My urban coop [Chickens moved in! Updates on page 6]

[rpchris]

I've started working on my coop that will sit beside my garage. I have a small city lot, so not a lot of room to work with.

The coop is 6 feet wide by 3 feet deep (18 sq ft) It has external nest boxes 14 inches deep by 3 feet long (another 3+ square feet). The coop interior is about 5 feet tall and will have a couple of different roosts at different heights.

The front of the coop opens up completely with 2 hinged doors for easy access and clean out. The screen panels on the run are removable so I can get a rake in there. I plan to use sand in the run.

I have 5 chicks and hope they all survive and all turn out to be hens and no roosters.

So does my coop sound like it will be large enough for 5 standard sized hens? They will also have a large run 22 feet long by 3 feet wide by 40" tall and some free-range time.

UPDATE: Thanks all for the input on the size requirements.

The build is coming along. Pictures are in my profile page, the link is in my signature below.

 

[10 point]

ya your set up is big enough for 5 hens

 

[NovaAman]

you need to add 4 more feet of coop floor space. Good rule of thumb, 4 sq ft per chicken inside the coop, roost and next boxes do not count as space, and 10 sq ft per chicken outside in run... However, you can get away with a little less than that if you have bantams instead of standard/large breed.

That aside, it looks like its going to be a nice little coop there. What kind of chickens do you have?

 

[happyhens120]

Love the sketches and how you've decided to kind of incorporate the coop into the garage... very nice! What kind of chicks do you have? The general rule of thumb is 4 sq. ft. per chicken, but that can vary depending on the size of the breed, if there's a run attached, etc. Here's a great site that explains it in more detail... http://smallfarm.about.com/od/designingandplanning/a/chickencoop.htm

Best of luck and

 

[10 point]

Quote:
I think with the free range and ample run room two square feet isn't going to make much of a difference

 

[NovaAman]

Quote:
I think with the free range and ample run room two square feet isn't going to make much of a difference

I agree. I don't know why I was thinking 16sq... I read that it was 18 sq...

I guess this heat fried my brain a bit... No, two feet won't make much difference.

 

[rpchris]

Thanks all. I swear I am going crazy reading about all of this. Some sites say 4 sq ft per bird, other say 2-3 is okay, others say 10! With the limited space I have this design is going to have to do.

We do have a few snow days here but it typically doesn't hang around very long, so I suspect that the chickens will want to spend the majority of their time outside in the run and not need to be "cooped up" much. I am more concerned with the heat and ensuring I have enough cross ventilation. Our summers are brutally hot and humid.

Here is a link to my chicks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=566203

 

[L0rraine]

As time as gone on for me (new to chickens four years ago), I've decided that the easier access for me to 'everything'!, the better. It seems your set up looks pretty good. I've made all my current coops easy to walk into, with lots of doors for cleaning and collecting eggs (and some decent covered dry areas for food and for the hens to escape the 'weather'). I'll TRY to post a few pics tomorrow.

 

[rpchris]

I'm making some progress on my coop. You can check it out on my profile page. Link in my signature.

 

[wava1vaughn]

Hi from Ga. Try and see what happens. Probably will be fine.