Square feet per chicken in Coop only

[aart]

This is a shot of the finished coop,

I would think in Arizona you'd have more mesh on that coop?

At least you don't have to deal with snow load like @Cygnus1970 does.

 

[starri33]

I would think in Arizona you'd have more mesh on that coop?

At least you don't have to deal with snow load like @Cygnus1970 does.

We got a good bit of snow this year for AZ, lol, took out my bird netting, I had on the top of the run, in that picture there isn't the windows showing that are now in the coop 1 ft by 2 ft with hardware cloth. Our winds are from the north and south, so the windows are placed for cross breeze, more will be added if needed. It's as closed as it is for protection against the weather (Monsoons) I've been in there on the hottest days we've had so far (90's) and it's not been miserable.

 

[aart]

We got a good bit of snow this year for AZ

You must be at a higher elevation?

 

[BreanneRN]

Well, if you have no run, and confine them completely to the coop, you should have 10 to 12 chickens at most, according to current guidelines. I think the disparity you are getting in data is based on the fact that in the old days, the building was just a safe house for night time roosting and daytime egg laying. In the old days, people let their chickens free range during the day, and they were out from dawn to dusk, pretty much, and were expected to forage most of their food from crop land after harvest and other such things. Dogs were expected to keep out predators and yeah, their were always some losses, smarter chickens survived longer and reproduced, hopefully producing more predator proof birds. If you need 4 ft of coop space and 10 feet of run space (which you won't have), you will need about 14 ft per bird which comes out to about 10 with 4 square feet left over if you do the math. That is just a generality based on an average size chicken. If you have bantams, you can have more of those, if you choose Brahmas and Jersey Giants, you should have less. Also, don't mix bantams with larger birds in a confined space where there is no escape, as it doesn't go well... Again, if you build a floor 2 ft off the ground and put hardware cloth around it, you will have a coop and a run, effectively doubling your square footage in the same amount of space, allowing you to have more chickens. Another thing you can do to create more space is to build a penthouse type deal by putting a subfloor in just half of it, with a ramp for bird access to the "upper floor". They will really like that. If you do a search on this forum for "Raised Coop With Run Area underneath or walk-in coop, Which Is Best?" you will find some pictures that will show what I mean and a great discussion on coop design... I would provide a link, but I am not sure how to do a link to another thread on this site.

 

[paneubert]

Well, if you have no run, and confine them completely to the coop, you should have 10 to 12 chickens at most, according to current guidelines. I think the disparity you are getting in data is based on the fact that in the old days, the building was just a safe house for night time roosting and daytime egg laying. In the old days, people let their chickens free range during the day, and they were out from dawn to dusk, pretty much, and were expected to forage most of their food from crop land after harvest and other such things. Dogs were expected to keep out predators and yeah, their were always some losses, smarter chickens survived longer and reproduced, hopefully producing more predator proof birds. If you need 4 ft of coop space and 10 feet of run space (which you won't have), you will need about 14 ft per bird which comes out to about 10 with 4 square feet left over if you do the math. That is just a generality based on an average size chicken. If you have bantams, you can have more of those, if you choose Brahmas and Jersey Giants, you should have less. Also, don't mix bantams with larger birds in a confined space where there is no escape, as it doesn't go well... Again, if you build a floor 2 ft off the ground and put hardware cloth around it, you will have a coop and a run, effectively doubling your square footage in the same amount of space, allowing you to have more chickens. Another thing you can do to create more space is to build a penthouse type deal by putting a subfloor in just half of it, with a ramp for bird access to the "upper floor". They will really like that. If you do a search on this forum for "Raised Coop With Run Area underneath or walk-in coop, Which Is Best?" you will find some pictures that will show what I mean and a great discussion on coop design... I would provide a link, but I am not sure how to do a link to another thread on this site.

Yep. The old-timey photo @Cygnus1970 posted when asked about access to a dirt floor shows the chickens coming out to run around outside. But the way the coop is being described here today (at least in some of the earlier posts) sounds a lot like the plan would be to stick them in the coop as chicks, close the door, and they never leave. If that is the plan, not many chickens will be happy in there. But if there is an enclosed run (or they get to free range somewhere during the day) to go along with the described coop, then much more flexibility.

 

[Cygnus1970]

Well, if you have no run, and confine them completely to the coop, you should have 10 to 12 chickens at most, according to current guidelines. I think the disparity you are getting in data is based on the fact that in the old days, the building was just a safe house for night time roosting and daytime egg laying. In the old days, people let their chickens free range during the day, and they were out from dawn to dusk, pretty much, and were expected to forage most of their food from crop land after harvest and other such things. Dogs were expected to keep out predators and yeah, their were always some losses, smarter chickens survived longer and reproduced, hopefully producing more predator proof birds. If you need 4 ft of coop space and 10 feet of run space (which you won't have), you will need about 14 ft per bird which comes out to about 10 with 4 square feet left over if you do the math. That is just a generality based on an average size chicken. If you have bantams, you can have more of those, if you choose Brahmas and Jersey Giants, you should have less. Also, don't mix bantams with larger birds in a confined space where there is no escape, as it doesn't go well... Again, if you build a floor 2 ft off the ground and put hardware cloth around it, you will have a coop and a run, effectively doubling your square footage in the same amount of space, allowing you to have more chickens. Another thing you can do to create more space is to build a penthouse type deal by putting a subfloor in just half of it, with a ramp for bird access to the "upper floor". They will really like that. If you do a search on this forum for "Raised Coop With Run Area underneath or walk-in coop, Which Is Best?" you will find some pictures that will show what I mean and a great discussion on coop design... I would provide a link, but I am not sure how to do a link to another thread on this site.

Thank you! You explained that very well.

 

[starri33]

You must be at a higher elevation?

2800 ft.. winter was weird this year, spring isn't much better, we go from 90 degree's to I think our high today is 70 if we're lucky.