Officialy confused with coop size!!

[Ridgerunner]

You might follow the link in my signature below to get my thoughts on space requirements. There is no one magic number that works for all of us. How much room you need depends on lot on your management techniques and climate.

It’s not how much room you have in your coop in isolation that’s important. It is how much space in total they have when they need it that matters.

Good luck!

 

[cafarmgirl]

You'll never be disappointed if you build larger then you think you need, but you may well be disappointed if you build too small. My coops are 5x13, I generally house 8 birds in each and they free range in a 3/4 acre pasture most of the day. They do enjoy spending a lot of time in the coop during the day if the weather is bad, and sometimes even when it's not, they hang out in there. I would not want any smaller coop nor any more birds per coop. Yes, small coops can work IF and AS LONG as all your birds are friendly and get along well. But all it takes is one bully bird or an aggressive bird or two and things go haywire quick in a little coop. I had a few Rhode Island Red's that were a bit aggressive and I'm glad my coops were not small or crowded. Even if they only sleep in there, there can still be fighting and bullying over roost space when they try to go to roost if birds are crowded.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

You'll never be disappointed if you build larger then you think you need, but you may well be disappointed if you build too small. My coops are 5x13, I generally house 8 birds in each and they free range in a 3/4 acre pasture most of the day. They do enjoy spending a lot of time in the coop during the day if the weather is bad, and sometimes even when it's not, they hang out in there. I would not want any smaller coop nor any more birds per coop. Yes, small coops can work IF and AS LONG as all your birds are friendly and get along well. But all it takes is one bully bird or an aggressive bird or two and things go haywire quick in a little coop. I had a few Rhode Island Red's that were a bit aggressive and I'm glad my coops were not small or crowded. Even if they only sleep in there, there can still be fighting and bullying over roost space when they try to go to roost if birds are crowded.

Words of wisdom!!!!

 

[farmeristas]

well guys really am still confused i was thinking that i have to build a 5x11 without including the nests the roosting and the covered run (as i said i doubt that in south greece chickens will stay in by will because in my area we dont get less than 4 celcius!!!)
ANOTHER think i would like to make clear is am not considering pushing my chickens as all the animals in the farm will get pet privileges (thats why i chise to make a small farm) am just trying to save any possible cent and as someone mention above the project sometimes comes more economic when its bigger buying all materials from scratch means i dont want any wastage so that means we make a plan and then we get as close as we can so we dont really cut and waste amounts of lumber !!!

 

[cafarmgirl]

well guys really am still confused i was thinking that i have to build a 5x11 without including the nests the roosting and the covered run (as i said i doubt that in south greece chickens will stay in by will because in my area we dont get less than 4 celcius!!!)
ANOTHER think i would like to make clear is am not considering pushing my chickens as all the animals in the farm will get pet privileges (thats why i chise to make a small farm) am just trying to save any possible cent and as someone mention above the project sometimes comes more economic when its bigger buying all materials from scratch means i dont want any wastage so that means we make a plan and then we get as close as we can so we dont really cut and waste amounts of lumber !!!

Ok, now I'm confused lol! If the roosts and nests aren't in the coop where will they be? I'm also not clear on the "not pushing my chickens" part and getting "pet privleges", not sure what your meaning is there so I don't really know how to help.

As mentioned, a "basic" rule of thumb in regards to amount of space in a coop is considered to be 4 square feet of floor space per bird in the coop and 10 square feet in the run. I put basic in quotes because these are the stated so called minimum standards. I personally have never kept birds in such small spaces, I always go much larger. But those numbers are intended as a guide and usually will keep most people out of trouble. If you prefer to go with a smaller coop then maybe consider getting fewer birds instead of 20. A 5x11 coop can theoretically handle 12 or 13 birds, if you want to go by minimum standards. It's just that behavioral problems such as pecking, feather picking and aggression in general are things that are far easier avoided then cured.

Hope this helps some.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The roosts and the nests will be in there. The comment about “only sleep in there” should be intended to mean that they are not locked in there when they are awake but have the freedom to come and go when they please. Remember, it’s the total space available to them when they are awake that counts, not just coop size. But if they are locked in the coop when they are awake, it becomes coop size. If they are going to sleep in there the roosts need to be in there. The nests don’t have to be in there but it’s normal that they are. You can feed and water inside or out. We all do that differently.

In southern Greece with those temperatures you don’t even need a solid coop. Chickens can handle those temperatures very well. The roosts and the nests need to stay dry, but you can build a coop using wire over the far wall to give great ventilation, basically a three sided coop. The wire wall is to maybe keep predators out or to enable you to lock them in the coop if you need to. That feature often comes in handy. Wire on the one side instead of wood could help reduce your costs if you are buying the coop material. The heat of your summers are going to be more dangerous to your chickens than any cold weather you will see. I don’t know how hot your hottest days are. As close to the water as you are the heat won’t be as extreme as places further inland but heat kills a lot more chickens than cold. Your summer humidity is probably pretty high. Good ventilation helps with heat problems.

If you build a three sided coop though you need to watch the floor. A wet coop is a dangerous unhealthy coop and rain will get inside. The way you overcome that problem is to position the coop on high ground or at least where water will drain out. You certainly do not want any coop in a low spot where water collects. You can fill the bottom of the coop with some sand to raise it so it drains really well. The open ventilation and the drainage should keep it dry enough.

 

[farmeristas]

well you got it 100%!
We have zero predators here, the heat is high thats why i'll make the coop in a place with tree shadow almost day long,
the chickens will have acces to 1 acre, we dont lock them at all here we just offer them a place to roost, lay, and hide from rain days.
So this was my plan : the shelter for the rain days will be like 100 sq ft!!! a wooden coop about 50 sq ft of clean space.
and then 10 nest boxes, and the apropriate roost place wich i thing is about 1ft for full grown birds!!!
NOW what i was asking is if someone could thing that anything of these its not necessary i would really appreciate to tell me where
i can cut down the costs!!
Am really sorry for my english guys thank you for beeing so helpfull if am not clear again i'll post a simple plan to make it easier!

 

[Ridgerunner]

One possible way to cut costs is to make fewer nests. That depends on what you are doing for nests. How many nests you need depends some on the size of the nests, the larger the nests the fewer you need. If you go with the minimum recommended size for full sized hens on here, 30 cm squared (12”), you would do fine with five nests for 20 hens. Most of the eggs will wind up in one or two of the nests anyway but five is a good number. If you make them say 40 cm squared, (16”) you should be able to get by with only four. Having extras won’t hurt but they are not necessarily needed.

 

[ECBW]

Do you use metric system in Greece? Talking in feet and inches, you had us fooled. There is a town named Greece in NY, but you will not see 4C in winter there.

Lovely country.

 

[farmeristas]

Well in all my posts i use feet and sq feet to make it easier for you people cause everyone uses this!!!! But i said the minimum temp will be 4 celcius. I remember once as a child it was -5 lemon and orange trees were destroyed i remember a lot of people losing a lifetime in a night and then suiciding