how many hens in a 8 x 8 foot coop?

caliclucker

Songster
8 Years
May 1, 2011
77
3
101
I have 6 RIRs now but want to enlarge my flock. I have a 8 x 8 foot coop with a very large yard (approx. 24' x 32'). I know I have enough room in the yard to add more hens but was wondering how many hens will roost and lay comfortably in my coop.
 
If you are letting them out every morning then you could quite comfortably have 16 birds to a 8X8 coop. With that many you'll want 2 roost same height. If you coop them up a lot or plan to keep them cooped this winter then 6-7.

Rule of thumb for happy chooks:
4 sqft/ bird coop if they have 10 sqft/ bird of run.
 
I think of the 4/10 rule of thumb more as a minimum guideline. You'll never be sorry to have more space than that. The higher the stocking density inside a given area, the more work there'll be for the chicken keeper.
 
Depends on the climate; also depends on your goals (ranging from "keeping them alive for a couple years" to "avoiding really-high risks of cannibalism" to "happy relaxed chickens")

A good all purpose answer would, quite seriously no foolin', be: "as few as you can manage to content yourself with".

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, having done 4 sq ft per hen indoors (plus ample run) and up to 15+ sq ft per hen indoors (plus ample run), and having SEEN how differently they behave with the larger amount of space, would never do less than 10 and I generally do 15 sq ft plus run. And no, that isn't because of my climate, I'm comparing their behavior in the *summer*.
 

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