How big should your chicken coop be?
You want to know what may be the worst mistake you can make as a first-time chicken keeper? Not giving your chickens enough space.
If you want your chickens to live happy and healthy lives, you have to get this right.
Take a deep breath! You’ll find everything you need to know in this article.
But first, let’s start with the short answer.
How big should your chicken coop be? A chicken coop should be 2.5-4 square feet per chicken for chickens who have a large run, and 5-10 square feet per chicken for chickens who have a small run.
Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all answer for how many square feet each chicken needs in a coop. There truly are so many factors that go into determining the ideal size. But don’t despair! This article will provide you with a helpful guide to determine exactly what’s best for you and your birds.
In this article, you will learn:
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Why chickens need space in the coop
Chickens need space in the chicken coop for three reasons:
To practice their natural behaviors
For personal privacy
To escape from aggression
Natural behaviors of your chickens in the coop
The natural behaviors of chickens include:
Walking
Resting
Wing flapping
Scratching
Feeding and drinking (optional for inside the coop)
Roosting
Nesting
Defecating
Chickens will need some space to be able to move around, flap and stretch their wings, and scratch in the bedding. From a physical perspective, they don’t really need a lot of space for these activities, but from a psychological perspective, they will always prefer a lot of space.
The space needed for feeding, drinking, roosting, nesting, and defecating are discussed further below.
The importance of personal space for your chickens
Many first-time chicken owners don’t realize how complex chicken emotions and social interactions are. Everyone knows chickens are social animals and need to be part of a flock for their mental well being. However, many people don’t realize that, just like other social animals (including humans), chickens have personal space bubbles.
When you’re trying to figure out how many square feet per chicken your coop needs, you’ll find a lot of estimates that don’t take chickens’ personal space needs into account.
One of the most important things you need to realize is that chickens’ personal space needs differ drastically, and they change over time. Consider these facts:
Chickens are individuals, and some will need more personal space than others at all times.
Chickens have complex relationships, and Chicken A may allow Chicken B to get as close to her as she wants, but will not allow Chicken C anywhere near her. These relationships change over time as friendships and enmities change, and as chickens mature.
Chickens have moods, and a chicken may need more personal space when she’s in a bad mood (or in a mood where she just wants peace and quiet).
Chickens may need more personal space when they are cooped up (no pun intended) during bad weather than when they get a lot of outside time.
Molting chickens may need more personal space than full-feathered chickens because they are sore and don’t feel well.
Hormonal chickens may need more personal space.
These are just a few of the intricacies of understanding chickens and personal space.
I think the best way to think about this is to imagine what it would be like if you were stuck in a room with a bunch of other people. Some of them you like, and some of them you don’t like. Regardless, you’re stuck with them forever, and you never get a break from them. Your personal space needs in this scenario would be complex and would vary over time too.
Aggression in your chicken coop
Aggression in the chicken coop can come in many forms, including:
Pecking and biting
Chasing
Jumping onto another
Fighting with beaks and claws
Feather-picking
Cannibalism
After considering the personal space needs of chickens, it’s easy to understand why your chickens may show aggression in their coop.
People love to blame any and all chicken aggression on the pecking order. Don’t fall prey to this. Pecking order theory is pure b.s. (I’ll be writing several articles about this soon).
People use pecking order theory as an excuse for their chickens’ bad behavior, when 99% of bad behavior comes from the chicken keeper’s own management mistakes (not enough space being prime among them).
Here’s the truth: the more tightly you pack your chickens together in a coop or run, the more aggression problems they’re going to have. It’s not because they’re chickens. This is true of any species, including our own.
The 10 factors that determine how large your chicken coop should be
Whenever I’m looking for a rule of thumb about chicken keeping, I usually turn first to Gail Damerow for a starting point. Two of her books, Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens and The Chicken Health Handbook are absolute must-haves for the first-time chicken owner.
In Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, Damerow suggests a minimum of 2 square feet per bantam chicken and 3-4 square feet per standard chicken in the chicken coop. For the run, she recommends 8-10 square feet per chicken (this is too small, in my opinion).
While this rule of thumb is helpful, there are many factors that may increase or decrease the room your chickens will need.
The 10 factors below will help give you a better determination of the number of square feet per bird you’ll really need for your coop.
Factor #1: Your chickens’ sizes
Obviously, bantam chickens will need less space than standard breeds. Heavier breeds, like Australorps and Orpingtons, may need more space than some of the smaller standard breeds, like Leghorns and Polish.
Factor #2: Roosters
Roosters can be much larger than their hen counterparts, and will require a bit more space.
However, much more important than that is how many roosters you plan to have. If you want to have more than one rooster, you will need a much, much larger chicken coop.
Many dominant roosters will force subordinate roosters to keep a certain distance from the hens. If your coop is not large enough for a subordinate rooster to maintain that space, you will likely end up with a dead rooster, and possibly injured hens, if they’ve ended up in the crossfire.
If you do have one rooster attack another in your coop, you will want the coop to be big enough that the subordinate rooster can get away.
If you’re going to have more than one rooster, I highly recommend you get a large, walk-in coop, even if you have a small flock. (As an aside, I don’t recommend more than one rooster in a small flock, but sometimes it happens.)
In one of my flocks, I have 2 roosters and 23 hens. They all live in a 10x10 shed-style coop. The subordinate rooster, Perly, stays as far away from the dominant rooster, Rufio, as possible.
This chicken coop provides 4 square feet per bird, and it works, but it’s smaller than I’d like. The chickens would be happier and better off in a larger coop.
I also want to point out that my chickens are open-range, meaning they have no boundaries and can literally go wherever they want in the daytime. I don’t know if Perly would be safe from Rufio if they also were confined to a run during the day. Perly stays mostly out of Rufio’s sight during the day, which I believe is one of the reasons that Rufio tolerates him in the coop at night.
One more thing to keep in mind—if you want to get multiple roosters, the more hens you have, the less aggressive the dominant rooster tends to be to the subordinate rooster.
Factor #3: Flock size
One thing I’ve noticed from having multiple flocks of different sizes is that the larger the flock, the bigger the need for personal space. Chickens in larger flocks tend to be more aggressive to each other than those in smaller flocks. I suspect it’s because chickens in a larger flock aren’t all bonded with every other flock mate.
For example, a small flock of 4-6 hens will likely be much more harmonious than a large flock of 20-30 hens. You may want to consider more square footage per chicken in chicken coops that will house flocks of >6 chickens.
Factor #4: Breed temperament
Some chicken breeds tend to need more personal space than others. My Barred Plymouth Rock hens, for example, seem to need more room than my Ameraucana hens. Different strains will vary as well, unfortunately. You may not know beforehand how the strain you’re buying will do. So always err on the side of more space in the coop, rather than less.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that some hens tend to be meaner to hens that are from a different breed than they are. It’s quite interesting. For example, some of my Rhode Island Red hens aren’t ever aggressive to other Rhode Island Reds, but they are aggressive to the other breeds.
If you’re planning on purchasing more than one breed, consider having a slightly larger coop to accommodate your chickens’ discriminatory behaviors.
Factor #5: Individual temperament
Chickens are such individuals. Even though certain breeds might tend to have certain qualities, you’re always going to find oddballs. Unfortunately, you can’t know in advance what personalities your chickens will have, so you may want to consider erring on the side of caution, and provide more rather than less chicken coop space.
Factor #6: Run or yard size
When determining how big your chicken coop should be, the size of your chicken run is an absolutely crucial factor to consider.
The very minimum run size you should even consider is 10 square feet per chicken (8 square feet if you have bantams), and this amount still is far less than ideal. Truly, 25 square feet per chicken is much more humane, but I know many backyard chicken owners may not be able to accommodate that.
If your chicken run has only 10 square feet per chicken, I recommend your chicken coop have a minimum of 5 square feet per chicken (and 10 square feet per chicken would be even better).
If, on the other hand, your chickens have 1-2 acres or more to explore during the day, your chicken coop can be much smaller.
In the photo below, you can see my small flock of 6 Ameraucana hens. These girls are open-range chickens and therefore can go wherever they want (still, my back patio is their favorite hangout). They literally only use their coops for roosting and laying. These girls also get along beautifully.
The hens above would be perfectly happy living together in a 4’x4’ chicken coop. That’s only 2.5 square feet per chicken, not a lot. These girls actually live in two 4’x4’ coops because there are also two roosters in the flock, who can’t live together.
However, if the flock only had the 6 hens, I think the girls would prefer one smaller coop to the two separate coops they’re in now. They’d be fine in a larger coop as well, but the smaller coop would in no way be a problem.
Factor #7: Weather
Chickens tend to spend a lot of time in the chicken coop when the weather is very cold, windy, rainy, or snowy. If you live in a place with these conditions, consider a larger coop.
My first winter with chickens was the coldest and snowiest winter my state of Idaho had experienced in 30 years. We had single digit temperatures for weeks on end, which, for us, is frickin’ cold! The chickens hated it.
I had one flock of 30 chickens at this time, and they spent much of the day inside their coop. Many of them got very cranky. Not only were they so miserably cold that they didn’t want to walk, scratch, or otherwise forage, but they were stuck in the coop together with no breaks from each other.
I started noticing a lot of bloody combs and wattles. I never saw any actual fights break out, but the hens were pecking and biting each other, and constantly irritable. I regretted not building them a much larger coop—4 square feet per chicken really wasn’t enough.
In better weather conditions, there were never that many chickens in the coop at the same time during the day time. 4 square feet per bird was sufficient then, because most of the time, the birds in the coop at any given time had way more space than that.
If you live in a place that has weeks or months of winter or lousy weather, definitely consider a bigger coop. I recommend 5 square feet per bird at the very least, but really, your chickens would much prefer closer to 10 square feet.
Factor #8: Time indoors
In addition to cold weather, other variables may cause your chickens to spend more time in the coop. For example, depending on your work schedule, you may need to lock your chickens in the coop for part of the day.
If your chickens are spending some of the daytime hours in the coop, they’ll need a bigger coop.
Factor #9: Usable floor space
When determining chicken coop size, don’t forget that some of the space in your chicken coop will be filled with accessories, and, therefore, not usable for your chickens. You need to factor this space in on top of the square footage your chickens need.
This is one reason why many people build their nesting boxes off the side of the coop. This way, the nesting boxes don’t take up much-needed coop floor space.
If you have a lot of nesting boxes, stacking them on top of each other can also help reduce the space they take up in the coop. Just make sure the highest nesting box is lower than the roosting bars. Otherwise, chickens will want to roost on the nesting boxes instead.
Similarly, you will likely want to build your roosting bars high enough that chickens are able to use the space underneath them. In my article, How tall should a chicken coop be?, I discuss minimum roosting bar heights.
I also recommend having much more roosting bar space than you need. According to Gail Damerow in Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, the rule of thumb for roosting bar space is 8-10 inches per bird. I recommend about twice that. This will greatly reduce aggression, particularly during those long winter days when your chickens are stuck in the coop.
You’ll also want to decide if you’ll be keeping feeders and drinkers in the coop, because these could also potentially take up floor space. If you are planning on using these in the coop, you may also want to consider having more than one feeder and drinker. This will prevent aggression in the coop, and ensure that the more fearful chickens can eat and drink.
When deciding on how big your coop should be, make sure to include the space that’s taken up by these coop accessories in addition to the space your chickens need.
Factor #10: How often do you want to clean?
Chickens poop a lot. And I mean a lot. My first year with chickens, I was not prepared for just how much those birds pooped.
So, here’s the thing about this: the smaller your chicken coop is, the more frequently you’re going to need to remove the poop. You absolutely can’t let poop build up in your bedding. You’ll end up with unsanitary conditions and potentially serious health problems in your chickens.
The larger your coop is, the less often you need to clean it.
Also, if you are going to squeeze a lot of birds in a small coop, you definitely will need to increase the amount of ventilation in that coop.
As a side note, the most sanitary coop is a coop that uses sand for bedding. These coops are also the easiest to clean, in my experience. Check out my article, Using sand for chicken coop bedding, for more information.
How to calculate exactly how big your chicken coop needs to be
Okay, let’s put it all together, and figure out how big your chicken coop needs to be in 6 easy steps!
Step 1: Determine your starting point
If you have standard chickens, start with the rule of thumb of 4 square feet per chicken for your base. If you have bantam chickens, start with 2 square feet per chicken.
Step 2: Determine if you need to make the coop bigger
Ask yourself these questions:
Is your run size less than 25 square feet per chicken?
Do you live in an area with long periods of cold or inclement weather?
Will your chickens be spending a lot of time inside the coop?
Will you have more than one rooster?
Will your flock have more than six chickens?
Will your flock have more than one breed of chicken?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, add 1 to 6 square feet per chicken onto your base of 4 square feet per chicken. Add this number on one time only (not every time you answered yes to a question). Your new number should be between 5-10 square feet per chicken.
If you answered yes to multiple questions, you may want to consider a coop closer in size to 10 square feet per chicken. If you answered yes to having more than one rooster, you may also want to consider the larger coop size.
Step 3: Determine if You Can Make the Coop Smaller
Now, ask yourself these questions:
Is your flock free range (1+ acres)?
Is your flock small (< 6-8 hens)?
If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, and assuming your chickens get along well, you may subtract 1 to 1.5 square feet per chicken.
Step 4: Calculate how many usable square feet you need in your chicken coop
Take your square feet per chicken number and multiply it by the number of chickens. This gives you how many square feet your chickens will need in their chicken coop.
Step 5: Add on the space taken by accessories
Determine the following in square feet:
How much floor space, if any, will your roosting bars occupy? (If your roosts are high enough that your chickens can still use the area underneath them, then they don’t take up floor space.)
How much floor space, if any, will your nesting boxes occupy?
How much floor space, if any, will your feeders and waterers occupy?
Add these numbers together.
Step 6: Calculate your final chicken coop size
Add the square feet you calculated in step 5 to the square footage you determined your chickens need in step 4.
What is your square footage? This number is a good estimate for how large your chicken coop should be.
As far as a minimum size, I recommend you never have less than 2.5 square feet per chicken for standard breeds, or 1.5 square feet per chicken for bantam breeds. And, of course, you’d only want your coop this small if your chickens were free range, you don’t have a lot of them, and they got along well.
As far as a maximum size goes, your chicken coop probably doesn’t need to be larger than 10 square feet per chicken as long as your chickens have a minimum run size of 10 square feet per chicken too (8 for bantams; which they absolutely should, no exceptions).
If your coop is bigger than 10 square feet, that’s fine, but probably not necessary.
Be willing to adjust your coop and run space to your chickens’ needs
Your chickens will tell you if they don’t have enough space. If they are stressed, cranky, or aggressive to each other, they most likely don’t have enough space. Make the commitment in advance that you will increase their space if needed.
If you are going to be unable to increase the space of the coop and run if needed, then consider starting out with a smaller number of chickens. Start with fewer chickens than you think you can support. You can always add more hens next year if it turns out they have more than enough space.
Determining chicken coop size is only the beginning of good coop design
There are so many elements you need to plan for your first chicken coop. If you want to learn about them all in one easy place, check out my free video training, Chicken Coops 101: Designing Your Chickens’ Dream Home.
I put this video presentation together to teach you exactly what you need to consider when buying or building your first chicken coop.
When I first got chickens, choosing a chicken coop was one of the most stressful things for me. I had so many little (but important) questions that I couldn’t find reliable answers for. That’s why I put this video together—to answer all those questions for you in one spot.
And if you’re interested in simply purchasing a high-quality prebuilt coop, I highly recommend Rita Marie’s Chicken Coops.
Check out my review of my Rita Marie’s chicken coop, The BEST luxury coop you’ll ever buy: Spoil your chickens with Rita Marie’s.
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The BEST luxury coop you’ll ever buy: Spoil your chickens with Rita Marie's
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