Would this count as additional 'floor' space?

[wordgirl]

I am hoping to build my first permanent chicken coop with my Dad this summer and we already have a concrete base that we'll be building on. It's about 13'4" by 7'6" which is about 99.75 sq. ft. of floor space. Going by the 4 sq. ft. rule, that's enough space for 25 full-size birds.

As of right now my Dad and I are planning to have an above-ground extension on the back of the coop that will hold the roosts. The floor of that will hopefully be covered in wire. So technically the birds will have a bit more space in their coop - they can walk around on the wire under the roosts and hop up and down and around the roosts themselves. So...does that count as additional floor space? Could I squeeze another few birds into the coop and still be giving them ample room?

That extension, as of the plans right now, would be the length of the back (13'4") and go back at least about 3 feet. So, technically speaking, that's about 40 sq. ft. of 'sort of' floor space.

What do y'all think?

 

[Lesa]

I think that would be enough space- if they are going to be able to get out of the coop, everyday. If you live in a wintery climate, this doesn't work out as well... Will they have a run, or free range?

 

[wordgirl]

Quote:
We live in Minnesota, so they can be out whenever there isn't snow on the ground (April-December). We free range our birds. Actually, they could be out in the snow, too, if they wanted, but last year my chickens weren't too thrilled at the prospect. Maybe with this new batch I can try harder to convince them that it's not going to give way and swallow them up.

 

[wordgirl]

Thank you, Lesa!

Anybody else have any advice?

 

[patandchickens]

No, won't count as floorspace, will be no different than if you had the roosts conventionally placed within the coop (high enough for the chickens to walk under).

Unless you are in a super hot climate I'd suggest rethinking the wire-under-roost idea, for a whole variety of reasons it is not likely to work as you expect it will.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Cargo]

You would be better served giving them a real floor with shavings under the roosts.
Wire does not make a good floor for chickens. Nor does it save you any cleaning. You would in effect be adding yet another thing to clean in the coop and still need to clean under the wire.

 

[elmo]

Cleaning chicken poop off wire = not fun.

 

[wordgirl]

I'm thinking you guys are probably right about the wire.... I am only too familiar with chicken poop.

What else would work then, to keep them from walking in the droppings under the roosts?

I think I see what you mean, Pat, but wouldn't this be just more floor space? I mean...if you count the floor space under roosts in a normal coop, then wouldn't the space under my roosts count as space? Additional space to the 'regular' floor space? (

Guess I used the word space enough.

)

Thanks for your help!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're proposing.

If it will be low, nearly at floor level, with a solid not wire floor, and poop will be cleaned off regularly rather than letting it mound up high, and there will be at least 18" between floor (well, top of poo) and underside of roost, then yes they will use it as floor space.

However if this is a higher bump-out (like 3' up, or whatever) and only a foot or so under the roost, and/or wire-floored, then no they will NOT use it in the way they use floorspace and so it does not "count" in terms of figuring how much room the chickens percieve themselves to have use of.

Pat

 

[Cargo]

What else would work then, to keep them from walking in the droppings under the roosts?

Regular cleaning.​