I have 10 buff orpington chicks how big of a coop do i need?

[dawj]

6 SLW's and 6 Buff Orpingtons

 

[JPHorvath]

Well you will find out that many members here on BYC have well over 10 chickens.

As for size of chicken coop you will have to determine if you will stick with just 10 birds or will you get hooked on chickens like the rest of us. Ten Yea ha ha, my wife thought 12 was too many at one point. We let me say 40 - 50 chickens don’t look like many once they are roaming in the pasture.

Any way 3 - 4 SF floor space per bird is ok, however that will determine on the breed. Do take into consideration items that will take up floor space such as nesting box, roost, water dispenser, feed dispenser, steel 20 gallon trash cans for storing feed and scratching grains. If you plan on eventually raising new chicks to add to the flock or for replacements. I like having room in the chicken coop for a brooding pen. I will keep new birds in a caged brooding pen for at least one week if not longer depending on age and size before they are released into the existing flock.

Many members have some palatial chicken coops, you should take a look at them for design ideas. We have a coop that has both a personnel door and a chicken door. You may like to take into consideration orientation of door opposite from prevailing wind especially if you have severe winters. Good ventilation for summer, even if the coop will be in shade you still need to provide excellent ventilation. I prefer a coop with a personnel door large enough to be capable of rolling in a wheelbarrow it makes cleaning much easier.

 

[RoseMarie]

This is GREAT info - my hubby and I are trying to figure out what size/type of coop to build, as we're hoping to FINALLY have some peeps later this year. We'll start with about a dozen... We live in Iowa and with the winds on our hilltop, we want the chicks to be warm & comfy with room to stretch out, not freezing and crowded. Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[hunter109]

hi i am going to use my old club house i use to play in when i was a kid for mine it is pretty big i will get some pics but i do have to say i am around 30 hens though here monday ot tueday i think it will do just fine for me i think

 

[latebloomer]

it's been suggested to me that in my climate, northern vermont, where there will be days that the chickens may have no interest in going outside, to try for ten square feet per chicken.

 

[dawj]

Boy looking at some of the coops in the coop contest they look like houses...........Even if i had $$ to burn i don't think I'de be using new pella windows and such. I don't want my coop to look to bad but its not going to be a Lux suite for sure, next thing yah know someone will be putting a fire place and hot tub in them for the contest. I want plain and simple, nothing fancy. I think I'm going to start the coop tomorrow. I actually stopped a few places last night in the surrounding towns and found alot of coops were smaller than I thought. Here in northern New England it gets cold so i am assuming thats why. I found quite a few coops were 4x8x 5 ft tall with an average of 14 hens. Some were bigger and some smaller, one old timer had a 4x6x8tall with 19 hens in it. Most of the owners have adopted more in the fall due to people not wanting to deal with them in the winter and they said its not the size its if they are happy. I must say the smaller ones with alot of chickens had roost spots 12" to the ceiling I guess thats what matters all the chickens are not going to be on the floor at the same time one old guy told me. "Back in the day we didn't have fancy wood and a home depot near by we did what we needed to to get the job done" His coop looked 70 years old no PT lumber on it and some wood was plain, painted and some even had shingles on it.
So with that i am going to make my coop 4 x 8 x 5ft tall with the nesting boxes mounted to overhang out side to not take up floor space. traded 4 Buffs for 4 silver laced wyandotte's so now I have 6 buffs and 4 wyandotte's les than 2 weeks old.

 

[chickenmanfla]

A great rule of thumb is 2-3 sf per chicken. I have a 4x8 open area and then the laying boxes outside of that and works great for 16 chickens.. but I al;so allow them free range in the back yard run about 6ft x 20 ft.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Depends upon your climate. If you are in a cold climate, more room will be better, since they may have to be inside the coop for many days. In my southern climate I don't worry about it much, since they spend their days in spacious runs.

 

[dawj]

Whats the most common size of pop door? 12 x 15 tall?

 

[ECBW]

DAWJ,

I was in your shoes two coops ago. Here are my lessons learned.

If you already have the chicks, better start building.

If sky is the limit, build as big as you like. If not 2sf/bird is OK if they have full time access to a run. 4sf/bird if they have limited access to a run. No run... not a good idea.

Make sure there is enough roosting space, 1lf/bird.

My pop door is only 10Wx13H to minimize winter exposure.

Try to situate so you get the winter sun into the coop.