Ventilation/ Big enough coop?

[Quailbuddy]

Hi ya'll I have a question:
okay so I was wondering if 4ft by 4ft coop with a 5ft high coop is large enough for 6 chickens . . . They will have the WHOLE backyard to themselves but will be locked in the run at night time and let out early the next morning. I am new to chickens ( or going to be new) so any advice would help

Also how much is too much ventilation? I have a ( 4) small 4 inch by 6inch rectangle vents that i would like to use as well as a window for the coop. If I put the vents in the middle of each wall on the top near the roof would that be to much?
EDIT: I have 5 by 3 ft window that I could use ( if i use it i will make my coop bigger

) but it had solid glass . . . i know that wouldnt help with ventilation but as far as sunlight goes would that be good to use? They will be in the backyard and free ranging from dusk till dawn but would they like the window?

Thank you
QuailBuddy

 

[midd2005]

the rule of thumb for coops is 4 sq ft per chicken so youll be a bit under that; however, if they have lots of daytime roaming space, you'll maybe be ok. how much roost space do you have though?

and guess what!? there is a rule of thumb for ventilation too. it's 1 sq ft per chicken. so the question is not "is that too much ventilation?" the weather doesn't get too cold in your neck of the woods so i might consider a decent sized window as well as your vents. or something else?

 

[teach1rusl]

If the six will truly be out ranging in your yard pretty much all day, every day, then your coop will most likely do fine, although I always suggest a minimum of at least 4 sq. ft. each for LF birds in their housing. But in your area (assuming you guys have very mild winters?), they would most likely ONLY ever be in the coop at night time or to lay and egg during the day. Now for bantam breeds, your space would be fine. Do make sure that you have about 5-6 ft. of roost space available, though.

If you removed droppings daily, with your window, your ventilation will most likely be enough, although if you get hot summers, you may want to think of expanding those small vent openings for larger ones...

 

[elmo]

It's really hard to have too much ventilation for chickens. Many of us in warm climates have coops that are completely open on the sides! The only thing you want to avoid in winter is cold air blowing directly over a bird on her roost.

Too little ventilation is a far more common problem, leading to frostbite in winter and respiratory problems year round. If you haven't read this excellent page yet, check it out:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

The problem with those little metal vents is that the louvers tend to block airflow somewhat. With four of them, you're not even getting a square foot of vent space (which would be not quite enough for one chicken, much less six). Chickens need way more ventilation than you'd think!

You could put a 4 foot long opening on the top of the north and south walls, 8 inches wide, then cover them with hardware cloth. That would give you almost six square feet of ventilation. You could also put hinged flaps over these vents so you could shut down some of the openings on the coldest nights.

 

[rhodered10]

The general rule is 3 sqaure feet per chicken in the coop and 4 sqaure feet per chicken in the run however i find its best if u go over that seeing as that is the minimum.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Various rules of thumb out there, but the rule I see quoted here most often is 4 square feet per bird indoor/coop, plus 10 square feet per bird outdoors/run.

 

[Quailbuddy]

Quote:
Okay thank you for you help

I Will try to make it the coop overall bigger and with more ventilation

yes they will have the WHOLE chicken proof ( or i hope so ) backyard all to them selves from dusk until dawn but they will have acces to the coop whenever they need it

 

[Quailbuddy]

Quote:
What does the north and south walls do? just curious

edit: I just checked out your link, thank you for posting that. I will keep reffering to that

 

[johny]

It's a tight fit.
But I presume, in Sonoma, that the birds will be outside all year and not cooped up for winter snow or ice.

I live north of Minnesota.
For 6 hens I have an 8x8 coop-- 64 square feet because they will be inside from late November until early April.

 

[Quailbuddy]

Quote:
okay, from what im hearing im going to try to make my coop quite a bit bigger with more ventilation for my girl

Thank you !!