square footage in a-frame coop

[mastiffs07]

How do you determine square footage in a-frame coop? Just the floor space?

 

[marktoo]

I would think the floor space on the lower lever for the run. The upper level for the coop.

 

[mastiffs07]

It's looks like this

My friend is giving me one like this but bigger. He said he had 6 chickens in his

 

[marktoo]

I also use a tractorish set up

The enclosure itself is 3'x10', the coop area is 3'x3' with about 5 1/2' of roost space. Not having to worry about predators except hawks, they always have access to a large run only using the tractor to sleep, drink, eat & lay. 4 Wyandottes use this set up! The original plan was for 2 but we got 4 chicks, allowing for a death. They all survived! If it were not for the large run, this would be unworkable, as it is too small. Small spaces can be problematic if there is turmoil within the flock. The learning center has some good articles on space requirements.

 

[TalkALittle]

I think it's better to think in terms of useable floor space. Where can the birds stand and move around in. In an A frame there is dead space at the edges. This isn't really usable in terms of being space the birds can comfortably occupy. For the purpose of calculating square footage, I would only count area that had at least a foot of headroom above it. For most of the A frames I've seen that would mean losing a foot on the angled sides. So a 5x10 A frame would really have closer to 3x10 usable space. Others might look at it differently though.