is this ok

[richard adams]

i plan on have a 3ft wide or 4ft wide by 10ft long and 6 ft high coop inside a shed and a 3ft by 8ft run out side
just woundering how many chickens i can have and how many nest boxes i need the shed is going to insulted and have a light in there cheers peeps

 

[richard adams]

sorry forgot to put i live in the uk and a urban area and not sure what chickens to go 4
i will be putting heating in

 

[Judy]

Since the run is small, I would put 3 chickens and one nest box in.

 

[richard adams]

the outside run could be 10ft long and the inside run could be 5ft deep do they need more ouse side space then inside space

 

[Judy]

The rule of thumb is 4 sq ft per bird in the coop and 10 sq ft per bird in the run. Chickens are natural wanderers and foragers. These numbers represent what is supposed to be the minimum to prevent the pecking, feather pulling and eventual cannibalism that overcrowded chickens develop. To me it is too little space, but not everyone has the space we have.

Not quite sure what you mean by the inside run -- the coop, or a separate space?

 

[WhySayWhat]

Well, using the 4sqft inside and 10 sqft outside rule of thumb...you have enough space outside for 2.4 chickens (3'*8'=24 sq ft / 10 sq ft per chicken = 2.4 chickens), but have room enough for 7.5 inside (3'*10'=30 sq ft / 4 sq ft per chicken = 7.5 chickens).

If you only want to ever have 2 chickens, you're set, otherwise I would make the run MUCH larger. Though, I'm still in the planning phase myself and don't have a real clue about what I'm talking anout.

I am planning a coop that is 4'x6'x5' (24 sq ft, headspace doesn't count) for 3 chickens (or 8 sqft indoor space per chicken) because it gets very "wintery" here and I don't want there to be an issue if they don't want to play outside every day. Also, my run will be approximately, 12'x15' (or 180 sq ft outside), giving each of 3 hens approximately 60 sq ft of outdoor space.

 

[richard adams]

sound like i need to make my shed smaller and run bigger so i if i went for 6ft by 3ft coop and a 5 and a half by 10ft run would this be better

 

[WhySayWhat]

More room is always better, I would just make the outside area bigger.

 

[AlabamaChickenLady]

Quote:
If you stick to the original 4ft X 10ft coop inside and make the run outside 10ft X 10ft, you could have 10 chickens. Even if you don't want to have 10 chickens, more room is always better. You also have to take into consideration how much room you will need inside the coop for the feeder & waterer, the roost, nest boxes etc. You will need room for these things also.

 

[HarryBun12]

Your 6X3 coop with 5.5X10 run would be very comforable for 3 chickens. I have an 8X8 outside run with a 3X5 coop inside my garage and it houses 1dear Easter Egger, a Barnevelder and the biggest Light Sussex (Gargantua). They are all 3 very calm birds so they get along great- I've had absolutely no problems with them. My other coop is a bit bigger but the birds are not nearly as friendly with each other. It really does depend on your birds and whether you will be able to let them free range. My birds get to come outside their run under supervision, but they aren't too keen on coming out in our winter snow. How many birds were you hoping to keep?