What size coop do you need?

Omlet ‘Eglu’

How Much Space?

Coops are getting cooler – have a look at these clucking cool coops.

But what do you really need for your bird’s health? Let’s get technical.

Manufacturers usually give you a guide as to how many chickens a coop will take.

Be careful at the cheaper end of the market – these figures can be exaggerated. This is a guide for standard  chickens & bantams. For large breeds (Cochins, Orpingtons) count them as 1.5x a normal hen.

Your chicken coop should have:

• Floor Space: A minimum of 30 cm x 30cm (90 square cm) per bird floor area. Don’t include nest boxes in this measurement. This should be the inside floor area.

• Perches: 4 to 5cm wide perches. At least 30cm long per medium hen. Chickens like to sit down when they sleep and a fairly wide perch helps them balance when sleeping like this. They don’t take all of this perch space as they often huddle together but you do need the extra space to allow for gaps so birds lower in the pecking order can still roost away from other hens.  Some large breeds will not roost very high and can damage their legs or feet when jumping down from high perches so low perches 30 cm from the floor or a series of perches gaining in height like a sloping ladder is normally better for these breeds.

• Nest boxes: should be provided below the height of the perches to ensure birds don’t roost in them and soil them. They should contain straw (not hay due to mould spores that can cause problems) or another suitable nesting material. Aim to provide one nest box for every four hens with a minimum of two nest boxes.

If you see any manufacturers with amazing coops let me know!

And of course – you can always build your own!