Is this big enough for 6 chickens and 1 rooster?

[want2know]

Hi Everyone,
I am getting ready to build a new coop for my new flock. I have 2 Cochins, Rooster and hen, 1 Orpington, and 2 Australorps. So I am dismantling my current store bought coop to build one from scratch. The dimensions I am planning are 6 feet long x 5 feet wide x 4 - 5 ft high slope roof. Will be raised off ground with entire area under as an hardware cloth enclosed run. Is this generous space for 7 chickens?

 

[azygous]

It's just under the wire adequate. As long as you are building it yourself, why not double the size? I doubt there's a chicken keeper alive that doesn't wish they had been more generous with space when planning their first coop.

However, daytime run space is more critical. As long as you allocate a minimum of ten square feet per chicken for run space, coop space can be minimal as long as there is adequate perch space.

 

[imnukensc]

The coop should be large enough, but the run space is woefully inadequate.

 

[Chickassan]

Understatement of the day, you'll have poop up to your elbows and fights you could sell tickets to if they're in a run that small 24/7.

The coop should be large enough, but the run space is woefully inadequate.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I'd make it tall enough to walk in, stooping to clean up after or fetch an injured bird is a royal pain in the back.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is that run space underneath part of a bigger run? Not completely sure with the description.

The coop space should be adequate and having covered run space is appreciated by chickens, but if that's the only run space then you'll need to add a lot more run space (70 sq ft at a bare minimum, though I'd personally do double that at the very least), or allow the chickens to free range for the majority of the day.

For your own convenience you should consider a walk in coop. I know it's an extra expense but having to stoop over to care for my chickens for 2 years was a real pain. Now I have a walk in and it's just so much easier to do everything from cleaning to gathering eggs to coop maintenance.

 

[want2know]

Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your input.
The coop portion we are building is only for nighttime. Their daytime area is approx 500 sq ft. and is entirely enclosed, top included with chicken wire. And outside this area we have an area 3 x this size, sides enclosed with deer barrier. Also I have my coop on a foot thick base of construction sand, with hardware cloth about 3 " deep, so its like a big kitty box, the poop dries up and the pill bugs and dung beetles do a fairly good job of keeping the entire area clean. I had 4 chickens and a roo in there for 3 years, and it worked, but 2 were bantams. The old coop had a pull out tray, so was easy to clean. I have a couple of 1 inch deap large plastic pans that I am trying to figure out how to use in similar fashion to make night time poo easy to clean up.