New Chicken owner looking for input.

[Grimey]

Building a 4x8 coop with a run that is 12x8 was wondering how many chickens I can have in this. Also wondering what size yall are building each nesting box.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

A dozen chickens or so.

 

[thomasboyle]

It depends on the size chickens you are getting, but somewhere in the 7-9 range is right for that size coop and run. My nesting boxes are 12x14x14. You should have 2 nesting boxes or so.

 

[Grimey]

Thanks for the info!

 

[RachRed]

I'm building a 4x8 coop too! My run will be about 20x30. I'm getting 8 chicks in May. That gives then 4 square feet a peice in the coop (with room to add a couple I think). I did an external nesting box on the short side w 3 cubbies. They are about 12"x13" and 15" high. You can see my build so far under the thread name '4x8 coop'.

 

[ronmauldin]

Common rules of thumb are 3-4 sq ft of coop and 5-6 sq ft of run per chicken. As far as nesting boxes, at least one for every 4 chickens, but I prefer one for every two, in case some get broody.

 

[wsmith]

Something to keep in mind...

The 4 square feet coop space and 10 square feet of run space per chicken is what I would call minimum space requirements. The more area you give them, the more contented the chickens will be. For some breeds the rule of thumb works great, for others, not so well. Personally, I wouldn't have more than 6 average sized hens in that size coop for long term living quarters.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[delude07]

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