Is my coop big enough?

[Dodgersmomma]

As of now I have a 6' by 8' chicken run with a small hutch. It houses my 3 hens and my rooster. They can not be completely free range because I have dogs that seem to think chickens are a good snack, but they do have a good sized yard (fenced off) that they go out into if I am home. We just got 4 babies 2 weeks ago and they are starting to get big enough to be mixed in with the others (they have all met and only one hen had a problem) so we are expanding. We are converting our shed into a hen house and conecting it to the run. The shed it's self is 8' by 10'. It will have a dog door for them or a small opening and a big door for us. Do you think this is big enough for 4 chickens or even a couple more?

 

[BooBear]

Yep

 

[ll]

Yes, I have 2 in a similar set-up and it could easily fit 4, but there would be double the maintenance.

 

[enggass]

Should be enough for 20 chickens at 80sqft if you figure 4sqft/bird inside. Although they say +/-10sqft/bird outside... These are just rough guidelines.

 

[Dodgersmomma]

Thank you so much, I was really looking forward to expanding my flock

 

[teach1rusl]

Even if you keep all eight chickens (the 4 adults + the 4 newbies) in the shed housing, that is ample space, which is wonderful; more space is always beneficial (especially in winter time)!

Your run, of course, is definitely small for eight birds, unless they're spending the bulk of the day in the fenced off part of the yard. So you might consider how you could expand your run.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You'll be fine. I dislike those "formulas" because folks tend to take them as universal gospel or folks commence to push the limits beyond what any formulary was ever intended. In places that have winter, with lots of snow on the ground for weeks on end, there simply isn't a large enough shed/coop/barn for all the indoor time.

 

[laughing man]

4 feet per bird + 24 for nest box,water,feed,and other stuff in the coop

 

[Dodgersmomma]

So if I extend my run by 4' so that it's 6' by 12' instead of 6' by 8' that should be good right?

 

[hcppam]

Fred's Hens :

You'll be fine. I dislike those "formulas" because folks tend to take them as universal gospel or folks commence to push the limits beyond what any formulary was ever intended. In places that have winter, with lots of snow on the ground for weeks on end, there simply isn't a large enough shed/coop/barn for all the indoor time.

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