How big should the coop be for 6 chicks...

[FridayYet]

Your chicks should be really happy in your lovely space you are building for them, Susan! I'm not showing my chickens or they'll be jealous.

You'll just have to keep space in mind if chicken math sets in and your 5 turns into 10 or 15 or 20.

I started with 3 layers, now have 17 after processing some of my extra cockerels.

When I wrote about replacing layers every 2 years, that's what some people do to get the maximum feed-to-egg conversion ratio. Since layer hens often slow down after their second year, it cuts into profits and it's better financially to get younger, high production hens or your profit goes down. Nothing that I've ever done or worried about, since my flock is just a hobby, but important to some others. My 4-year-old ladies still give me 2-3 eggs a week each, and I'm OK with that. Plus, they teach the cockerels manners by beating them up when they become obnoxious teenagers. Priceless in my book.

Also, you have to go by floor space in a coop, not cubic feet. Unless you have multiple floors, the height of a space doesn't matter since most homeowners don't stack chickens up on top of each other. So 4 x 4 is functionally 16 square feet, and should be used for space calculations.

 

[junebuggena]

If my flock only had 1 sq ft per bird there would be no peace. Most of the time my flock free ranges and doesn't mind the weather. I live in a 'mild' climate, but that doesn't mean that the chickens are never in the coop during the day. It rains almost constantly from mid-October till May. Combine that with winds that regular blow over 20 MPH, and those birds do not come out. In the northeast, there are blizzards that can last days. In the south, there are hurricanes. Each region has it's own weather that needs to be considered. The weather may only last a couple of days, but you still need to have enough space for those days.

 

[FridayYet]

Here it's the heat. I have fans in the coop and part of my run used to be a carport, so I have 400 square feet of shade. It's also super dry here, so I soak the run every few days so the birds can dig down to the damp earth and cool off.

Right off the coop I have a covered area where the heated water base and one food station are located, with a solid wall blocking the prevailing winds, which get crazy here in the spring.

 

[junebuggena]

Here it's the heat. I have fans in the coop and part of my run used to be a carport, so I have 400 square feet of shade. It's also super dry here, so I soak the run every few days so the birds can dig down to the damp earth and cool off.

Right off the coop I have a covered area where the heated water base and one food station are located, with a solid wall blocking the prevailing winds, which get crazy here in the spring.

I always kind of laugh at the whole "Just setup a wind block from where the prevailing winds blow." I'm coastal, we get 50+ MPH sustained winds that can come from just about any direction. I cannot wrap my head around wind that only ever comes from one direction.

 

[FridayYet]

LOL. We have a mountain range to the East, which shifts the weather patterns somewhat.

Although the wind can also come from any direction here, (especially now with the pop-up thunderstorms during Monsoon Season) the Spring winds usually come from the West. April/May is definitely our windiest season and I figured out pretty quickly last year why the previous owner had built that area off the shed to protect his dog house.

I'd rake/turn the litter in the run and the winds would come up, and slowly the wood chips and chopped leaves shift to the East end of the run and pile up. Then I have to rake everything back again.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

In my opinion, 1 sq. ft is way too small. I've seen the 1 sq. ft per chicken when referencing roost space, not living space which at minimum, 4 sq. ft. per chicken.

We have 6 chickens, the coop is 8' x 18' (8' x 9' used for chickens, other half for storage). The attached run is 8' x 16'. I wouldn't add but maybe 2 more chickens, Chicken need space or there can be behavior problems.

 

[Susan G]

Your chicks should be really happy in your lovely space you are building for them, Susan!  I'm not showing my chickens or they'll be jealous.    You'll just have to keep space in mind if chicken math sets in and your 5 turns into 10 or 15 or 20.    I started with 3 layers, now have 17 after processing some of my extra cockerels.

When I wrote about replacing layers every 2 years, that's what some people do to get the maximum feed-to-egg conversion ratio.  Since layer hens often slow down after their second year, it cuts into profits and it's better financially to get younger, high production hens or your profit goes down.  Nothing that I've ever done or worried about, since my flock is just a hobby, but important to some others. My 4-year-old ladies still give me 2-3 eggs a week each, and I'm OK with that.  Plus, they teach the cockerels manners by beating them up when they become obnoxious teenagers.  Priceless in my book.

Also, you have to go by floor space in a coop, not cubic feet.  Unless you have multiple floors, the height of a space doesn't matter since most homeowners don't stack chickens up on top of each other. So 4 x 4 is functionally 16 square feet, and should be used for space calculations.

After reading a lot of the responses to my 1 sq ft reference I have to say a big YES that is small, but you read it over and over. We will not be going past 7 chickens and our medium coop will work for them. Absolutely NO roosters on this lot so we only buy hens or guaranteed hens, our farm store takes back any roos you might get. I did count a bit more than flat space but built an averary type run and dont clip wings so the birds do use the up space a lot. Im small space here, only 4 acres that's long and narrow with road rt in the front so sadly they will not get to roam. Besides hawks and eagles nest in my trees! I think the 4 square ft per bird is a good rule of thumb regardless of what the books say. Our coop and covered run combined is 8 x 11 feet and 7 foot high at the peak so will be fine. They stop laying they will be our lawn ornaments. LOL. My little dragons!