Is there a desired/recommended height for inside of a coop?

[aart]

Quote:
4sqft is a minimum for keeping adult layers.
Meat birds are a bit different, especially if you are raising Cornish Cross.
4sqft might be fine for them as they are slaughtered at 8 weeks...
...BUT...
They poop A LOT....so moving them frequently is a necessity IMO.
Better to have more room than not enough.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Earlier someone wrote that 4 square feet per bird is good to use on making chicken coops. Is that for each adult bird? If we are raising meat chickens instead of laying hens can we get by with less room if we move the pen more often? And what kind of materials would you recommend to be used on the roofs in a fairly warm climate ?

Cindy, people seem to fixate on coop size as if coop size in isolation is all that matters. I’m all in favor of the more room the better, as much for my comfort, convenience, and stress levels as for the chickens. I find the more I shoehorn the chickens into a smaller space the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues, behavioral or otherwise. Why make my life harder than it has to be?

The coop is an important part of your system, but how you manage them, your climate, your type of coop or coop/run, your flock make-up (age, sex, number), your unique flock dynamics, your future plans, and so many other things are also important. In some management systems and conditions the 4 square feet is overkill, in some it is not enough. That’s true for bantams as well as Jersey Giants, though the size of the individual chickens is another factor.

For people that keep small flocks of all hens in a small suburban backyard 4 square feet in the coop along with 10 square feet per chicken in the run isn’t a bad place to start. You have to find a way to feed and water them winter and summer without them pooping in the food and water from the roosts. You’ll probably have to spend more time on poop management than some of us do. You don’t want them pooping in the nests either.

If you have a tractor (a coop you move around), use electric netting to keep ground based predators out, don’t have a bird of prey problem, and never leave them locked in the coop you can easily get by with less room in the coop. This especially works for meat birds, they are not laying eggs and are not roosting. But you may find you are moving that coop on a real regular basis, some people say they do it twice a day, because of the poop build-up, especially if they are confined to the coop and don’t have room to roam outside. How much time they spend in the coop has a direct effect on how often you have to clean it or, in the case of a tractor, move it.

If you live in a climate where the chickens are locked in the coop for extended periods, your management methods leave them locked in the coop for extended periods (you sleep in on a Saturday or when you have the flu instead of letting them out early), have mixed ages and sexes, integrate other chickens, or have a broody hen hatch and raise chicks with the flock more room is probably going to make your life a lot easier. If you ever leave and need to find someone to take care of your chickens, that’s easier if they don’t have to work so hard or be stuck to a rigid schedule.

Can you get by with a smaller coop if you move it more often? I think so. Poop build-up will factor into that, the tighter they are packed the more often you have to move it. If the chicken density is very high (number of chickens and how much space they are in) they will strip the vegetation faster. Moving them to fresh grazing helps reduce boredom. This means working harder. You commit to moving them when they need moving. This might be once or twice a day. When I tried a tractor is was about every three days, but more often if it rained.

If you are talking about a tractor for the Cornish X meaties, you are going to butcher them around 6 to 8 weeks of age and probably do it in pretty nice weather. That’s a lot different than keeping a flock of laying hens winter and summer. Many people that use tractors only use them in the summer and house them in a fixed facility in the winter. Climate plays a part in that.

Different people use different things for the roof, metal, plastic, wood, shingles, and who knows what else. You want any roof sloped enough so water runs off of it, but your use and climate may dictate which material is better. For example, if you have a tractor that you are moving by hand, you really want it to be as light as possible. Metal might be a good choice. But in certain weather conditions water from the atmosphere can condense on the metal and you essentially get a rain inside your coop. If you are moving a tractor regularly, especially first thing each morning, that’s probably not a big deal.

I’ve seen people in the tropics where it gets really hot use metal roofs. Those coops are generally really well ventilated so they can cool off quickly at night when it counts, the chickens will be outside during the day except when they are laying eggs. Some extra height helps too.

I don’t know nearly enough about your unique situation or goals or how hard you want to work to come close to make a recommendation on coop size or roofing material, let along type. I get the feeling you are talking about a tractor or some type, but I could be wrong.

 

[Cindyjohnson]

Thank you so much for a very informative and detailed response, you gave to me a lot to think about .

 

[culturalinfidel]

Put posts in the ground today and getting the fence panels this weekend. Went with a 4'X8'foot print. Still thinking about building it off ground, but not 100%. Hope to have the framework done some time next week.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

4x8' is a convenient size if you go with off ground-standard plywood size. Plenty of room for the hens too. 4'height is pretty good off the ground coop, dirt floor I'd want to be able to stand in.