Square footage question

[Young MacDonald]

I've read various accounts about the minimum square feet per chicken for the coop. Some say as little as 2 sq. ft while others urge 4 sq. ft. Today, I saw a post by someone who questioned whether that was really necessary if the chickens weren't ever in the coop except the sleep.

That seems like a valid question. Assuming the chickens have more than adequate run space or are free range and your coop has enough roost space, why does the sq. footage matter in the coop matter?

 

[Cats Critters]

In case you have to lock them up for:
1. gardening (they eat seeds so mine got locked up in till they had come up)
2. bad weather (storming, freezing winter, etc.)
there is more but I can't think of them right now...
That is why you need to worry about sqft.

 

[patandchickens]

And even if you are not *locking them up* b/c of bad weather, they may be locking THEMSELVES up, so to speak. There are a few places -- Hawaii comes to mind -- where you can realistically expect that essentially every day of the year will be beautiful chicken weather and they'll truly spend all day every day outdoors. However for the rest of us there are realistically stretches of days when the chickens just may not WANT to go out. (The fact that some chickens go out sometimes in some snow does not mean *your* chickens will go out *always* in *all* snow/wind/sleet/downpours/etc)

And the problem is, if they are stuck indoors -- no matter whether it's you or them that's keeping them there -- it does not necessarily take long for a picking/pecking/cannibalism problem to begin if they're feeling crowded. Once started, such habits cannot always be broken just by alleviating crowding.

So, I think there is a fairly good argument for 'better safe than sorry'.


Pat, with 10-15 sq ft per chicken indoors, and given our nasty weather here for part of the year I do not foresee me ever trying to provide them with much less than that. (They really do ACT DIFFERENTLY with more space available).

 

[ssteiner]

I've got 2 sq feet for four hens inside and an attached enclosed run that's about 25 sq feet. They also get to wander around the back yard for an hour or so every day before sunset. They are four very happy birds.

A caveat: I live in Southern California and we have excellent weather with only a few days per year around freezing. If I lived in a colder climate, I'd have more space for them.

Scott
Orange, CA, USA

 

[ssteiner]

Quote:
I meant to suggest I have 2 sq feet PER BIRD inside, not 2 sq feet total. THAT would be too small.

 

[Young MacDonald]

Thanks for all the replies. Now, the next question. I have a coop and covered run, but the chickens are only in there in the early morning before I get up to let them out. As soon as I open the run door, they are in the yard. They are free to go back in the run and coop as they choose. That's where the water and feed is.

In this case, should the covered run count towards coop size for determining population density or does that need to be determined by the four walls of the coop? How do people figure it when they have chickens living in hoop houses or tractors?

 

[Sillystunt]

I would give your birds 4sq ft in the coop! Tighter quarters lead to cannabalisim. Just better safe then sorry. And the run is 10sqft per bird, why???

Also chickens are addictive so if you give more space you will be prepaired for when you bring home more

 

[TreeHugger]

My birds (mostly bantams) have 2 square feet each inside the coop. They have 30 square feet each in the run. I LOVE my nice large run. I base my # of birds on the coop, not the run. Personally I think that your square footage requirements per bird needs to be determined on the breed (bantams take up less space then larger breeds) & weather. I would never recommend 2 square feet in the coop per bird for any large breed birds, however my silkies seem quite happy.

 

[Gwen]

How much would you recommend for standard and larger breeds? I'm in the process of having a coop built and sure want to get it big enough. I probably would never have more than 25-30 birds.

I'm also going to put 2-3 in a tractor in another area.

 

[tiffanyh]

I have 2sq/ft for my standards and 1 sq/ft for my bantams. Mine have 10sq/ft of run space for standards and 5sq/ft for my bantams. Mine are outside ALL year round, even in very cold weather. I have a covered run so even on the coldest day they spend the day in the run. I have squeezed in a few more here and there when I have chicks and I have always had very happy birds and no feather picking in 5 years.

My girlfriend and her husband had even more room per bird, over the 4sq/ft and dealt with feather picking.

GOod luck.