How many chickens will fit in this coop?

[corvid]

The rule of thumb is to have 4 square feet per chicken. I live in northern Minnesota, and when the chickens are expected to live in the coop for the better part of the winter, then you should about double that space to prevent the birds from going crazy and start to fight with one another. Hence, I have almost 8 square feet per bird in my coop.

You might want to consider adding your geographical location to your name icon data, and that will help people better assist you with answers.

If your coop is 20 square feet, then a rule of thumb is that you could have about 5 chickens. For 5 chickens, you would only need 2-3 nest boxes as mentioned, not 16 boxes. I have 3 nest boxes for 10 chickens and there is no problem.

Having said that, a rule of thumb is only general guidance and your setup and the way you decide to raise your chickens is your decision. There are some YouTube videos where people pack their hens in small coops for the night but they are outside all day long otherwise.

Check out this Justin Rhodes Chickshaw mobile coop video. He packs up to 16 chickens in a 16 square foot mobile coop - but only for the night. Maybe he can get by with that because of where he lives, and his commitment to getting up early in the morning to let the birds out and then put them away in the evening. So they are only in the coop a minimal amount of time per day.

OK, that is not how I raise my chickens. I don't get up first thing in the morning before the sun comes up to let them out, and besides, half of the year my hens live inside their coop and don't go outside at all. But I thought I would mention alternative setups because not everyone believes in the 4 square feet per bird rule of thumb guidance.

BTW, I have some old commercial chicken cages that were used back in the 1970's and they had individual compartments of less than 1 square foot, and from what I understand, they might even have had 2 chickens in each section. My dad bought the cages from a farmer who went out of business and we used the wire to make rabbit cages. I still have some of the original battery chicken cages and wonder how the chickens lived in those conditions. Must have been a very sad, short, life for those birds.

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Picture from Google, of the type of battery chicken cages I have, but NOT my setup. You can see how they used to pack in the chickens for egg production. I doubt if that type of setup is even legal anymore, but I really don't know. Anyway, for a backyard flock, I think the 4 square feet per bird is a good starting point, and that means you could have about 5 chickens in your 20 square feet setup.

If your setup is 20X20 feet, or 400 square feet, then you could have as many as 100 chickens and then maybe your 16 nest boxes makes more sense. I hope you verify your housing measurements, because 16 nest boxes in a 20 square foot coop is a real head scratcher for me.

Thank you SO MUCH! This has been very helpful. My dad insisted on 16 nesting boxes for whatever reason... But they're easily removable, so we could probably cut them down to 2-3. We have an old garden shed I would really like to turn into a neat coop so I will talk with him about that and I'll post plans when the time comes. For the coop I mentioned in my original post, I will probably actually keep pheasant in it since I have that idea for the shed. Thank you so much for your feedback and tips, they have been extremely helpful! I'm very new to building coops and the like, so I'm trying to learn the best I can. I will be adding the geographical location to my profile also, thank you.

 

[gtaus]

We have an old garden shed I would really like to turn into a neat coop so I will talk with him about that and I'll post plans when the time comes.

I think that is a great idea. I built my coop from scratch, but if I had a garden shed, I think that might have been a better option for me. Look around BYC forums and YouTube for making the shed to coop conversion. You might get some good ideas.

You can tell your dad that most of us only have 1 nest box for every 3-4 chickens. I have 10 chickens, 3 nest boxes, but only 2 nest boxes get used daily. All the nest boxes are built the same, but for some reason, nobody likes that third nest box. Occasionally it gets used, but not very often. Chickens are funny that way.

 

[corvid]

Thank you very much again!
I will have to get him to watch some videos about it, like the one you linked to in your previous post. You have been very helpful!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have converted sheds for my coop and my goat house. SO EASY. Just add some nesting boxes, a perch. some poop boards. And cut holes for ventilation.

I built my first 2 from scratch. It took a long time, and with the price of materials today, it would cost me a fortune. Especially for larger coops (I have 8x10). I will probably never go back to building from scratch again. Maybe if I were more talented - LOL!

 

[gtaus]

I have converted sheds for my coop and my goat house. SO EASY. Just add some nesting boxes, a perch. some poop boards. And cut holes for ventilation.

That's why I think a shed conversion is a great option. I spent about 2 weeks on my coop build, but I had about half the wood material on hand before I started so I saved money there. Now, I expect the price of that coop would cost thousands of dollars in todays lumber prices. I am very happy with my coop build, but honestly, if I had a shed to convert that is what I would do instead. In the end, the chickens really don't care how much money or time you spend on their coop. They just want a place that is basically dry, safe, and has good ventilation.

Also, a good shed conversion for a chicken coop could one day be converted back into a garden shed if you no longer raise chickens. My chicken coop is, and will always be, a chicken coop and not much use for anything else.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Also, a good shed conversion for a chicken coop could one day be converted back into a garden shed

I am moving my flock to a larger one next month. The shed they are in is being converted back to a storage shed. I'm moving the chickens to the goat house and building a new goat house. Doing all of that will just take a couple of days. I'm using a shed kit for the new goat house.

 

[gtaus]

I am moving my flock to a larger one next month. The shed they are in is being converted back to a storage shed.

Yep, that is what I mean about the benefits of doing a shed to coop conversion. If/When I stop having laying hens, I will essentially have an empty chicken coop that cannot be used for much. I'm sure I would find some use for it, but a converted shed into coop back into shed would have been a better path - looking behind in 20/20.

I am not unhappy with my coop build, but I know someday I will no longer have chickens and it would have been nice to at least make a nice garden shed out of it for storage.