# how many chickens can I put in my coop?



## sarachristine

My coop is 8x5x4, we have 6 chickens now. Would I be okay to add a few more chickens or should I invest in a bigger coop first? I'm thinking about adding maybe 3 or 4


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## Sundancers

I would go bigger coop first ... but that is just me. 

But you didn't say anything about a run ... I have a coop and a run or outdoor lot ... 

Help me out here. lol


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## rob

One _chicken_ needs approximately 3-4 _square feet_ of space in the hen house


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## sarachristine

They free range all day from dawn to dusk


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## cogburn

Mine free range from daylight til dark and then go straight to roost. I have a 20x20 coop/run with 4 nest boxes inside and several boxes located outside, some go back during the day and lay in coop boxes, some lay in the other boxes. I have tons of roosts inside, and at night they still all crowd on a couple roosts even with tons of more space to spread out, (you can have a lot of space but can't make them use it) IMO ! Lol.. I just added more hens and plan on even more come spring. You may have "room" for more especially if all they do is roost like mine, In my opinion...


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## sarachristine

How many chickens do you have in your coop?


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## stu-hens

You dont need much space in the coop if all they do is roost there at night.If they have plenty of space to roam and a covered run for when its raining and winter,the actual coop is not important as they will huddle together anyway as long as its kept clean and they have some fresh air coming in.


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## sarachristine

Okay  good to know. They usually stay out of the coop all day long. The only time they really go in during the day is to eat pellets or lay eggs. We do have one rooster that we are possibly getting rid of. He is a little too aggressive with the hens and he keeps attacking my husband lol.


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## piglett

sarachristine said:


> Okay  good to know. They usually stay out of the coop all day long. The only time they really go in during the day is to eat pellets or lay eggs. We do have one rooster that we are possibly getting rid of. He is a little too aggressive with the hens and he keeps attacking my husband lol.


 i would put him in the pot , but that's just me
i will not have a "cross" animal at my place 
there are plenty of good ones that are looking for a home


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## Josephkirk

sarachristine said:


> My coop is 8x5x4, we have 6 chickens now. Would I be okay to add a few more chickens or should I invest in a bigger coop first? I'm thinking about adding maybe 3 or 4


I have 15 chickens and my coop is 8' X 10'. They are very happy chickens. Run is open during all daylight hours and closed at night so they can do as they wish.


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## Kilbourne9659

I would put as many as you fell would not be overcrowded.


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## Josephkirk

I have twenty chickens in a eight X ten coop and they get along fine . The run is open from dawn til dusk and then it is locked.. They have more than enough roost. and I get better than 15 eggs every day.


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## Kilbourne9659

And they have more than enough room on the roost and they get along just fine amd they are free range untill i lock them up at night.


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## piglett

Kilbourne9659 said:


> And they have more than enough room on the roost and they get along just fine amd they are free range untill i lock them up at night.


like KB said they need to have enough roost space
the coop can be fairly small if they can free range 
coop size will not be all that big of a deal.

However if you just have a 4'x6' outside pen for them then you just can't croud them in without future problems.

if you have a muddy wet pen the chickens will tend to all want to stay in the coop, who wants to go outside & walk around in the mud all day chickens are not stupid. but if it's nice & has lots of grass they will not care to be in the coop unless they are laying an egg.

good luck
piglett


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