Is having a big chicken coop okay for small flock?

[ClucksAndCombs]

As a fellow New Englander, a bigger run is a must. But, keep in mind the fact you'd rather have a slanted roofed run than a no-roof run. This way, your chickens have somewhere to go in the winter snow.

And for a coop, it should be fairly big, or else chicken math is gonna get back at you. I'd look at the BYC Medium coops page if I were you.

 

[ChickenFajita6]

People tell me my coop is too big for my flock of 7, but honestly they are thrilled every time I open the door and give them the full freedom of the backyard. So yes, bigger is always better.

 

[Mosey2003]

It won't be a small flock for long, if you build it they will come

 

[The Moonshiner]

It won't be a small flock for long, if you build it they will come

That's what I was thinking.
A bigger coop is a must.
A bigger coop with the birds you have is good.
An even bigger coop with a few more birds is better.
The biggest coop possible and a lot more birds is the best.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might follow the link in my signature to see some of the things I consider important about room for chickens. To sum it up, the tighter I pack them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with any issues that might come up. If you make it easier on yourself you make it better for your chickens.

You don't need to keep your chickens warm in winter, you need to allow them to keep themselves warm, much like the wild birds that overwinter. That means keep them dry and out of any direct breezes or give them the ability to keep themselves dry and get themselves out of any direct breezes. Good ventilation up high accomplishes this. Any winds are over their heads and this allows the moisture from their breath, their poop, and any water to escape.

 

[123RedBeard]

Knock off two inches depth for wall, and you're a little more than two feet across. 76 inches length = about two and a half feet long, once you knock off the nest box and the "run." [EDT: Make that two feet long. That makes a four-foot square space. That's not a coop. That's an isolation pen for sick birds.]

I might keep four Old English Game bantams in a coop that size. Definitely go bigger; my chickens would be killing each other in there over the winter.

Try again ... 76" = 6'4" ... still small though ...

Bigger is better ... being able to walk in is also a good thing ...

 

[sylviethecochin]

Try again ... 76" = 6'4" ... still small though ...

I know. But the outside dimensions of that pen include the nest-box and the "run." About 3.5 ft total, I guesstimate from that picture. Subtract, add in the depth of the walls, and the interior of the box is maybe 2.5' max. Probably closer to 2'. I only consider the part of the pen where the chickens roost/stay out of the weather to be the coop (especially through a northern winter, in which my birds will refuse to leave the coop) Thus, the coop is about a 2'x2'.

I stand by my statement that that is too small of a place for four chickens to spend the winter.