is a bit expensive for most of us, but I think the idea of a partly open coop in snow country is good to know about)