Last Updated on February 16, 2024 by AwesomeChickens
Raising chickens can be a fun and rewarding activity. You can raise chickens for many reasons, including easy access to eggs, meat, or to raise them as pets. However, regardless of the reason, you need a good chicken coop plan to ensure your backyard chicken is comfortable. So, if you are planning for a flock of 10 chickens, you are going to want to make sure you have a large coop size.
For a flock of 10 chickens, your hen house should be right around 30 square feet. An excellent way to determine the size you need for your coop is by adding three square feet per chicken; adding an extra foot or two, if possible, would give your chickens more room to move about, but it isn’t necessary.
When preparing to build a backyard coop for your chickens, you also want to include enough space for a chicken run. In this article, we will provide you with all of the information needed to make the perfect coop for your upcoming flock and supply you with tips and tricks to give them the perfect amount of space and amenities.
Table of Contents
How to Create the Perfect-sized Chicken Coop
When you are preparing a chicken coop for your upcoming backyard flock, it is a typical rule of thumb to create the room dimensions based on the number of chickens you plan on raising.
Many chicken owners suggest adding a few more feet to your coop than necessary because people tend to find they enjoy raising these birds and add to their flock multiple times over the years.
With this in mind, take the number of chickens you are purchasing and times that by 10. That is how many square feet you should plan on making your chicken coop.
You should also factor in hatchlings and baby chicks if you are planning on breeding your chickens, whether it be for meat, eggs, or even to sell. All of these chicks will start to take up space as they continue to grow.
Can You Put 10 Chickens in a 4×8 Coop?
A 4×8-foot chicken coop is a perfect size for up to 10 chickens. This will equal out to 32 square feet, giving your chickens the necessary three feet per chicken.
Consider the sizes of your chickens when you are preparing to build your coop. For example, if you are going to be housing large roosters with your hens, you may want to offer up a bit more space, so the hens have room to get away when they don’t feel like being bothered.
How Many Chickens Can You Put in a 4×8 Coop?
Following the rules given above, the highest number of chickens you should have occupying a 4×8 chicken coop is 10. This is because a 4×8 chicken coop is only 32 square feet in size, making it too small to add the 11th chicken.
How Many Chickens Will an 8×8 Coop Hold?
Following the provided math, an 8×8 coop equals out to 64 square feet, which means a coop this size will adequately hold up to 21 chickens, giving them all plenty of room to move about, eat, and nest.
The more chickens you add to your flock, the more space you should considering taking onto the foot rule because of the extra accessories you are going to need in order to care for a lot of birds.
How many chickens can I put in a 10×10 coop?
Your 10×10 coop would be the perfect size for up to 33 chickens. At 100 square feet, this large chicken coop will give each chicken enough space not to feel overwhelmed or stressed out while still providing the closeness and security they desire.
Adding a Chicken Run to Your Coop
A chicken run is a fenced-in outside area attached to your chicken coop. This provides a safe space for your chickens to roam the outdoors and peck at the grass without being free-range chickens and eliminating the dangers of predators lurking in your backyard.
The chicken run space should be larger in size than the coop. This area is where your chickens are going to spend the majority of their day and the place where they will get the most activity and exercise.
To make your chicken run beneficial to your flock, it should average out to about five square feet per chicken. An example of this would be a 50-square foot run for 10 chickens, or a 100-square foot run for 20 chickens.
These measurements are used in order to make sure your chickens have the necessary amount of space to maintain a healthy and comfortable quality of life. However, there is no harm in expanding the space out a little to give your chickens a bit more freedom to roam.
Things to Consider
When you are building your coop, you will want to consider a few different possibilities when determining the coop size.
Make sure you factor in what the interior is going to look like and all of the equipment, feed, and water containers, and storage spaces you plan on having inside that space.
Also, consider how much room a roosting area will take up, as well as a nesting box and any other accommodations you want to add to the coop. This space can fill up quickly before you know it and end up leaving little room for the chickens themselves.
Another good tip is to make sure your chicken run is highly secure and that you use durable and safe materials when constructing them. You would be pretty surprised to learn the small number of space predators really need in order to access your run or even your coop.
Summing Things Up
If you are preparing to take on the task of raising 10 chickens, you want to make sure you have plenty of room for these birds to rest, play, and live comfortably. Giving them a coop of about 30 square feet will provide just the right amount of space for your new flock. That way you will be sure to have a big enough chicken coop for 10 chickens!
