# Space per bird in coop?



## AZ Turtle (Sep 15, 2020)

12 birds = 48 sq of interior space per but not including boxes and roost area or that does include roost area too? My husband said 4×8' coop with 5 boxes on the outside is big enough and I said it needs to be twice that so we can do 2 8 ft roosts 2' apart and have room for food and drink. 
The run would be about 10x20 because that would give me 15' of area on the back and sides for a water catchment system and cleaning ect. The last thing I want is to start out too small.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You're correct on the open floor space. Four square feet is the minimum per large fowl. 

If you can talk him into 8X8 you'll have plenty of space and it won't mess up the 4 foot measure he's thinking of to not waste lumber. And if they have to be up for any reason then there's less problems with being crowded.


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## AZ Turtle (Sep 15, 2020)

robin416 said:


> You're correct on the open floor space. Four square feet is the minimum per large fowl.
> 
> If you can talk him into 8X8 you'll have plenty of space and it won't mess up the 4 foot measure he's thinking of to not waste lumber. And if they have to be up for any reason then there's less problems with being crowded.


Thank you. We picked up a bunch of brand new 2×4xs (16) and 1×3's (50) for free. Because of the heat here it will be elevated instead of walk in and I think he's griping about center support amd digging another post hole. These birds come with a coop (more like a large run and a few boxes) but once its disassembled it's just lumber and chicken wire. We have 4 men who are brilliant at building. But once it's done, it's done and it would be a year before I could get an addition or major changes made. It needs to be done right the first time. There is no fixing it later aside from upkeep in a few years. 
I'm a major stress ball anyway but going from "I wish I could have a few chickens" to "let's build a coop this weekend and hand raise a dozen chicks this winter" to "OMGosh I just committed to re homing 1 dozen 7 month old hens in 4 days and I don't even have the land cleared yet!" has me in fast mode. 
These chickens are going on my best friends neglected 1 acre horse property she recently aquired because her family of 3 expanded by 6 last year. 
My job is to not give her anymore stress. I'm going to do this right. She's given me her blessing to try to get it working again and is Gung Ho for it. I've got it mapped out where the garden was (I figure I'll till that up that while the guys build the coop and the kids clear the land of debri) where the chickens will go and where we can relocate the compost bins (they are way to close to the house) I'm trying to do this all as free or cheap as possible. 
I don't have room to garden (I have peach, apple, citrus and pomegranate trees) or keep livestock animals. I'm getting eggs, vegtables and great company in return for a few hours a week I'd spend there anyway. Also the use of her huge kitchen and her canning and cooking expertise.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If he would agree to do a shed roof it would make it much simpler than doing a conventional roof. Just have the low side the side without doors for the few times you get rain. 

You're talking about the foundation and floor of the coop. I thought you were talking about the roof but roofs don't usually have post holes. If you can get away with it remind him he's not building a house. My big coop was something like 24x8. I didn't have foundation blocks in the center, just on the perimeter. But I also used decking we removed from the house for the floor. It's complicated. We removed it from the house then took the two sections and set it on the foundation.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

It sounds like an exciting project!


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## AZ Turtle (Sep 15, 2020)

We have decided 8×8 making the run 18×18 including under coop because that's what fits and is well shaded.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You won! You won't regret the extra room and if you don't keep adding birds that extra is a great place to store your feed.


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