How narrow can a coop be?

[aart]

A rule of thumb to keep in mind: If it looks like a dollhouse it's only suited for keeping toy chickens.

So True!
..and as we recently learned some do use toy chickens in their sales photos.

 

[SpotTheCat]

Good instincts!

A rule of thumb to keep in mind: If it looks like a dollhouse it's only suited for keeping toy chickens.

The guidelines for standard-sized chickens are:

4 square feet per bird in the coop.
10 square feet per bird in the run.
1 linear foot of roost per bird.

And the one that gets missed most often:

1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation per bird.

I don't know how the numbers adapt for bantams, but I personally wouldn't make a coop smaller than 4'x4'. I have one that size and I can't imagine how I'd manage to get birds, nestboxes, roosts, ventilation, etc. into any space any smaller than that.

I will be putting up a coop page with plans for my coop today or tomorrow, but I'm afraid it's not a beginner project.

I am only thinking of going smaller because they will all was have access to the run, and we don’t have bad enough weather I think to keep them indoors.
I will not go smaller then 3ft by 3ft or 2ft by 4ft.

 

[3KillerBs]

I am only thinking of going smaller because they will all was have access to the run, and we don’t have bad enough weather I think to keep them indoors.
I will not go smaller then 3ft by 3ft or 2ft by 4ft.

I wouldn't.

They need room to be able to spread their wings to fly up to the roost and room to work out their pecking order squabbles.

I helped my DH understand the chickens' need for space by telling him to think of my standard-sized birds as a 15" cube (he's been playing a lot of Minecraft lately). That's the physical size of the bird plus a bit of room to, metaphorically, stick their elbows out without bumping into each other.

I don't know how big a space a bantam occupies -- body plus room to move. My first guess would be a soccer ball but I'd need a bantam owner to check that.

Think of how they'd fit into the space and then think of them trying to move past each other and get around any obstacles like feeders, waterers, in-coop nestboxes, etc.

 

[SpotTheCat]

I wouldn't.

They need room to be able to spread their wings to fly up to the roost and room to work out their pecking order squabbles.

I helped my DH understand the chickens' need for space by telling him to think of my standard-sized birds as a 15" cube (he's been playing a lot of Minecraft lately). That's the physical size of the bird plus a bit of room to, metaphorically, stick their elbows out without bumping into each other.

I don't know how big a space a bantam occupies -- body plus room to move. My first guess would be a soccer ball but I'd need a bantam owner to check that.

Think of how they'd fit into the space and then think of them trying to move past each other and get around any obstacles like feeders, waterers, in-coop nestboxes, etc.

I really cannot visualise how big they are, a lot of places said they need half the space of large fowl, there won’t be any feeders or waterers in the coop. I wish I could get them then build the coop to see how big they are.
Thank you for your advice.

 

[3KillerBs]

I really cannot visualise how big they are, a lot of places said they need half the space of large fowl, there won’t be any feeders or waterers in the coop. I wish I could get them then build the coop to see how big they are.
Thank you for your advice.

Hopefully someone with bantam experience will come in and comment.

 

[cavemanrich]

I wish I could get them then build the coop to see how big they are.

That is not the correct order of doing things. It is called "having the wagon get ahead of the horse"
You may consider joining and posting on this UK thread,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/uk-member-please-say-hi.655508/
Good reading in thread from peeps in your area/vicinity.

You may find chicken keepers near you that would allow you to Virtually visit their coop to visualize things ? A good batch of pictures is just as good as a video.

Can you consult with whoever you intend to get your bantams from first.?

Don't get discouraged, and feel free to ask as many questions as you have.
Everyone needs to start somewhere, and not everyone is able to have a deluxe coop in the beginning.

 

[SpotTheCat]

That is not the correct order of doing things. It is called "having the wagon get ahead of the horse"

Thats why I am not doing that.

You may consider joining and posting on this UK thread,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/uk-member-please-say-hi.655508/
Good reading in thread from peeps in your area/vicinity.

You may find chicken keepers near you that would allow you to Virtually visit their coop to visualize things ? A good batch of pictures is just as good as a video.

Can you consult with whoever you intend to get your bantams from first.?

Don't get discouraged, and feel free to ask as many questions as you have.
Everyone needs to start somewhere, and not everyone is able to have a deluxe coop in the

I might try asking on that thread.
I don’t know if the place I plan to get bantams from is any good, so I am not sure about asking them, they sell prefab coops so they might not give the best answers.

 

[Alaskan]

I think visualizing bantams as a basketball is a good visual.

Also realize that except for shot hops (about 1 foot) chickens tend to flap up and down at 45 degree angles.

Also, especially if you are planning a coop on the small side, a roofed run is golden.

I would look at your yard... find where the coop will sit, decide maximum possible coop and run size... find a bunch of building materials (maybe ask at construction sites if you may have their waste materials) then throw something together.

There is no such thing as too big... truly, extra space is always great.

 

[PapaRo]

So this is my medium size coop ... its a Trixie coop converted into something bantam worthy ... would fit 4-5 no problem. (The original roof got replaced after a month of rain.)

 

[SpotTheCat]

So this is my medium size coop ... its a Trixie coop converted into something bantam worthy ... would fit 4-5 no problem. (The original roof got replaced after a month of rain.)

What are the dimensions?