How flexible is the coop sq. footage per bird?

[jeepguy982001]

hi all currently i have 2 barnyard mutt layers. my coop is 4x6 ft and the run is 4x21ft could i be able to add at least 2 to 3 more laying hens.Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[chickendales]

Quote:
that would hold up 8 birds just fine

 

[jeepguy982001]

i was thinkin it would prob hold 7 or 8 I've seen smaller prebuilt coups that say 5 to 6 just didn't want to over crowd thanks alot.

 

[ezekielSM]

My coop is 72 sq ft aka 3' x 4' (coffee table sized) x 8' tall (up to the ceiling) and I've got my 6 girls in there. Bare butts are forming so they're bored. Gotta fix this somehow!

 

[gale65]

Quote:
That is cubic feet (although if your coop is 8' tall all over, that is 96 cubic feet, not 72). The square feet recommendation is for floor space so your 3 x 4 coop has 12 square feet.

 

[ezekielSM]

My coop is the same height all over. My fiance's husband who raised chickens said each chicken needs 2 square feet, so the size we planned should be fine. I also read varying responses all over the forum but most seemed to agree on 2 sq ft per bird. They definitely have space to roam around, stretch their wings and play in there and I hear happy chirrs often, so it seems to be fine as far as space goes. I'm planning an extension once we move out and get them an outdoor henhouse and run.

 

[jeepguy982001]

thats why i am glad i found this site i get some much info on chickens since i'm new to raising. without backyardchickens i would be lost.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
But didn't you say you were having problems with bare butts? That's a classic symptom of overcrowding. Also I think the minority here says 2 sq feet. When I did my coop research before building our new one, the vast majority said 4.

Also...your fiance's husband?

 

[Time-Out]

Quote:

I was going to pick up on that! Ignore the rest... I want to know who is a fiance's husband!

 

[I'm1chickencuddler]

I never considered I would need a minimum coop space or square footage per bird. I just figured they were sleeping and laying in the coop and the rest of the time they are out and about. I have 18 hens. My coop has 2 levels of nest box space that measure 5'x2' and the rest of the floor is 5'x4'. They only use the nest boxes on the bottom to lay in. Whenever I have put the boxes on top, they do what they can to knock, drag, or otherwise remove them from the coop. I thought this was strange. I had no idea why so I would keep putting them back in. They would get them back out. I finally realized(apparently I am a slow learner) they wanted to sleep up on the top shelf. Okay. I scrape out the poo every couple days. Half the flock sleeps on the shelf and the other half sleep on the roosting pole. There is plenty of roosting pole space for everybody but they have their preferences.