number of chickens in a 8x8 coop

[mad1son]

I have seen some ads selling 8x8 coops for up to 30 chickens. What is the rule of thumb for square feet per chicken?

 

[mad1son]

I was planning on building a 8x8 coop 2 feet off the ground in the corner of a 16x16 run.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

3 sq ft per large standard, smaller for smaller birds. That seems to be pushing it a bit. Maybe the mean 30 bantams....

The more space each bird has the healthier it will be. That's 64 sq ft...personally I would only put maybe 20 in there, but everyone is different.

 

[Mahonri]

16 hens... run should be twice that big.

18-20 would be doable, but it would be crowded.

 

[mad1son]

I have 8 hens(3 rir, 3 comets, 2 cuckoo marans) and 1 rir roo now and i want to add 9 more hens and 1 roo. How many square feet per chicken in the run?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
About double what you have in the coop. Mine actually have triple the run space, but I have plenty of space...some folks don't.

 

[Chipper]

16 tops and a few less would make life good for you and the chickens.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Whaaat. . .

I wouldn't dare stuff even my 20 girls in that small of a place. . . Especially if it was too low for me to walk through, but I like to walk into the coop. I hear it is about 3 sq ft per bird, but it could also depend on the owner's preference.

 

[mad1son]

Right now my 9 chickens stay in a 5x6 coop that sits above a 5x12 run but they are free ranging right now. When i finish my new coop i would like to use this smaller coop as a breeding pen or for broody hens.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
That's not bad. The reason I do mine that way is they have plenty of room to range and basically just sleep and lay in the coop. Other than that, they're almost never in there. SOOOO, that being said...if that's what you're doing too, I see no issue with 20 in an 8x8, but I honestly wouldn't go more than that. For 18 I'd say it would be adequate for those circumstances.