When a coop says for # to # chickens does that mean with or without a run?

[SlipsWife]

Most of the coops I've looked at state how many chickens they are for. Some have a built on run or outside area. When a coop doesn't have that area does that mean the coop is made for X amount of chickens that are inside all day or X amount of chickens WITH a run available? Ours will have a run and our winters are usually pretty mild so they won't be locked in the coop to long.

 

[Mikedero]

The coop is only for sleeping, Laying and in bad weather you still need a run and most times when your looking at the coops for sale they are not giving the chickens enough room. most suggest 4 sq feet per chicken for the coop and 10 sq ft or more for the run.

 

[SlipsWife]

I need to get an exact measurement of ours and see how many of our chicks we'll be able to keep. We have a shed that was already here. We are thinking about moving it to a different part of the yard to offer a larger run. If we end up with a few that we might want to breed I was thinking about getting a prefab one and keep them seperate. Our run isn't going to be anywhere near big enough at 10sq per bird!

 

[Mikedero]

I need to get an exact measurement of ours and see how many of our chicks we'll be able to keep. We have a shed that was already here. We are thinking about moving it to a different part of the yard to offer a larger run. If we end up with a few that we might want to breed I was thinking about getting a prefab one and keep them seperate. Our run isn't going to be anywhere near big enough at 10sq per bird!

You might want to down size the amount of chickens to have then, in a cramped area they will not do well and is just not humane for them.

for 5 chickens a 5X10 area is fine for them and that is not really big at all. Before you jump into this you might want to research some more before you get the birds and figure out what you can and can not do first

 

[cosbackyard]

My new run is only going to end up about 6sq ft per bird. There's only so much space you can devote to this in an urban setting. I'm not sweating it since I let them out into the yard every day.

 

[SlipsWife]

You might want to down size the amount of chickens to have then, in a cramped area they will not do well and is just not humane for them.

for 5 chickens a 5X10 area is fine for them and that is not really big at all. Before you jump into this you might want to research some more before you get the birds and figure out what you can and can not do first

We already have the chicks but we aren't planning on keeping all of them. The shed that's going to be our coop is 8x12 (and 10ft tall) and the run is 12x14 (and will probably be 6-8ft high). So, if I'm figuring this right @ 4 sq. per chicken we can have 24 w/our coop size and @ 10 sq ft. per chicken only 17 chicks by the run size. I think we were thinking 20 (some of them will be bantams) so we should be ok. Due to our dogs they will only be allowed to free range a couple of times a week. 20 chickens is a lot though so maybe we won't have that many full time. Plus if we buy a small coop for a breeding pair (or a roo and maybe 3 hens?) then we should be ok. I don't want them to be cramped or unhappy but when I think about the conditions commercial chickens are kept in mine should be fine.

 

[SlipsWife]

My new run is only going to end up about 6sq ft per bird. There's only so much space you can devote to this in an urban setting. I'm not sweating it since I let them out into the yard every day.

I think 6 sq. per bird sounds like plenty of room. Ours don't get more than 6 inches away from each other right now as it is! (I'm sure that will change as they get older since the oldest are only a month old right now). I want to let ours out in the yard as much as possible but if they are hard to round up and won't go into the coop easily then they will be limited to their free play time. (Our house is on 1/2 an acre which isn't huge but it would be nice to let them stretch their legs and wings a couple of times a week.)

 

[Ga Boy]

8' to 10' sq ft is fine a run 4'X8'=32' sq ft this will give room for 3-4 birds. Yes you can put more maybe 6-7 but than you are looking at a lot of cleaning. If you have a small yard you could look at a tractor coop and move them around and it will keep your grass green