How many chickens per coop?

[Ada06]

oh wow, that is a very fancy coop. 29 chickens needs at least twice as much space. i am guessing your winter gets pretty cold so they will spend most of the time indoors. Is the building 18x9 or 6x9? you posted different numbers so i am confused

The chickens side is roughly 6x9. The overall building 9x18. Our winters aren't terribly cold, but we get a good amount of snow. So we wanted to provide a warm spot for them, and ventilation is a big thing in the coop. ( Lots of frostbite last year)

 

[SarahGfa]

The chickens side is roughly 6x9. The overall building 9x18. Our winters aren't terribly cold, but we get a good amount of snow. So we wanted to provide a warm spot for them, and ventilation is a big thing in the coop. ( Lots of frostbite last year)

can you let them have the storage space to live in during the winter?

 

[Ada06]

The insulating is what's ccosting you since you have to enclose it which takes 2x the materials. You don't need insulation in a coop

We didn't buy the insulation for that much. Just insulated enough to keep the coop above freezing. I wasted a lot of eggs last winter because they got froze. Also the siding is the only thing in-between the insulation and the inner wall ( other than house wrap).

 

[Ada06]

can you let them have the storage space to live in during the winter?

That's a pretty good idea! I don't need space for anything other than food, so maybe that can be an option. Thank you!

 

[HausOfEggwards]

If you can, use the vertical space for storage so the chickens still have floor space to run around when it's snowing

 

[3KillerBs]

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

4 square feet in the coop,​

10 square feet in the run,​

1 linear foot of roost,​

1/4 of a nest box,​

And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.​

While these are *guidelines*, not hard-and fast rules, there are a number of times when you need more than these minimums and being in a climate with severe winters is one of the most common of those reasons: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ave-more-than-the-minimums-for-space.1462570/

Here's a good article on the space topic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

 

[Ada06]

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

4 square feet in the coop,​

10 square feet in the run,​

1 linear foot of roost,​

1/4 of a nest box,​

And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.​

While these are *guidelines*, not hard-and fast rules, there are a number of times when you need more than these minimums and being in a climate with severe winters is one of the most common of those reasons: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ave-more-than-the-minimums-for-space.1462570/

Here's a good article on the space topic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

Thank you! That article was very helpful!.I don't want unhappy chickens. I am going to either try to figure out some more run space or not split the coop between the flocks. Either way that requires a little more time. Thank you again!

 

[Ada06]

I figured out something a little better. We are going to wall in the run below the coop during the winter and leave it open during the summer. Because this generally doubles the space they have (aside from roosting) this seems like the best option for happy chickens. I might put a low roosting bar in that space, but they most likely won't be sleeping down there anyway. Just wanted thoughts on this idea.

 

[Ada06]

This space is 9x9 and 3-4 feet off the ground. The floor of it is sand about 2 feet down. I figured I could just rake the poop under when necessary and let them do the rest.

 

[HausOfEggwards]

Okay wait, so the coop building is 9x18 or 6x9? and the run is 9x9, but it's off the ground?