How many feet is your coop? how many feet per chicken do you guys have, or you don't measure it like fish in a pond space?

[DobieLover]

A 519 sf per bird pen?

Correct.
The pen is outlined in yellow.
The coop is solid white and the run is solid blue.

 

[Boise-girls]

Correct.
The pen is outlined in yellow.
The coop is solid white and the run is solid blue.
View attachment 2819384

I bet they love it there!

 

[aart]

I am curious what space you guys have per fowl and if that determines how often you let them out.

Kinda like fish in a pond.
I guess the filtration capacity/efficiency would compare to the ventilation in a coop.

The rule of thumb for chicken space is variable.
4/10 is bare minimum, IMO.
Climate can make a big difference.

 

[Brooks_]

The run is attached to the coop and is as predator proof as the coop.
That setup sits inside the pen

By that definition, I guess I just have a coop with a semi-secure pen. Though it seems to me that some have described the pen as the more secure area...I could've misread/misunderstood.

 

[3KillerBs]

I've been looking forward to having a day off so I could respond to this in detail.

At the moment I have more than one coop in use.

The Little Monitor Coop is 4x4. I currently have 5 adult hens in it, which is slightly short of the desired 4 square feet per hen minimum.

The Temporary Accommodation for the Splits is 3x5 with 4 POL pullets in it, also slightly short. (This structure is not suitable for even my mild winters and was never intended to be used beyond this summer).

It is the playpen portion of the integration pen, roofed and with a perch added.

The Brooder/Coop is 4x8. It has 11 juveniles in it and, since my sister is not ready to take any right now, I'm preparing to sell at least three, possibly 6 in the next couple weeks.

So, currently a total of 9 full-sized chickens and 11 juveniles in a total of 63 square feet of coop.

What has made my numbers work at this point is my mild climate and my huge run -- 100 feet of Premier 1 electric poultry netting. If you assume 25x25 (It's not set up quite square), that's 625 square feet -- over 30 square feet per chicken. Here in central NC there is essentially no weather where the chickens cannot go outside. Last year I left the pop door open during multiple tropical storms and they went out to forage between rain bands, returning to shelter when it was wetter than they liked.

I'm sure that having the picnic pavilions over two of the coops, which were placed for shade rather than weather, helps by providing more partially sheltered space.

Additionally, I left the broody breaker set up after a hen went broody three times running (I use it as a feeder shelter when she's not in it -- so that's another dry area in even heavy rain).

Within a few weeks the flock will be moving into Neuchickenstein -- a 16'x16', open air coop. There they will have 256 square feet inside and, after their homing period, I will setup the electric net to use as a rotating pen system with 3 pop doors.

 

[3KillerBs]

Climate can make a big difference.

Indeed! My post above is a case in point.

Additionally, management style. I'm a natural morning person and open up within half an hour of dawn even in those summer days when dawn is very early and I don't close up until they have gone in to roost of their own volition.

If I had tried to leave them inside for several hours of daylight so that I could sleep in I suspect that I'd have had trouble.

By that definition, I guess I just have a coop with a semi-secure pen. Though it seems to me that some have described the pen as the more secure area...I could've misread/misunderstood.

I often refer to my electric net enclosure as the pen because of it's less well-secured nature.

 

[AOrchard]

I... Have an over crowded coop to say the least.

An 8x8 (64 sqft) for 47 birds.

They have to be let out every day.

I have them free ranging in my 3.5 acres, and sometime they roam onto my neighbors land, which is 46 acres of hay and corn.

I haven't had any issues with them fighting, but I do go down to at most 20 birds for winter.

I keep the water outside of the coop so that they have to go out even when it's snowy.

My neighbor also has this setup, totally works! They spend all day free ranging over acres, they are never in the coop except to sleep, doesn't need to be big. I assume this puts a lot more coop cleaning pressure on you, I can't imagine deep litter or anything working with that volume of poop in that small of space. This is a nice functional way to go about it otherwise.

 

[WIchickMama]

I have 5 ft per hen in the coop and 10 ft per hen in the run. Coop pop door stays open so they can go between, which they do some but they mostly stay outside sunbathing

 

[Onyxflock]

I believe I have the space required for just my 5 hens, but I wonder how you are doing the math? The "run" is a 10x20 chain link dog pen (I took the easy way out) - so that would make it 200 sq. feet. Is that 40 sq. ft. per bird then? Their House is a 4x6 Shed attached to the end of the run, with roosts - they only sleep in there - sometimes lay in a corner, but I try to discourage that by closing the door in daytime.
They get out regularly to free range in the yard - but have become very spoiled and raise a huge fuss if they don't get out. Worse than kids on a rainy day!

 

[K0k0shka]

I have 4 square feet per chicken in the coop and 15 per chicken in the run. They don't free range. I have an automatic door so they can go out as early as they want. My run is partially covered on top and they are out in all weather. They get along great - that's a big factor in how much space you need, in addition to what people have already mentioned. If you have bullies or overly dominant or aggressive chickens, they'll need more space than the recommended minimum. Also, if you ever plan on getting more chickens, or letting a broody hatch, you'll need extra space to section off for integration, so plan for that, too. You may think you won't do it, but you never know with chickens... Chicken math is real