Is my coop big enough for my chickens?

[Jkioneil]

we have 7 chickens 2 barred rock, 3 RIR, 1 orpington and 1 arauacna. We have the entire enclosure 24'x22' and the hen house is 4'x'6. Is this big enough for them? thanks

 

[chicmom]

Well, the formula I always go by is 4 square feet per chicken. And I believe the more room the better.....crowded chickens are unhappy chickens.......

 

[TipsyDog]

Your run is plenty large, but I wouldn't add anymore to the coop. It would get too tight BUT it also depends where you live. If you have cold winters and they stay in the coop all day it could get tight, but if it's moderate winters and they're outside most of the time you shouldn't have a problem. I think your fine!

Good luck!

 

[Jkioneil]

is that 4 square feet for the hen house of the whole coop? does that mean i need to rebuild my coop? we are in oregon

 

[elmo]

I was going to say the same thing as the previous commentor. Your run is wonderfully large; your chickens are really going to enjoy that space. Your coop is probably fine provided that it's really only where your chickens roost at night for the most part. You just need to make sure that the roosts you have in there give your chickens enough space for roosting. A rule of thumb I've seen is about 1 foot of roost width per bird. They won't use all of that (they tend to squish up together), but I've read that you should figure on about that much to give them room to sort out among themselves who gets to sleep next to whom.

 

[TipsyDog]

Quote:
It's generally 4 sf. per chicken in a coop and 10 sf. per chicken in a run.

Since you're in Oregon you're fine! They'll make room for each other and the 4 sf. recommendation is in a perfect world. I have 7 chickens in a coop just a bit bigger with really, really cold winters and I had no problems at all.

 

[Jkioneil]

Thanks so much

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I definitely wouldn't rebuilt your coop until you see how they do come winter time. Your indoor space is less than the general 4 sq. ft. per LF bird minimum recommendation that I go by, but not by much. Hopefully your nest boxes are elevated, so you haven't lost any floorspace. Make sure you have plenty of roost space; that will help. You really won't see how your chickens do until this winter, if/when they are confined a LOT more than they are now. Maybe they'll do fine (probably). If you begin to see bullying behaviors and feather picking, then you'll want to think about either expanding your coop, or reducing your flock. As others have said, your run space is more than ample!! Your birds will love that!

 

[Jkioneil]

thanks so much.

 

[The Coastal Chicks]

Thanks for this post... I have 6 hens and will be building the run this weekend...
My coop looks to be about 4X4ish and will be free range when I am home.
How many laying boxes do you recommend.. I was thinking three with two tiered roosting poles. inside?

I on the other side of the country... Georgia. so the weather is going to be total opposite!