# Coop size-new to chickens



## Kaydee (May 18, 2020)

Hey everyone,

I recently moved to a location where I can have chickens. I have built a 10x12 enclosed chicken run and I'm working on completing a 5x10 attached coop. I currently have 1 hen and 1 rooster that were given to me. 

How many chickens would a coop and run that size hold? 

Thank you!


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

I keep coming across the minimum rule of thumb as 4 square feet per chicken in the coop and 10 square feet per chicken in the run. So max 12 chickens. More space is better though. Maybe 8 to start and see how it goes?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Definitely more space is better. When chickens are over crowded bad things happen and it can be hard to stop once it's started.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

Also consider how many hens the rooster needs. If you don’t have enough he will over do it with the ladies. That recommendation is about one rooster to every ten hens but I don’t know about minimums there. I know this varies by breed (large or small varieties) so you would want to do some research.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

definitely 8 chickens total for that size coop and yes, you need a *bare* *minimum* of 3 hens per rooster. (more is better but less is dangerous) I think 12 chickens would be too many, 4 square ft per chicken is the minimum space you can get away with, more is better when it comes to chickens.


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