Let's be honest...

[BunnyMomma]

I have a 10x12 coop with 20 pullets, different breeds and 15 bantams, different breeds. They only stay in the coop at night. I have a free range pasture that they stay in during the day. I use a deep litter system, and so far it is working fine for me. I plan to seperate the bantams from the layers this spring, and put the layers in the barn and a different pasture. They don't make much of a mess if they stay outside most of the time. If we have a cold, rainy spell I have to clean up more often. Keeping more birds in the coop keeps them warmer in the winter. The coop is well ventilated and has plenty of roosts for the different breeds. I would not keep that many in the coop unless they couldn't be outside most of the time.

 

[mamabigbird]

I have 14 hen/pullets. My coop is about 8x10. There are 3 roosts although they only use the lowest one as a step up to the other 2. The upper roosts are about 4 foot and 6 foot off the ground and staggered so they can hop up and down. Roosts are 10 feet long. There are 3 side by side nest boxes about 2 1/2 feet off the ground with a ramp to walk up. Under the nest boxes is food and water so they don't poop in them. Their pen is about 12x16 although they free range most days on 3+ acres.
I think they were feeling very cooped up during our week long snow and freeze. They're gladly out foraging again.

 

[BrewedInNh]

Our coop is 6 x 4 ft, and the run is 14 x 4 ft (pics on my web page). We have two nesting boxes which are up of the floor so they can walk under them. They all prefer the same box, but if the line is too long they'll settle for laying in the other box too. They have 5 ft of roost which they don't completely fill because they huddle against each other, even in the warm weather.

We let them free range whenever we're home and it's light out, but that's mostly just weekends now. They all seem to get along fine in the space they have, but DW wants me to expand their run before the snow flies. I agree that it would be nice for them, if I could get it done.

ETA - Oh, we have 6 hens, no roos.

 

[speckledhen]

All of my coops are under capacity. Our 150 sf coop holds only 20 birds. A 52 sf coop holds just 6 birds. A 28 sf coop holds 4 birds. It's ever so much easier to keep clean with more than 4 sf per bird. I know because that 150 sf coop used to hold about 40 birds---not fun to keep clean and fresh at all.

 

[PunkinPeep]

My chickens only use the coop at night - and for laying eggs; they free range during the day.

That said, i went a little crazy with incubating earlier in the year, without regard for available facilities. So i have 57 chickens in an 8x8 space. It's crowded, but they're very docile, and those numbers are going to go WAY down in January when many of them reach age for slaughter.

How's that for honest?

I don't recommend this method, btw.

 

[ND]

I'm always confused on the coop square footage. Are the 'standards' talking about JUST floor space, or roost + floor space square footage? I've read both ways.

If it's floor space only, I'm 7 birds over the 'standard' 4 sq. ft per bird. That's not counting nesting space that attaches to the outside wall. That's not counting roost space. I have about 40 ft of roost space, which they use at various times during the day time when they're found inside.

For their run, I have far more than 10 sq. ft per bird. I have nearly 29 square ft per bird in the run. They're also let out to 'free range' a few acres for several hours, several times a week as our schedule allows.

Coops is only closed up at night, it's open to the run regardless of weather during the day.

So far, none get picked on, no one acts stressed, and they all insist on crowding onto one roost nightly, packed as tightly as they can... despite having other roosts of equal height completely bare. Except for one nutty pullet that just started laying recently. She insists on flying up to a little nook near the rafters every night and has since day one with us. Doesn't seem worth the trouble OR comfy, but still, she persists. Oh well.
During the day, they tend to pile together to dirt nap or nap on the coop floor if resting inside for any reason. A few will randomly hang out on any of the roosts, but daytime naps tend to be cuddled on the ground, inside or out.

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

Honestly- I have too much space. I am sure that I could double the amount of birds that I have and still have too much space. I remodeled the barn and that is their winter coop (although I highly doubt I will be moving them all come spring). 20 x50 in the "calf" part which is where they sleep. 20x 100 the milking parlor. and their run is about 20x 40 ish. I also have a 10 x 10 room where I have put a few injured and it was my duck brooding room this fall.
I also have a shed which housed them this summer that is 10 x 20 and then I have a 40x 10 middle room that was in the works for the chickens but has not been converted yet.

 

[Cargo]

I have 6sf in the coop and 50sf in the run + free range in the back yard.

Also remember that 4/10 is a minimum space guideline based on average weather conditions where the chickens will be spending some time in the coop during bad weather.
If you live in a more tropical zone where the coop doesn't get used except to sleep you can squeeze in a few more.
If you live in an arctic zone where they spend lots of time in the coop to keep from becoming chicken-cicles you will need more space.
People who have raised chickens for longer than I have been around agree that more space is better. I for one am not going to argue.

Production chicken houses keep their birds in much smaller spaces.
I own chickens because I don't want to eat those eggs and that meat. I am sure everyone else on the forum is the same way.

It is a good idea to watch them closely through an entire winter to see if you may have the ability to add more birds. Then you can make a better decision about your flock.

 

[DanEP]

I have 15 bo pullets in a 8x8 coopwith 4 external nest boxes and a 8x20 run. They also get the run of our 15 acres from 9 am till dark every day.

 

[HHandbasket]

I think our coop could support 1-2 more girls but they primarily only use it for sleeping and laying eggs. They free-range all day. I even range them in the winter, but they are in the back yard and truly have full free range of the yard. Even in the cold weather, they don't wanna stay in.

We have a chicken ark that we built, and then a run that we added to it, then a mini coop that we added to that, and then a playhouse we converted to a coop and added it to THAT, and now it's like a giant chicken habitrail. There are two roost areas, and my stupid chickens stay in the part that's open and drafty (even though they have an enclosed playhouse coop that stays almost as warm as the inside of our house). We have to go out at night after they go to sleep and move them to the warm coop, and an hour later they are invariably back in the other cold part. I think they are creatures of habit, because that's where they slept in the summer.