Is my coop big enough?

[patandchickens]

10x10 is 100 sq ft. If you gave them 4 sq ft per chicken, it'd hold 25. To put 40 in there would give them 2.5 sq ft per chicken.

The thing is, there is no magic number - 'this is ok, that is not'. It depends on a lot of things, luck figuring largely into them. But the less space your chickens have, the likelier you'll get picking/cannibalism problems (which are not always fixable this side of the stewpot).

You pays your money, you takes your choice.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[TechyFarmer]

Okay, Thank you..

I plan on putting Shelves/Table type things inside of the coop so some can stand on top and some can stand below to make more room.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Good grief - you put the chickens before the coop.

I have ten chickens - 9 wks old now in a 12 x 12. By the time you put the roosts, hang there feeder and waterer, have any storage there's not much room to move around with all the chickens running around.

You want room to go in with a wheel barrow to clean out old shavings and spread new, etc.

Like what others said - more space the better.

 

[RHewitt]

If you free range alot and have a large run you may be OK but 25 is the suggested number. Are they all pullets or do you have some roos. If you bought straight run by the time you cull out / find new homes or the freezer for extra roos you maybe just right.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Sure, you can do that, but it won't meaningfully decrease the chickens' crowding. They just don't use elevated shelves/platforms much, nor in the same way. (Remember they are basically ground-dwelling critters in the wild)

So while it can't hurt, don't count on it to *help* much either.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[sherrydeanne]

If you want to keep them all, I wouldn't do a run less than 400 sf. Build the nest boxes up off the floor so they can walk underneath them.

 

[TechyFarmer]

~*Sweet Cheeks*~ :

Good grief - you put the chickens before the coop.

I have ten chickens - 9 wks old now in a 12 x 12. By the time you put the roosts, hang there feeder and waterer, have any storage there's not much room to move around with all the chickens running around.

You want room to go in with a wheel barrow to clean out old shavings and spread new, etc.

Like what others said - more space the better.

Well, proud to say that I have 33(a few died and some were roosters) hens in my chicken coop and have only had one issue with pecking on one bird, she had a patch of feathers missing on her back, put no peck on it and everyone's been content since.. my run is 420 sq ft, and as I posted before, the coop it about 8.5-9x10 feet ~ estimate.

-- And for cleaning, in between the floor boards is a big enough gap for shaving to fall trough and I have tray stuck to the underneath, I just lower the tray sweep the shaving around until they fall through, then I keep the shavings for later fertilization and covering my blueberries, raspberries and such.