How many medium-sized chickens will fit/ventilation question.

[NeilV]

Okay, I can tell that these questions get asked over and over again. But I'm new to this, so here goes:

I am building a coop that is 6 x 8 feet (48 square feet of floorspace). The roof will be a single slope, six feet high on one side and five feet on the other, with the slope going across the six foot span of the coop.

The roof will be a white metal roof with foamboard insulation underneath the metal. I will also install foamboard insulation into gaps in the walls where there are no windows.

In the construction of the coop, I intend to put vent holes around the top on all four walls, evenly spaced. I also intend to have a back window (2 x 4 feet) that will be covered in plexiglass in winter to give light. It will also be hinged, so that it can be opened, and the inside opening will covered with hardware cloth, creating a screened 2 x 4 foot window in summer. The perches will be near this window, so they will roost by an open, screened window in summer.

The chickens will have access to a run every day that is 12 feet by 20 feet (240 square feet). The run will be shady and the coop will be sort of shaded.

The run is surrounded by a 6 foot fence, but I live near woods and will have possums, racoons, coyotes, owls, hawks and foxes, so I will close the coop every night and cover the top of the run with some type of netting.

If we are out in the yard, which is very common in nice weather, I will let them out of the run to roam. However, that will not be a daily situation. The real space limitations are the coop and the run.

I want to have chickens for eggs and entertainment. I plan on getting medium sized breeds (but not Bantams) that are supposed to lay well, such as Red Star or other red sex-linked chickens that have smaller bodies than some of the heavier breeds like Orpingtons or Australorps.

I live in Oklahoma. Our winters are real winters but are usually not too bad. We get down into the teens every winter, and into the single digits some winters for short times. We have pretty hot summers. We break 100 every summer, and some summers we have extended periods of 100 degree days, sometimes lasting a couple of weeks.

Here are my questions:

1. How many medium sized chickens can I put into this coop/run and have them feel comfortable? I don't want to know how many birds I can, in theory, cram in there. I want them to have enough room that they are not bothering each other all day.

2. I am definitely putting in vent holes plus an 8 square foot window that can be opened during warm weather. How many more square feet of windows should I incorporate for summer? What I can do is have more hinged flaps in the exterior that could open up to reveal windows screened with hardware cloth.

Sorry for the long post as my first.

Thanks for any guidance you can give me,

Neil in Tulsa, OK

 

[patandchickens]

IME if you give them like 8-10 sq ft per chicken and they are willing to go outside most days, they will be pretty happy. You can go less than that and they may be happy too, it just gets iffier. A 48 sq ft coop would fit 5 chickens at (almost) 10 sq ft per chicken, or 6 at 8 sq ft per chicken.

Basically, the more open (hardwarecloth-screened) area you have in the walls, the less the coop will overheat in the summer. So it is worthwhile calculating how high on your wall the shade line from your roof overhang will be, in say mid to late August, and making all the area above that openable to hardwarecloth; and on the North side you can have most of the wall be openable; and some on the E and W too for a cross-breeze on days when there is one. Since a large pool of shade will remain much cooler than a small one, if there is anything you can do to increase the size of the shaded area that will also help your chickens deal with the summer heat.

As far as "holes" in the walls for wintertime ventilation, make sure they are big enough, not just hole-saw type holes. If you are only stocking at 8-10 sq ft per chicken and have good sanitation and no leaks/spills, just leaving the soffits wire-covered (with a way of closing them off, esp. on the upwind side, if needed) might be enough, but it can never hurt to have more ventilation available -- the worst that happens is you don't use it in the winter, and it can help you avoid a lot of aggravating remodelling in the middle of January <g>

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[NeilV]

Pat, Those links at the bottom of your post were very helpful. Thanks.