How many chickens can fit in a 3x3 coop?

Chickens tend to roost close together to keep warm but overcrowding will lead to some very unhappy and unhealthy chooks.

The general consensus of most chicken experts is that you need around 1.2metres per chicken in the coop/run area.

This is assuming your chickens will get some time and space to roam a little more freely during each day.

Your lovely little ladies also need attractive nesting boxes to lay their eggs.

The RSPCA recommends that nesting boxes should be around 300mm square to cater for four to five hens but you may find that some hens require their own individual nesting boxes.

Nesting boxes only need to give your girls enough room to turn around, rearrange the bedding and get comfortable.

The nesting box should be about 600mm off the ground with access to the outside for ease of egg collection and nest box cleaning.

What About Space For Perching?

Hens love sitting on their favourite perch and the RSPCA suggests a minimum of about 200mm for each bird.

Nest Boxes:

• 12”x12” is the standard size for nest boxes, but your chickens won’t mind slightly smaller or larger boxes (provided they fit comfortably).
• Minimum of 1 nest box for every 3 laying hens

Run:

• 10 Sq Ft of ground space per LF chicken
• 7.5 Sq Ft of ground space per Bantam chicken

It can be confusing for those new to chickens to wade through the variety of information on proper coop and run square footage for their flock. Manufacturers selling small “doll house” coops often tout their structure as being able to house up to “X” amount of birds… and often those numbers are misleading or not appropriate for the birds or the buyer’s needs.

In general, you should have a minimum of 3-4 square feet of floor space for each large fowl (LF) bird in your flock and 2-3 square feet for bantam breeds.

Note I specify “floor space.” What this means is that it doesn’t really matter how tall your coop is – just how wide and how deep. Thus, a 4’x4’ coop that is 3’ high can house just as many birds as a coop that is 4’x4’ and 7’ high. 

Imagine two scenarios. In the first, you are stuck in a standard-size elevator with 10 people… and one of those people a bully who has decided he simply does not like you. The more bored or stressed he gets, the more that bully picks on you. Yikes, right?

Now imagine you are with those same 10 people in a diner. It is still a limited space, but if you stay in one corner of the diner eating your food, reading your book and minding your own business, the bully is less likely to move from his seat to pick on you. You can also move away if he comes near. More space means it will be harder for him to corner you.

Yes – you can put more birds into a smaller space, but the more crowded your birds are, the more problems can occur, such as feather picking, over-breeding of one hen (if you have a rooster) and even cannibalism.

As for run space, 10 sq ft of ground space per LF chicken and 7.5 sq ft per bantam is generally sufficient. This also depends on your ability to allow your flock to free range. If your flock is able to free range all day, every day, then you may not need much of a run at all. Yet even for those who free range almost all the time, there still may be times your birds need to be confined on a pretty day. Perhaps there is a hawk that has decided to make a nest in a nearby tree and feast upon your flock, or perhaps a stray dog has been frequenting your property. It’s a wise thing to have a “safe place” for your birds to be outside when they can’t free range.

On the other hand, of your flock is rarely able to free range or only free range for a couple hours a day, you will want a bigger run. They need room to stretch their legs, scratch, find bugs and avoid other flock members when necessary. While the coop is like a chicken dormitory for sleeping, the run is the place they will be in for the majority of their active waking hours. 

Providing plenty of perches, stumps, a dust bath and other “chicken furniture” can go a long way to alleviate boredom and stress-related flock issues.

The last thing to consider when building your coop and run is just how addictive chickens are. If you can, build a larger coop than you think you will need… coops have a funny way of filling themselves up rather quickly!

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