We can’t have an EasyGardening forum member confused. That’s not allowed.
Space questions are hard to answer because so much depends on your specific conditions and how you manage them. I don’t like those coops usually offered for sale. I think you can usually build something better less expensively. They also tend to say they can house a lot more chickens than I’d want to put in there. They also often have a lot of gingerbread on them that is not really necessary. They are usually pretty cute though.
Commercial operations have proven you can house chickens in 2 square feet or so, but you have to follow certain techniques to make that work. You may have to clip their beaks to keep them from eating each other. Or maybe build each one its own individual cage to keep them separated.
There is also a totally humane way to house them that tight. Set it up so they are not locked in there during their waking hours. Just use it as a place to sleep and maybe lay eggs. Make sure the pop door is open whenever they are awake and they have more space to go to, whether that is a run or maybe even free range. Space it the key. It does not matter if that space is in the coop, coop and run, or some other way. It just has to be available.
I don’t like giving hard and fast numbers for space because there are so many variables that go into it. The rule of thumb used on here a lot for 4 square feet in the coop along with 10 square feet in the run for each chicken will keep most of us out of trouble most of the time and cover a lot of different management techniques. With that you don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn every day. You can even sleep in some on the weekends. But you do need to let them out to the run at some time.
Your climate comes into play too. How often is your weather going to keep them trapped in the coop? Mine don’t mind rain or cold, but they don’t like a cold wind in the winter. They don’t like snow either, but after a couple of days they get used to it and will go out for a walk in it, especially if the weeds and grass are poking through and they can get something to eat. Having a sheltered place to block the wind and maybe keep snow off the ground in even a small area can really help.
If you decide to build your own, I’ll mention that a lot of building materials come in 4’ and 8’ dimensions. You’ll want some overhang on your roof so that makes it a bit harder, but if you plan on the 4’ and 8’ dimensions, you can usually build a cost efficient building.
Another possibility is to get one of those buildings from Lowe’s or Home Depot. Those can make a pretty good coop. All you need to add is a roost, nest boxes, ventilation, and a pop door.
I like having extra room. I find that with extra room I have to work less hard. Think poop management for example. You’ll want to catch that for your compost pile, so you probably want a droppings board, so maybe working less hard is not a huge incentive for you, but I also find that with a bit of extra space, I have more flexibility in how I manage them. If you ever plan to integrate more chicks or have a broody raise chicks with the flock, the extra space makes that a lot easier.
For a rooster and 6 hens, I would not go smaller than a 4’ x 8’, and frankly I’d go with an 8’ x 8’ walk-in but I’m in a different situation than you. You can make the 4’ x 8’ an elevated coop, just make sure you can easily clean it and can get to every place inside. Any bigger, I’d go with a walk-in. There are just too many times I want access to the inside.
To sum up, there is no one right answer for everyone as to how much space you need to provide or where you provide it. You can make a lot of different things work. The smaller it is, the harder you probably have to work.
Good luck!!!
