How Big Should Your Hen House Be For Your Chicken Flock? : chicken house

Most anyone that is going to build a hen house wonders “how big should your hen house be?”  The bottom line is that the size of your hen house will depend on how many chickens you have.  The more chickens you have, the bigger your hen house will have to be.

The basic rule of thumb is that every chicken house for your hens should have four square feet per bird.  Some people say that you can get away with as little as three square feet but that is really too small for each bird to have enough space. 

The more space you can provide for each chicken, the better it will be for your birds. Too little space leads to your birds picking on each other and feather plucking.  It can also lead to stress and diseases.  So when I’m asked how big should your chicken house be, my answer is to build the biggest chicken house you can afford to build and you have the space to build. 

Remember, chances are good that even if you only start out with three or four birds, you will add a few more at some point.  If you add more birds at a later date and your hen house isn’t big enough, you will have to build another one or add onto your existing hen house.  You may find that adding onto your existing hen house isn’t always feasible and can be costly. 

There are thousands of different chicken coup blueprints that you can use to build a chicken house for your hens.  The sky is the limit if you let your creativity flow.  When considering how big should your hen house be, you also have to plan for nesting boxes and roosts which will take up some space.

A hen house that is well designed will allow for adequate air flow and will allow plenty of sunlight to enter the area.  It should be easy for you to enter for collecting eggs, checking on your hens, cleaning nesting boxes and cleaning the hen house itself.  It’s helpful if the roof of your chicken house is hinged so that you can allow the hot air to escape in the summer and you can get a better angle for cleaning the area.

When building a hen house for your chickens to live in, the biggest consideration is how big should your hen house be.  After that, anything else you decide to add to the design is just extra for your own enjoyment and convenience.  A properly sized hen house will allow your chickens to be healthy and happy egg layers.