Is my coop big enough for my chickens?

[Jkioneil]

all the research i have done says about three nesting boxes for six birds.

 

[anniem]

Like others have said, the 4sf is more an minimum of space you'd want to lock them up in for a length of time. We have an enclosed, covered area (frame/wire mesh/roof) that is 10x6 and then the actual henhouse (solid walls/roosts/nest boxes) is 4x6, but they will always have access to the 10x6 area. And to our yard much of they day most days. We're in Eugene so it's a rare day that i'd keep them in anyway.

As for nest boxes...I thought it was 1 per 3-4 birds?

 

[nelgkel]

Like others have said, I would not redo the coop unless you see an issue. we have 32 sq. feet and 12 chickens..BUT we live in FL..so we do not see any long periods of being cooped up! the run~they will have 10 sq. feet per chicken...so try it and see how it works for ya...

 

[Knowing Happiness]

It sounds just about right. If you are west of the Cascades you may want to provide a covered patio. They hate being out in the rain, and in Portland that would mean about half the year. If you are east of the Cascades you might want a covered patio to protect them from the summer sun. They also like the shade. My girls have a 4x4 foot covered porch that they just love. Also if you are in the rainy part of the state setting up a dry place for dust baths is a real challenge. Dust in Portland? Not so much! I am still trying to figure that one out. Nothing that looked good to me looked good to the girls.
You can start with two nest boxes but I have 5 hens that wait in line for 1 nest box so I eventually took out all the other ones.

By the way, don't pay too much attention to the rules of thumb. Just watch their behavior. If they are really crabby (pecking until they hurt each other) you don't have enough room. They know more about what they need than we do and they will let you know.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Three or even just two nesting boxes should be fine for six hens, although unless you leave a dummy egg (or golf ball) in each nest, your hens will probably all want to lay in the same nest.

I think this is adaptive behavior. A hen that still has the instinct for broodiness will begin to incubate a clutch of eggs when there are "enough" eggs accumulated in that nest. What's "enough" depends on the particular breed of chicken. If one of the big girls that sits on clutches of 18 eggs waited until she herself lay 18 eggs to make up that clutch, the first egg would be at least 18 days old, and not very likely to hatch. However, if her flock mates pitch in, a clutch of 18 eggs might only take 3 or 4 days if the flock has six hens in it. The eggs will be fresher when she starts to set them. That's my guess about why hens lay in communal nests, and why they look for a nest that already has an egg in it when they look for places to lay.