how much space per chicken

[bairo]

And here is where the real harm of the "more is better" mentality comes in. You were perfectly happy, your chickens were destined for a happy, easy life, but now you see someone on the internet up the ante from 4 to 5 square feet so suddenly, you are a horrible chicken slum lord and you must give away your two chickens so that they don't have to be subjected to your evil ways. Only now, instead of being happy in your backyard paradise, they are going to go to some unknown place and likely end up upside down in a chicken cone at 11 months of age wondering where life went wrong.

Next year, some one is going to say, "Eight! Eight square feet per bird! I used to do five square feet per bird, but then I had to clean out the bedding every two weeks! I did not like that because my chickens were crowded! One even filed a lawsuit in state court. I now follow the eight square feet per bird rule in the coop and ten acres per bird outside the coop. My 4,000 sq ft home...I mean coop...houses 2 chickens, and they have room to run and play and watch HD tv. The other day one even kicked me out of the bathtub and filled it with sand! It was so happy!"

So now your 16 square foot coop is only good enough for 1 chicken. "Sorry, Henny, you've gotta go. You are not happy here, and Betsy Hen needs the extra room to...to...I don't know what for, but she needs it says the internets! Now come back here! This is for your own good!"

Of course then someone will say "Twenty! Twenty square feet per bird like in the olden days when cave men roamed the Earth and kept scaly green chickens that laid purple eggs!" And then you will give away your one remaining chicken because your coop is too small to hold even a single chicken.

I know a lot of people who keep chickens. None of them have 4 square feet per bird. Most have 3 or less. Their chickens have been healthy and happy for years. No disease, no cannibalism, no state law suits.

Yes, more is better. A chicken will be happier with 5 square feet than 4. It will be happier still with 6, 9, or 50. But if you're a good owner, take good care of them, they can be happy in almost any reasonable circumstance. There is a local farmer here with about 12 chickens. They live in 3 or 4 small things that look like rabit hutches, about 2'x 1.5' open mesh front boxes. They free range most of the day and huddle in the hutch things at night, 3 or 4 per hutch. I bet they're a hell of a lot happier than any chickens that have 10 sq ft per bird in a coop and 15 in a run. And I bet your chickens will be happier still, because you sound like a person who cares about animals.

The guy who got me into chickens has a 4x3 coop and a 10x12 run and has 5 full size hens and one bantam. They have been there over a year and they are perfectly happy and healthy. No pecking, no disease, no signs of unhappiness at all. That's a 12 square foot coop with 6 happy chickens in a space that the 4sqft rule says should only house 3 chickens, and the 5sqft rule, 2 chickens.

Please don't give away your chickens because someone gave you a number and some horror stories on the internet.

LOL. Its not because people gave you a number out of thin air and horror stories. It comes from years and years of experience and trial and error. Just as dav stated; a lot of this information comes from texts a 100 years old or more The 4 and 10 thing comes from hatcheries (many started by novices looking for a quick dollar) in the last 20 years or less. You are talking about people on here (myself included) whom have several generations of experience. Now grant it, I could have found a better way to make my point and I have taken the appropriate steps to apologize to the people involved and I also understand that the 4 and 10 rule is wide spread. But I do still stand by my experience and the experience of many others here. BTW Some of it does have to do with more is better. But we also know how to leverage cost against the hens production, comfort, and health. Most with a little more experience have realized from trial and error that going slightly more than that magic # of 4 sq.ft. cost maybe 10 percent more in the loss of total #'s of hens being kept but saves 40% on things like bedding and preventive treatments for parasites. So we have saved a little money and they are happier.....how can you loose with that.

 

[mike001]

You raise good points, but there are counter points. If you're dealing with 10 to 20 chickens, is that the same economy of scale concept that the people 100 years ago were dealing with with dozens or hundreds of chickens?

I can see how crowding 100 birds into a 200 square foot coop can be a nightmare of epic proportions but is "crowding" 10 birds into a 20 square foot coop really in the same league?

Over 10 years of keeping chickens, changing bedding once every two weeks instead of once a week can add up, especially if you have a big coop, but for someone starting out, with only one small coop, "you will have to change the bedding once a week" is a far cry from "you are a vile chicken abuser you chicken crowding @#$#@! Someone might just say, "Oh, what, once a week? That's not so bad!" Especially considering how cheap pine shavings are. I think I can get about 10 uses out of a single bag of $5.49 pine shavings from TSC.

Now if you're dealing with a 200 square foot coop, then changing the bedding is a big deal! I can see why at that scale you may want to have more than 5 square feet per bird. But a 4x4, 6x4, 8x4, etc. coop? Changing the bedding takes minutes and is almost effortless.

What I'm saying is, I think you need to factor in scale when you're giving out size advice.

 

[bairo]

Fair enough..... But you also have to consider chicken math, knowing that the person who gets 3 now will probably have 15 by next year

At any rate..yes there is a space thresh hold. If you can get away with one or maybe even two bags of shavings and have to change twice as often..then maybe the extra money is not really a big worry to you.

I have told people before though that one easy way to imagine it is to go to Lowes / HD and look at a sheet of plywood. 32 square feet. Now imagine a feeder and possibly water (unless you move that one outside in the warmer months, which is actually what I do) now imagine 8 chickens in that space left. The water outside in warmer weather, outside nest boxes, carefully thought out roosts, etc. You can probably still imagine that it is going to be a little crowded in there at night and as they line up waiting to use a nest box. Now imagine you have one (heaven forbid 2) go broody on you. Now you can see that its going to get really interesting. Wait till you see how ticked the others get trying to get somewhere to lay an egg with a broody that growls like a lion at everyone that gets near LOL.
You make a fairpoint....but I think that visual might help some folks as well

 

[TinTennessee]

when people say 4 and 10 sq. ft. does that mean floor space or width x height x depth for example my coop is currently 4 feet deep and 5 ft wide. thats 20 sq ft but if i include the height 4ft 6 inches, it more like 90 sq ft. divided by 4 = 22.5 chickens in my coop. that seems crowded to me. my run is 11 ft by 5 ft. or 55 sq ft. divided by 10 is 5.5 . now if i add height into the equation which is 6 ft. its 330 sq ft. so i could keep 30 chickens. it must be just floor space cause that would be way to crowded. just trying to clarify. Thanks

 

[Davaroo]

When it comes to hobby chickens, less is more.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

It refers to square feet, not cubic feet, so it is just width x length = floor space

It doesn't matter how high it is, a coop with a 6 ft by 4 ft floor will still only house 6 chickens by this rule, no matter if the coop is 4 ft high 6 ft high or 8 ft high.

 

[TinTennessee]

thanks i guess i should have proof read that before asking the question.

 

[Davaroo]

It refers to square feet, not cubic feet, so it is just width x length = floor space

It doesn't matter how high it is, a coop with a 6 ft by 4 ft floor will still only house 6 chickens by this rule, no matter if the coop is 4 ft high 6 ft high or 8 ft high.

Also remember the roosts - one of the main reasons for a coop. You gotta squeeze them in there, too, somehow.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Also remember the roosts - one of the main reasons for a coop. You gotta squeeze them in there, too, somehow.

THat's where I find a poopshelf with roost on top of that to be so handy. That contains the poop and underneath there is either (clean) floor space for them to wander in, or you can use that space for food and water. In my case I put nesting boxes there, with an access hatch from the outside to get to the eggs. Works wonderfully because it is nice and dark under the poopshelf.

 

[Davaroo]

THat's where I find a poopshelf with roost on top of that to be so handy.  That contains the poop and underneath there is either (clean) floor space for them to wander in, or you can use that space for food and water. In my case I put nesting boxes there, with an access hatch from the outside to get to the eggs. Works wonderfully because it is nice and dark under the poopshelf.

Your poopshelf, otherwise known as a "dropping board," is a classic solution. Paint it glossy or cover it with vinyl sheet and the poop will be much easier to scrape off.
But how would you like a cheap way to do no more scraping, have no pests or flies, no smell, no ammonia build up, AND which makes the nutrients in chicken manure instantly available for gardening.
PM me and I'll tell you how.