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Do you know how much space your chickens need to be happy and healthy? Keep reading to find the answer, and see if you have enough space in your chicken coop for the number of chickens you have.
Before we talk about space requirements for your chickens, we need to define the parts of the chicken coop. We first have the coop. The coop is the indoor space of the chicken coop where your chickens roost, sleep, and lay eggs in the nesting boxes.
Then we have the chicken run. The run is the outdoor part of the chicken coop where the chickens can run around, drink water, eat, and do other chicken things. There are different space requirements for both the chicken coop and the chicken run with the chicken coop usually requiring less space.
Space requirements for the chicken coop
While the chicken coop is usually a small space there is a bare minimum of space you need and it depends on the number of chickens you are raising. For every chicken you have in your flock you need a minimum of 3-4 square feet of space inside the coop.
I personally have seven chickens in my coop so I need to have 28 square feet of space for my indoor space of the chicken coop. This means I could build my chicken coop to be a 4 by 7 foot building to meet the bare minimum requirement.
You do need to note that these space requirements do go off medium-sized chickens breeds. This means that if you are raising larger breeds you will need more space, and if you are raising smaller breeds you could get by with less space.
For instance, bantam chickens only require 2 square feet of space inside the chicken coop while jersey giants require as much as 6 square feet of indoor space to live comfortably.
If you are only able to raise a small flock, choosing smaller chickens is a good idea. While bantam chickens are not great at egg laying this list of medium-sized chickens would make the perfect flock of egg laying backyard chickens.
Roost space in the chicken coop
It is also important to note how much roosting space you will need for your hens. A good rule of thumb is to give each hen a 10″ spot on the roost bar. This ensures that your chickens will have adequate space to all fit on the roost bar.
Chickens do have a “pecking order” that you need to think of when building your roost bars. Chickens have their order of hierarchy in the chicken coop with lower chickens and higher chickens with one hen usually claiming the spot of “queen chicken”. This hen takes on the responsibility of pecking her lower subjects to keep them inline.
Because of this pecking order some hens will be bullied off the roost bar! To prevent this from happening you can create multiple roost bars at different heights. The chickens that are lower in the pecking order will sleep on the lower bar while the higher chickens will roost on the top bars.
Make sure that these multiple bars are spaced far apart so that the top chickens are not excreting on the lower chickens when they roost.
You may notice that your hens choose to group together in cold weather. This is a very normal behavior for chickens and it helps them to stay warm in the cool weather.
You should not build your roost bars expecting them to group together all the time though. When the weather is hot the chickens will need their personal space! They will spread out on the roost bar to stay cool in the warm weather.
Number of nest boxes needed
If you are raising chickens for eggs you are going to need nesting boxes in your chicken coop. This is where your hens should lay their eggs for you to collect. There are also space requirements you need to follow for these nesting boxes.
Generally you should build your nesting boxes 12″x12″x12″. This offers enough space for your chickens to comfortably bed down and lay their eggs. Surprisingly, you only need one nest box for every 4 hens in your flock.
I have 7 hens and have 4 nesting boxes which is more than the required number. For some reason my hens prefer to lay all their eggs in one, sometimes two, of the nesting boxes. I have even seen two hens laying in the same nesting box at the same time!
If you notice that your hens aren’t laying in their nesting boxes you can use these tips and tricks to keep them laying in their nesting box. Gathering eggs off the soiled coop floor can be a thing of the past!
Space requirements for the chicken run
As we have already said, the chicken run is the outdoor area and the larger area where the chickens will spend most of the daytime hours. If you plan on having free-range chickens, your chicken coop will not require the outdoor run.
While I think we would all love to have free-range chickens some of us don’t have enough space to free-range our hens. When you have a flock of backyard chickens you can build a chicken run to take the place of free ranging.
For the chicken run you should have 8 square feet of outdoor space for every chicken you own. So for my flock of 7 chickens, I need 56 square feet of space.
The run space should be an enclosed space with chicken wire. This keeps out predators and keeps your chickens protected. I also bury about 6 inches of the chicken wire around the run so animals cannot burrow underneath my chicken’s run.
How to make the most of the chicken run
If you do not plan on having free range chickens, then you should make the most of the chicken run space. Your chickens are going to have less room to roam and this can cause them to get bored. To keep your chickens from getting bored in this confined space you can take a few preventative steps.
First, you can add some of these boredom busters from this article to your chicken coop. These boredom busters will help your chickens stay entertained.
In my chicken coop, I have added a chicken swing. This was made out of an old rake handle and rope. My chickens love to jump on the swing when they are bored.
I also add little stumps and rocks that break up the chicken run. You can occasionally move these items around to keep the small run interesting.
Why I have a chicken run and free range
Even though my chicken coop has outdoor access to a chicken run I still free range my chickens, but it is not in the traditional way. I keep my chickens in the run most of the day. In the afternoon I will let my hens out into our yard to free range.
I do this to keep the chickens closer to the coop during the day. If you let them out in the afternoon they won’t travel as far. I do this because we have neighbors close by who wouldn’t appreciate chickens in their garden beds.
I also find the chicken run necessary because my chickens will spend time in it during the winter. Chickens don’t really enjoy walking on snow, so they stay in the coop and run all winter. You can find tips to keep your chickens warm without using electricity here.
The short answer to backyard chicken coops size requirement
We have talked a lot about the size of your chicken coop, so here is a summary of what we have covered.
Coop size requirements
The chicken coop needs to have 3-4 square feet of space per chicken. Simply take the number of chickens that you plan on raising and multiply it by the space requirements.
Run size requirements
Your run needs to have 8 square feet of space for every chicken you have in your flock. Remember to think about whether you are going to free range your chickens or not.
Why should I follow these space requirements
As you can see, you don’t need to have a huge yard to raise your own flock of backyard chickens. You do, however, need to follow the above guidelines for space though.
While we can all be tempted to stretch these limits to maximize the amount of chickens we can have in our flock, doing so is not a good idea! If you cram too many chickens in a small space, you are going to have very unhealthy chickens.
While large farms do force many birds into a small space, this is not healthy. These chickens will catch and spread diseases quickly. I also believe that chickens that have more space are happier.
It has been studied and proven that when animals are happier they produce more, live longer, and have less health complications. Happy chickens have clean bedding, clean water, food, space to forage, and are not bored!
If you want happy healthy chickens that lay you lots of eggs, then make sure to give your chickens enough space!
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