Omg...About time! Coop can at least "hold" chickens

[Larkspur88]

Here are a few munching on some food. I haven't cleaned the coop out yet. Still some junk in there.

I still have some detailing. I need to paint obviously. Have to finish putting up the chicken wire along the bottom of the fence. I have some mischievous dogs and some bantams I think will be able to walk out the fencing.

How many chickens do you think will fit in here? I'll probably have it overcrowded.

Right now I have 14 who are going to go into the coop and a couple more I plan on getting later this year and 3 more who are too young to be outside yet that are in my garage. The rest of my chickens are seramas who are in different living quarters. The run of the coop is about 24 feet by 18 feet? But it's not a square. It's more a smashed square. xD The chicken house my husband said is 64 square feet at the base of it.

 

[Miyashi]

Looks good! Birds seem very happy!

 

[Larkspur88]

Thanks. I'm not letting them stay in it overnight yet since it's not completed to my standards but it's good enough for the day since they were free roaming anyway. Now they will stay out my neighbors yard. Haha.

 

[Jackie B.]

Quote:
A whole bunch more!

 

[Larkspur88]

I just don't want them super crowded. I dont know how people normally house chickens and what is acceptable amount of room

 

[klf73]

Honestly, mine are overcrowded by the "rule" but we have hard winters so warmth is a problem (not heated). I have a whole empty roost (8ft) in mine even though the 4ft square rule is now what is in one of my coops. I had 10 more hens in there(before a coyote issue) and there was still room(make sure proper ventilation). They only spend minimal time in there anyway

. If the run is big enough(mine free range) you definitely could get a few more

 

[klf73]

Quote:
If I took a pic of mine they would look "crowded" at night but the other roost, at same height, is empty. They seem to like to "shoulder up" to each other.

 

[Larkspur88]

So 8 square feet per chicken.

So if I go by my run at 16 x20 for example even though it's a tad bigger I could squish in 40 chickens??? XD

 

[teach1rusl]

Two things first - add plenty of ventilation (unless there's a lot in the two sides I don't see). Just cut out some "windows" up high and nail or screw (using washers) some hardware cloth over them. Next, make sure you have a door to cover your pop door with. It wouldn't take 60 seconds for a raccoon to climb over that fence at night, and walk right into the coop for a midnight snack.
Most on BYC use the 4 sq. ft. of indoor space and 10 sq. feet of outdoor space for their birds. I doubt you get much in the way of winter do you?? If not, then you could get by with less indoor space (as long as you had plenty of roost space), since your birds really won't be indoors much, even in winter. But you might want extra outdoor space. So then, it comes down to what you want for your birds? If you want them to live more naturally, figure lots of space for them. If you view them more as a product, figure less space (honestly - not being judgemental here - everyone views their birds differently). My chickens have almost 100 sq. ft of space each in my main coop. But my bantams only have about 12 sq. ft each of run space. I certainly couldn't imagine going smaller than 10 sq. ft. each...

 

[RMBGKY]

Seems to me you have to factor in 1) economy of scale 2) Primary residency 3)Animal size. Plus a 100 other things.

1) A 2X4 area (8 sq. ft.) would be rather confining for one bird, but an 8X8 would be good size for 4 birds. Also with chicken tractors you can pack even more "A 6X10 shelter, moved daily, may be used to raise up to three dozen broilers" (Raising Chickens, Damerow).
2) Is the area the only space the chickens have access? If so 8X8 may be too small for 4 birds, if not and they free ranged all day then 8X8 would be huge for only night use.
3) 8 sq. ft. would be huge for a canary, but you can't get a Great Dane in that area. So are you raising quail or Jersey Giants?

Also with a coop you have to figure in cubic feet, not just square feet.