What size Chicken coop should i get?
Margaret asked:
i would really like to build my own chicken coop and house about 10 chickens, but i want to keep my horizons open and maybe in a couple years have 20 chickens, who knows! What size coop should i get? All the chicken coops I’ve seen for sale are so small and aren’t walk-in, but are very detailed, do any of you know a website that either has larger chicken coops for sale, or even a website with larger chicken coop plans, I don’t know what to do?…
i would really like to build my own chicken coop and house about 10 chickens, but i want to keep my horizons open and maybe in a couple years have 20 chickens, who knows! What size coop should i get? All the chicken coops I’ve seen for sale are so small and aren’t walk-in, but are very detailed, do any of you know a website that either has larger chicken coops for sale, or even a website with larger chicken coop plans, I don’t know what to do?…
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Try the website below. It’s all about Back Yard Chicken keeping.
It really depends on the breed you want to keep. Try not to be misled by commercial coops as frequently they advise the number of birds that can “roost” comfortably in their coops and not actually judge by the floor area…
An average standard bird (light breed) needs about a metre square of floor space (including both house and run) for optimum health. However, a light bantam breed does well on half that, a true bantam needs very little space at all and some of the large heavy breeds do better with more room. A very active bird (like my Araucanas) appreciates extra space, but a very calm and quiet bird (like a Silkie) is happy to be more closely confined. If you intend to free range during the day or let your birds out frequently, then you can again get away with a smaller space- but not too much as remember they will still need to socialize and follow their chicken instincts and behaviors (such as dust bathing) even when it’s raining, so I always recommend having a covered run area.
Keep in mind some birds have special requirements- Silkies have feathers that lack waterproofing, so they need to be kept dry at all times, birds with heavily feathered feet (Cochins, Pekins etc) don’t need to be kept so dry but will have problems in muddy environments, heavy birds don’t like to jump quite so high, so will want roosts closer to the ground… etc. You also need to fit in your feeders, waterers, nest boxes (1 per about every 3 – 4 birds) and this might also influence you choice of coop.
So do a bit of research and decide what sort of chickens you are thinking of getting first before taking action on the coop.
If you are looking at getting some birds now, and some later- best to either cater for the bigger number immediately or be prepared to build a second coop!
There’s generally no need to buy expensive commercial coops or plans with a little creativity- a house is little more than a large box and you can always substitute a large garden shed (one of mine is a converted kids cubby house- 9 birds in there at this time and another a converted stable- 28 bantams in there), I also have some former rabbit hutches I use as isolation boxes for broodies and ill birds). But you do need to check that your run is 100% secure from your local predators- in our case, because we have a lot of foxes in our area, our runs feature deep cement footings all the way around the outside (can’t be dug under), and the mesh is embedded in the cement so it can’t be lifted- you might not need to go to such extremes, but my birds are an exhibition flock and we specialize in rare varieties so ever single kill by a predator sets us back years in our breeding programs because we can’t just go “get” another bird of the same line or quality.
The backyard chickens website mentioned before has some lovely coop plans, but you may want to try going to your local library and seeing if they have two books “How to Build Animal Housing” by Carol Ekarius and “chicken coops” by Judy Pangman (both are published by Storey) first. The books are a brilliant resource as between them you not only get plans but lots of little details you might not have considered- plus if you can find them at your library it will cost you nothing to borrow, whereas you will have to pay for the plans through Backyard Chickens.
Hope this has been some help!
Hey Margaret,
To build a chicken coop, you can find a free blueprint over at .
This shows you everything you need and the exact steps you need to take to build a chicken coop for your hens and roosters.
I hope I’ve helped
- James.
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