Planning a backyard chicken coop and run

A coop is sized from the flock, so the plan starts with one number: how many hens. From that come the floor area inside the coop, the area of the outdoor run, and the amount of hardware cloth that keeps predators out. For 6 standard hens that is a coop of at least 24 square feet, a run of 60 square feet and 2 rolls of hardware cloth.

This planner follows that order. Each table comes from the chicken coop size calculator, so you can open it with your own flock and get the same figures. The space figures are common minimums from poultry extension guides, and more room is better.

Step 1: Decide how many hens, and check the rules

Choose the number of hens first, because every later figure is that number times a space allowance. Plan for the flock you expect to have in a year or two, since a coop is hard to enlarge. Many towns and homeowner associations limit the number of hens, ban roosters or set a distance from the property line, so ask before you buy materials.

Bird size changes the allowance. This planner uses 4 square feet each inside the coop, which is the calculator's figure for standard breeds. For 6 hens that gives 24 square feet, against 12 for bantams and 30 for large or heavy breeds.

Step 2: Size the coop floor

The coop is the enclosed house where the hens sleep and lay. Multiply the hens by 4 square feet for standard breeds. The table also gives the nesting boxes and the length of roost bar, since both have to fit inside that floor.

Treat the floor area as the least you should build. A coop you can stand in is far easier to clean, and the door, the feeder and the waterer all take floor space of their own.

Step 3: Size the run

The run is the fenced outdoor area. This planner uses 10 square feet per bird, the calculator's recommended setting.

A roomier run of 15 square feet per bird takes 90 square feet for 6 hens instead of 60. Hens that cannot free range need the larger figure more, because the run is the only ground they have.

Step 4: Work out the hardware cloth

Use 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the run, not chicken wire. Chicken wire keeps hens in, and the calculator's notes name raccoons, foxes and hawks as the main cause of losses. The calculator assumes a square run with walls 6 feet tall and a 2 foot apron laid flat on the ground outside the walls to stop digging, so the strip of cloth is 8 feet wide, plus 10 percent for overlaps and cuts. The rolls are 4 feet by 50 feet, which is 200 square feet each.

For 6 hens the square run is 31.0 feet around, and 31.0 × 8 × 1.1 = 273 square feet, so 2 rolls. In this table a flock of 3 needs 1 roll and every larger flock needs 2.

These figures cover the walls and the apron only. A roof of hardware cloth over the run needs the run area again on top. A long, narrow run has more perimeter than a square one of the same area, so measure your real shape before you order.

Step 5: Fit out the inside: nests, roosts, air and bedding

Inside the coop, plan one nesting box for every four hens and the roost length from the table in step 2. The calculator also allows about one square foot of ventilation opening per bird, placed high in the coop and away from the roost so the birds do not sit in a draft. Cover every opening with hardware cloth.

This planner does not give a bedding quantity. How deep the bedding should be depends on the litter method you choose, and a thin layer that is changed often needs far less than a deep litter that is built up over months. Follow the guidance of your bedding supplier for the depth, then buy by the volume printed on the bag.

Step 6: Plan the base, the frame and the roof

A coop is a small outbuilding and it is built like one: a level, well-drained base, a square frame, sheathing and a roof that sheds water. The shed and outbuilding planner covers those steps in order, and the calculators below work out the base, the sheets of plywood and the roofing for the coop size you chose in step 2.

Before you start

• The local rules on backyard hens: how many, whether roosters are allowed and how far the coop must be from the property line.
• The number of hens you expect to keep in a year or two, not only this spring.
• The real shape of the run, measured, before you order hardware cloth.
• Whether the run will have a roof of hardware cloth, which needs the run area again.
• A level, well-drained spot for the coop and the run.
• Call 811 before you dig for posts or bury the edge of the cloth.

Mistakes that cost people money

• Building for the hens you have today, then adding birds to a coop that is already at its minimum.
• Using chicken wire on the run where hardware cloth is needed.
• Leaving out the apron, so a digging animal goes under the wall.
• Ordering hardware cloth for the walls and forgetting the roof of the run.
• Putting vents level with the roost, so the birds sit in a draft.

Frequently asked questions