How Many Chickens Can You Put In A Coop?

[chickencoop789]

I have a new coop and Im wondering how many of my chickens I can put into it. Is there a specific number of sq ft per chicken?

 

[jeepguy982001]

Your gonna get a ton of different answers. But i think most stick around 4 sq. ft per bird. Then there is a hundred other things climate, size of your chickens, will they ever get locked in the coop during severe weather and etc. And people probably will want to know the dimensions of your coop too.

 

[chickencoop789]

Its a 4x4 coop with a 9x6 attached run.

 

[Roxannemc]

With chicken math its hard to keep the amount you buy low but if you never have owned chickens before ....like me..i have been shocked to see how these tiny little things get so REALLY BIG!!
I have heard 4 sq ft per bird too.
I sold 3 of mine b/c of just that and still will have too many for my run i think.8.
My coop is 2x4x2 rectangular with 2 perches and about 1/2 hardware cloth 1/2 wood .I have had 11 birds (no bantams) in there but its crowdedLuckily they do like to sleep next to each other (.Mine are 4 months old now )
However its my summer coop ONLY so they just sleep in there and there is only room to perch not spend the day... then are in the run all day from 6;45 am until dark 9pm..
Run is 8x4x4 with an 8x2x2 extension run. So really 16 ft long.and all of it is a "tractor" coop and run, all moved daily.So if i figured right, at 48 sq ft of run... i should have only 3 or 4 chickens in the run I have
Looking at their size and the run i think that is about right too3 or 4 . to be really comfortable and roomy.Well that my situation for now.Yours may be different.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I thought this might be one of those "how many chickens does it take to change a light bulb" type of jokes.

I am not a chicken expert, but one thing I've noticed about my little flock (8 adults and now 2 juveniles is that other than an occasional peck on the head of the 2 new girls, there doesn't seem to be a lot of pecking, feather pulling etc. I'm thinking it might be because I have a spacious coop and an even more spacious run, plus they usually get out to free range for an hour or so a day. There is room for the lower ranked flock members to get out of the way of the higher ranked flock members with out getting abused. In fact, other than the new girls, who are most definately at the bottom of the pecking order. I may be able to guess at top chicken, but I wouldn't be able to rank them based on feather loss or anything else.

On the other hand, if you live in a cold climate, a cozy coop will be easier for the chicken's body heat to keep warm, so you don't want it to be too big for your flock (not a problem I think in a more temperate climate)

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can read my comments on this thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/684265/how-many-chickens-can-my-coop-hold#post_9268150

 

[Fishbone]

It all depends on how high you stack them LOL

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

From what I have read, 4 sq ft on the inside and as much as 10 sq ft outside run.
For full size breeds.

Coop design comes to play also.
As they get older they'll need to roost, that's where the issue of size/roost comes into play.
Roost poles near the window.
Roost poles at different levels.

They'll determine their own 'pecking order' but need space!