Chicken Run Size Calculator

How it works

Run ≈ 1 m² (≈ 10 ft²) per standard bird × breed factor (bantam 0.6, large 1.4) × confinement factor (1.5 if never free-ranging, 0.7 if mostly free-ranging); coop ≈ 0.35 m² (≈ 4 ft²) per bird; roost 25 cm per bird; one nest box per 3–4 hens

Chickens confined too tightly peck, feather-pull and turn the ground to mud and parasites, so run space matters more than coop space. Ten square feet per standard bird is the widely quoted minimum for a run, and flocks that never leave it deserve half again as much; birds that range most of the day need only a sheltered, secure area for bad weather and night. Heavy breeds need more room, bantams less. Inside the coop, four square feet per bird with 25 cm of roost each and a nest box per four hens is ample. Predator-proofing — buried or aproned mesh, a roof or netting, and locking the coop at night — is the part first-time keepers most often underestimate.

Worked example

Six standard hens with a few hours of daily free-ranging: a 6 m² run (about 3.5 × 1.7 m) with 10.4 m of fencing, a 2.1 m² coop, 1.5 m of roost and two nest boxes.

Frequently asked questions