Chickens how much space

A good rule of thumb is that regular-sized chickens benefit from at least three to five square feet of coop space per chicken if they have access to the outdoors. The exact recommendations vary based on your chicken's size. Small chickens, like Bantam breeds, can be housed in a coop as small as two feet per chicken if they're free-range. So, what size chicken coop will you need for ten chickens?

If you're going with the minimum of three feet per medium-sized chicken because you have an outdoor run too, this would add up to approximately 30 square feet for a chicken coop. Some people recommend 60 to 80 square feet for ten mature chickens, which would be equal to an 8xsquare-foot chicken coop.

If the weather is very cold or if your chickens won't have access to roam outside for another reason, then the coop space needs to be larger than the examples above.

A small breed like Bantam would need five square feet per chicken rather than two. A medium breed would need eight rather than three, and a larger breed would ideally have ten rather than four. You can even find chicken coop size calculators online for a little extra help. These tend to estimate a little higher than the minimum sizes, and some give different estimates depending on if you have a yard, a coop, or a run. If you can, you'll want to give your chickens a chance to roam outside.

If you have mild weather and can let your chickens spend time outdoors most of the day, then you can get away with a smaller indoor chicken coop for them to sleep in at night. Try to plan for at least 10 square feet of outdoor space per chicken.

But really, the more space you can provide, the happier your chickens will be. Does the additional run move around your garden or is it fixed to the coop? This way when they tear up a section of the garden- you can move them onto the next patch so the other patch gets time to grow back… Hope this helps!

You could build a chicken tractor to put them in. Google it or look it up on YouTube. There are different types. Many are fairly easy and inexpensive to build. Try are in the most of the day, and I let them into the wider garden for a couple of hours in the evening. They will then wander back to roost fore night before dark.

Since we are north we cannot always let them roam around the yard. Like we use a cabbage as a tether ball and we have extra perching areas and I am thinking of adding a swing this year. We also give them a flat of different sprouts to help with fresh greens. Sprouts are easy to grow and very healthy for both us and the birds. Hi we just recently bought two chickens, a hen and a rooster and since we havent found a good place to put them at the moment since we live in Canada and its winter, is it ok if we put them in a small space approximately the size of a medium box.

I have 6 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Buffs. They will be allowed out in the run during the day, and will use the coop obviously at night and to nest. Is this big enough? Just make sure they have plenty of space to roam during the day. Even still our flock of 35 stays on the few acres directly around our house. It can be a risk but they are sooo much happier and healthier having limitless space to forage!

I have a cochin that recently starting laying tan eggs instead of brown. The best way to check if they have mites is to give them a physical inspection. Pick them up and really rummage through their feathers to spot any infestations. I have also sent you an email with a useful article! Will they eat my berries, or will they help them fertilizer and bugs? Hi Hank, If you have hawks in the area, to be on the safe side I would always recommend keeping them in a fenced area.

They will certainly help your garden and keep the pests away, but will also go after the blueberries! We have not got hens yet but I was thinking of getting leghorns to begin as we want eggs I was hoping to then expand to 10 hens and was wondering if 2 chicken coops would be OK as I am making the first chicken coop myself it is about 4ft by 4ft and the run will be roughly square feet and is two nesting boxes enough.

Hi, I have 6 chickens and a fair amount of space. I have a coop for night and they are allowed out on the paddock each day. I am planning to grow a herb garden just for them and am planting red clover and alfa alfa as ground cover. Would I also need to supplement them with feed or will they be able to forage enough food for themselves??

Thanks for your help and all the information you have provided! Hi Trish, It sounds like your hens are treated like royalty! Have you considered making your own feed Trish? Too much trouble.. Easier to have Modesto Milling send you organic, non corn, non soy feed, even Amazon will send to your door!

Then you can get specially formulated seed mix Of chicken forage plants from places like Natures seed, plant flats every couple weeks to give fresh, awesome greens! Me and my family are thinking about getting 2 rhode island reds. Would it be okay if I let our dogs and our kids out in the backyard to play with them?

I got baby chicks and kept them in my shower for several weeks. I put a piece of plywood across the opening and my labrador dog could put his head over the top. I took him with me each time I checked on them. When I got the 2nd dog my first one trained him and does not let any other dogs near them. We live in Montana where below temps are not uncommon for weeks at a time, never getting above zero.

Do I need to insulate the coop and is there an optimal temperature to shoot for in the coop? We are not as far north as you are but I did insulate all the walls of my coop except the southern wall. I had no trouble with the coop staying a good temperature and only had to add a lamp secured well to avoid fire when the temp dropped below zero. I just got two large Sweeter Heaters, the overhead infrared ones 11 by 40 inches, watts, they work fantastically!

Also, being insulated you can use as a brooder as well in the future. I am soon getting 12 chickens and i have a 8 by 11 sized coop. Any suggestions on how to train our Dog not to chase them once we start letting them out of cage during the day hours.

When I first got my chickens, I took my dogs over on a lead up to the fence several times a day so they could get use to the chickens. After a few days of this they seemed to settle down and not fuss with them! Just make sure to keep them occupied and active!

Hello, I have 6 chickens-1 welsummer, brown, bluebell, leghorn, light Sussex and a Norfolk grey. Their run is 4. They free range our garden every other evening for a few hours and at weekends if we are at home are out near enough all day, or at least part. Their coop is 2. Is this also ok? Coop in middle. Coop not counting nest boxes is like 4 ft by 5 ft.

I put a small container of food and water in it at night. And they have large containers for both out during day and are let out every day. They will not be big enough to lay eggs until November. Writing this on July 24th. They hatched June 14th. They were in the coop inside from age 3 weeks w heat lamp.

Carried them out and built fence 1 week ago. My question is, as they get bigger, will the coop be big enough? Have 8 acres How far will they roam and will they return each night? Not diameter, circumference. You can normally let them roam at around weeks and you will need to keep an eye on them during the first few times they roam to make sure they come back at night!

Hi there! How much space would you recommend for them to have, both in a run and in a coop? We have an acre of land where they could free range, but my sister who is my next door neighbor and on the same property had some of her chickens attacked by dogs. Would it be best to keep them in a run? Hi Holly, If there is any risk of predators then yes, I would keep them in a run. The smallest size you could have is 30 square foot, but the bigger the better for them! I have 25 chickens Rhode islands, black sex links and barred rocks.

I am getting ready to fence in my field which is about ft by 90 ft. If I use 5 ft fencing can I let them roam free without clipping their wings? Hi Jefferie, You can certainly let them free roam whilst they are pullets and young hens. However, once they mature and their feathers grow you will need to clip their wings to stop them flying over the fence.

I am new to raising chickens. I have 3 leghorn laying hens and one guinea hen. The guinea is being harassed by the other hens. Should I separate her from the others or just let them establish a pecking order? Hi Annette, It depends on how much they are being harassed. Do you have to train hens to lay in their boxes? I had chickens free rangevyears ago and it was easter every day hunting eggs on 5 acres. I will get new birds soon and would like them to lay in the boxes.

Any words of wisdom? When we used to have completely free range, some of them would lay in the nests, but some always decided the hollow tree down the road was better, or a dozen and more other spots. Just like Easter daily searching for eggs before breakfast.

And then there were the ones who managed to hide their nests and show up with a flock of chicks. And some decided to roost in trees instead of coming back to the coop at night. Keeping them contained for night and morning works way better, if you want the chickens safe, and easy-to-find eggs in the nests. I got the chickens for my wife and the poop, gardening is my passion If I plan to move it daily and never let these ladies roam free.

Should I still stick within these parameters? I plan on building an A-Frame or triangle style. Obviously the coup should be the same size, but if they are getting moved around daily do I still need the 15sq ft for the run on the bottom? Thanks for the great info! I am in the beginning stages of owning chickens. I live in a small town and just found out after 5 years of living here that I can have chickens. I am only looking at two, maybe three. I have two dogs but I have trained them to leave my resident rabbit alone.

The also keep a healthy distance from George The Hedgehog. Would any of the above breeds be less anxious around the dogs? Thanks for all the great information you provide! Hi Nedra, Congratulations!

When are you planning to get your chickens? I am looking to get about Golden Comet hens, and am planning on letting them be pretty much free-range chickens. However, I would like to know if they are free-range, should I still give them feed? If so, how much should I give them and how often?

Hi I was thinking of making the kids old cubby house into a coop and having a run attached to that. Chickens get stressed when they do not have enough room and this creates some fairly ugly behaviors. Keep reading to learn how to create harmony in your flock by providing them with the right amount of space in the coop and out in the run….

Bantams will require less room than standard chickens. Obviously they are smaller but they also like to fly up high, so higher perches are perfect for them. Standard sized hens require more space and their perches will need to be a bit lower to the ground. Larger breeds such as Jersey Giants or Brahmas require a lot of space to move around in. Do not try to skimp on the space — especially if your birds are not going to be free range. The temperament of your chickens will help or hinder the flock dynamics.

For example a flock of Silkies are much more docile than a flock of Asils. Silkies can live together as a flock in relative peace whilst Asils have to be carefully monitored as they can and do fight among themselves. Because of this more docile breeds can get by with less space whereas more aggressive and dominant breeds will need more room. If you have multiple breeds and some are overly aggressive you are going to have to give them space and separate them for the well-being of the entire flock.

You can use leaf piles, perches, flock blocks, cabbage pinatas, hay bales and other similar type objects. Also providing areas where they can hide out and be alone if they want is important to keep stress levels low. If you have hens that are known for broodiness such as Orpingtons then this will impact how many nesting boxes you need. Your other hens will need a place so that laying can continue uninterrupted if a couple of hens decide to sit.

Also in general having a couple of extra nesting boxes is a good thing for all concerned. Hens that cannot access a nest box when she wants to lay will lay that egg anywhere which leads to broken or dirty eggs. If you live in an area where they can free range all year round you can get by with a slightly smaller coop. However if you live in a climate where they are going to spend a good portion of the winter months penned up you might want to give them a touch more room.

Bantams need the least space in the coop — they will need 2 square feet of coop space each. As we mentioned before they like to fly up so higher perches will keep them very happy.

Roosts for bantams should allow roughly six inches of room for each chicken. Some do not like to sit next to each other so a bit more space is always better. Bantam nesting boxes should be about 10 square inches — this allows enough room for one bird not two. Allow one nesting box per three hens. The smaller sizes of standards such as Appenzellers, Fayoumis and Leghorns can each have 3 square feet of coop space providing they have access to the outdoors.

The larger standard chickens such as the Dominique, Faverolles or Australorp will each require the full 4 square feet of coop space. Roosting bars should allow around 8 inches per chicken and the standard 12x 12 inch nesting box will work well. Extra large breeds such as Jersey Giants and Brahmas should have no less than 6 square feet of coop space each. These are very large birds so everything needs to be that much bigger for them. Bantams will need 5 square feet of space per chicken. They are easy to cater to as they love to fly — an array of high perches, walkways and platforms will keep them occupied for a long time.

Standard sized chickens will each need at least 8 square feet in the run.