Coop capacity, worked out in public
We take each coop maker’s own published dimensions, work out the floor area, and print the bird count the arithmetic supports next to the one on the box. On the coops we checked, the two agree about a fifth of the time.
Everyone in this category says they tested twenty coops. We have not handled any of them, and we say so. Here is exactly what we did instead.
One winner per roundup, each with the floor area its own maker publishes and the bird count that area actually supports. Prices come from the retailer listing, never from us.
Best overall
51.6 sq ft against a claim of eight to ten hens. It is the only coop on this site with real headroom over its own marketing.
51.6 sq ft · 12 hens (box says 10)
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Best coop with a run
40.3 sq ft against a claim of ten. The numbers land exactly where the box says they do, which is rarer here than it should be.
40.3 sq ft · 10 hens (box says 10)
#ad · how this is funded · price as of October 17, 2026
Best coop latch
A slide bolt with a padlock hole. The padlock hole is the whole point - raccoons defeat simple bolts.
#ad · how this is funded · price as of October 17, 2026
Best for hard winters
The one coop here whose material genuinely earns its price, sized for four hens rather than the six on the box.
17.3 sq ft · 4 hens (box says 6)
#ad · how this is funded · price as of October 17, 2026
Best automatic door
Battery-powered aluminum with app and timer control. The one automatic door here that does not depend on winter sun.
#ad · how this is funded · price as of October 17, 2026
Best walk-in
47.4 sq ft against a claim of twelve, so eleven is the honest number - and you can stand up in it.
47.4 sq ft · 11 hens (box says 12)
#ad · how this is funded · price as of October 17, 2026
Five topic areas and two libraries. Every one of them is a destination rather than a list of links.
Coops
Start with your bird count. We recompute every maker's claim from its own published dimensions.
Coop Types
Walk-in, tractor, metal, wood, with or without a run — the format decides more than the brand does.
Predator-Proofing
Wire gauge, mesh aperture and latch mechanism. The specifics nobody else prints.
Climate
Ventilation is not a draft, and insulation is usually the wrong answer. What actually matters by climate.
Guides
Sizing, ventilation, predator-proofing and the arithmetic behind every recommendation on this site.
Every capacity figure shows its working: the maker’s published dimensions, the division, the result. You can check any of it with a tape measure and a phone.
Where a maker does not publish the dimensions a calculation needs, our tables say so. No page here estimates a measurement from a photograph.
Prices come from the live retailer listing or the button says check price. There are no remembered figures, no ratings and no review counts anywhere on this site.
A recommendation with no downside is an advertisement. Every coop here carries a skip this if, and some of them are blunt.
The flagship roundup. Twelve coops ranked on measured floor area against the maker's own bird-count claim.
How listing bird counts are constructed, the four ways they drift, and a thirty-second check that works on any product page.
Why hexagonal chicken wire fails, what gauge and aperture to buy instead, and how many feet a typical coop actually needs.
Why sealing a coop causes frostbite, where vents belong, and how to tell whether yours has enough.