Every page on this site
All 120 pages, grouped by section. Nothing here is more than two clicks from the homepage.
Tools
- Coop size calculator - floor, run, roost and nest boxes for your flock
- Atom feed - new and updated pages
Coops by Flock Size
- Chicken coops, sized by the tape measure - Start with your bird count. We recompute every maker's claim from its own published dimensions.
- The best chicken coops, ranked by what they actually hold - The flagship roundup. Twelve coops ranked on measured floor area against the maker's own bird-count claim.
- Chicken coops for 4 chickens - Four hens need 16 sq ft. The coops whose published dimensions genuinely reach it, ranked.
- Chicken coops for 6 chickens - Six hens need 24 sq ft. Coops sold for six average 13. The ones that genuinely fit, ranked.
- Chicken coops for 10 chickens - Ten hens need 40 sq ft. Three coops reach it honestly; one is sold for ten and holds three.
- Chicken coops for 12 chickens - Twelve hens need 48 sq ft. Only two coops we measured reach it, and both are walk-ins.
- Chicken coops for 20 chickens - Twenty hens need 80 sq ft. No off-the-shelf coop we measured gets there - here is the honest route.
- The best chicken coops for beginners - First flock, no prior kit. The coops that are easy to clean, secure, and honestly sized.
- Metal against wooden chicken coops - Metal wins for runs, wood for henhouses - and most metal 'coops' are really runs with no house.
- Aivituvin AIR31 against the Formex Snap Lock - Wood against plastic at the small end. One claims nothing, one over-claims - and both hold fewer birds than you think.
- Chicken coops for silkies and bantams - Six small coops measured against the published bantam figures, with roost height and dryness treated as the deciding factors rather than floor area alone.
- Chicken coops for 2 chickens - Coops that genuinely house a pair, measured from published dimensions - the size class where claims are inflated by the widest ratio.
- Chicken coops for 8 chickens - The 32 sq ft threshold, and the handful of wooden kits that actually clear it before metal enclosures take over.
- Chicken coops for 3 chickens - Coops measured against the 12 sq ft three hens need, in the size class where listing claims are inflated by the widest ratio.
- Chicken coops for 5 chickens - The 20 sq ft threshold, and the few small coops whose published dimensions genuinely reach it.
- Budget chicken coops, and what cheap actually costs - Budget coops ranked on measured floor per dollar rather than sticker price, with the replacement cost of cheap fir priced in.
- Chicken coops for 15 chickens - The 60 sq ft threshold for fifteen hens, why single kits stop working here, and the combinations that actually reach it.
- Alternatives to the Omlet Eglu and the Nestera - The Eglu Cube and Nestera Penthouse measured where their makers publish enough, and the Amazon-carried plastic coops that do the same job.
- Coops that will take an automatic door - The flat panel, clearance and obstruction checks that decide whether an automatic pop door will fit, and the coops that pass them.
- Chicken coop brands, ranked by whether their numbers hold - What a year of measuring published dimensions says about the brands in this category, and which ones publish figures you can check.
Coop Types and Materials
- Coop types, and what each format actually gives you - Walk-in, tractor, metal, wood, with or without a run — the format decides more than the brand does.
- The best chicken coops with attached runs - Coop-and-run kits ranked on measured whole-unit area, with the run counted honestly rather than sold to you as coop floor.
- Walk-in chicken coops that are actually walk-in - Walk-in coops and runs ranked on measured area, with a clear split between enclosures that include a henhouse and those that do not.
- Mobile chicken coops and tractors - Wheeled coops and tractors ranked on measured area, with the honest three-to-four-bird ceiling stated rather than buried.
- Metal chicken coops and runs - Steel runs and enclosures ranked on measured area, with the henhouse gap and the base-security fix stated up front.
- Wooden chicken coops, measured and weathered - Wooden coops ranked on measured floor area, with the maintenance cost of untreated fir priced in rather than left out.
- Plastic chicken coops - Double-walled polyethylene coops measured and assessed - the format with the best material argument and the thinnest choice.
- Chicken tractor against a stationary coop - Every tractor in our registry measures three or four hens, and that is not a coincidence - it is what one person can move. The head-to-head.
Predator-Proofing
- Predator-proofing, as numbers rather than adjectives - Wire gauge, mesh aperture and latch mechanism. The specifics nobody else prints.
- Hardware cloth against chicken wire - Why hexagonal chicken wire fails, what gauge and aperture to buy instead, and how many feet a typical coop actually needs.
- Latches a raccoon cannot open - Why hook-and-eye and spring catches fail, the two-motion principle that works, and where every coop needs a latch it did not ship with.
- The closest thing to a predator-proof coop - The coops with the best security starting point, each listed with the exact upgrade it still requires before birds go in.
- Raccoon-proofing a chicken coop - What a raccoon can actually do, the three fixes that stop it, and the openings people forget until the morning after.
- Stopping predators that dig under the run - Why the apron beats a buried perimeter, how to lay one properly, and how much hardware cloth a typical run needs.
- Hawks, owls and the daylight problem - Why aerial predators need a different answer from every other threat, and the covered-run options that provide it.
- Weasels, mink and the gaps you cannot see - Why welded mesh sold as secure still lets small predators walk in, the half-inch rule, and where the overlooked gaps are.
- Rats in the chicken coop - Why rats colonize a coop, the half-inch figure that excludes them, and the three purchases that close off feed, entry and harborage.
- Predator deterrent lights, and the habituation problem - Solar predator lights measured against published wildlife damage guidance on frightening devices, habituation and placement.
Climate, Ventilation and Season
- Climate, ventilation and the season problem - Ventilation is not a draft, and insulation is usually the wrong answer. What actually matters by climate.
- Chicken coops for cold climates - Cold-climate coops ranked on the things that matter below freezing - dryness, roof geometry, ventilation and floor area per bird.
- Chicken coops for hot climates - Coops and gear for genuine heat, ranked on airflow and shade rather than on how well they seal.
- Plastic against wood, in the cold - A material comparison judged on condensation, cleaning and mite resistance rather than on an insulation value neither material really has.
- Chicken coops for wet climates - Coops assessed on what survives persistent rain - shedding roofs, raised floors and materials that do not absorb.
Coop Gear
- Coop gear, ranked by the problem it solves - Doors, heaters, fans, nest boxes and bedding — the things you buy after the coop.
- Automatic chicken coop doors - Automatic pop doors compared on trigger, power source, opening size and what happens when it is 10 degrees out.
- Coop heaters, and whether you need one - Flat radiant panels compared, with an honest answer first on whether heat is the right intervention at all.
- Coop fans and ventilation hardware - Vent placement, how much opening a coop needs, and when a powered shutter fan earns its wiring.
- Roosting bars, and how much bar a flock needs - The published per-bird roost length, why flat beats round, and how to add bar without carpentry.
- Nesting boxes, and the six-box three-hen coop - How many boxes a flock needs, why coops oversupply them, and what to do when you genuinely are short.
- Run extensions for a coop you already own - Bolt-on runs ranked by measured area added, with the crucial distinction between what an extension fixes and what it does not.
- Chicken run flooring, and what actually fixes mud - Run flooring judged on drainage and cost per square foot - including why the cheapest answer is not a shipped product.
- Solar automatic chicken coop doors - Solar pop doors ranked on opening size, mode range and safety stop - with the gray-week caveat stated plainly.
- Automatic coop doors for cold weather - Pop doors judged on what actually breaks them in winter - battery chemistry, track geometry and whether you can tell it failed.
- Chicken waterers, ranked on the published numbers - Heated, nipple and open waterers measured against the published 5 gallons per 100 birds daily, 1 inch of water space per bird, and the 12-hour rule.
- Chicken feeders, ranked on waste and rodents - Treadle, port and DIY feeders measured against the published 3 inches of feeder space per bird and 0.25 lb of feed per hen per day.
- Chicken coop lights, checked against the published schedule - Plug-in and solar coop lights measured against Penn State's 16 hours, morning-only light, half a foot-candle and under-3500K guidance.
- Roll-away nest boxes, measured against the published nest - Roll-out nest boxes judged on the published 12in nest, one per four to five hens, and the two inches of bedding a roll-away box cannot hold.
- Nesting pads, and the two inches they replace - Excelsior and washable nest pads measured against the published 12-inch nest and the two inches of material the sources call for.
- Coop wheel kits, and the gap underneath - Retrofit caster and lift kits judged on load rating, wheel size and whether the coop returns to the ground between moves.
- Chicken swings and enrichment, in the right order - Swings, perches and greens feeders set against the published causes of feather pecking, so enrichment is bought as a supplement rather than a cure.
- RUN-CHICKEN T50 against the Omlet door - A head-to-head on the specification that decides it - opening size against the flat panel area your coop actually has.
- Coop cleaners, and the two jobs they get confused for - Enzyme deodorizers and disinfectants separated, measured against the published clean-then-disinfect sequence and the contact times listings rarely give.
- Chicken coop flooring, and what the bedding sits on - Coop floor coverings, judged on whether water can get under them. Almost none are sold for poultry, which is itself the finding.
Guides
- Guides, and the arithmetic behind them - Sizing, ventilation, predator-proofing and the arithmetic behind every recommendation on this site.
- How much space one chicken needs - The per-bird floor figure by breed class and run access, with worked examples and the coops that actually meet it.
- What a coop listing means by holds 6 chickens - How listing bird counts are constructed, the four ways they drift, and a thirty-second check that works on any product page.
- Ventilation, not insulation - Why sealing a coop causes frostbite, where vents belong, and how to tell whether yours has enough.
- Predator-proofing a coop, step by step - The full walkthrough: mesh, latches and apron, with a materials list and the openings that get missed.
- What a coop costs, beyond the listing price - The four costs that follow a coop purchase, and why the cheapest coop is usually the expensive one over a decade.
- Permits, zoning and the questions to ask first - What to ask your city, county and HOA before buying a coop, and why nobody online can tell you the answer for your address.
- How many nesting boxes a flock needs - The per-flock box count, why coops oversupply boxes at the cost of floor area, and how to fix hens that will not use them.
- Roost bar length, height and shape - Per-bird bar length by breed, the flat-versus-round question, mounting height, and how to add bar without carpentry.
- Coop bedding, judged on moisture - Shavings, straw, sand and hemp compared on absorbency and running cost, plus how the deep litter method actually works.
- Where to put the coop - The siting order that matters - drainage, sun, wind, access - and the mistakes that no amount of good husbandry fixes.
- A cleaning routine you will actually keep - Daily, weekly and seasonal jobs sized so they get done, plus the mite inspection nobody schedules until it is too late.
- Build or buy a chicken coop - The build-versus-buy decision judged on floor area, time and skill rather than sticker price - with the free published plans nobody mentions.
- Coop vs run - What a coop does, what a run does, why the space requirements add rather than overlap, and what to buy when you already have one of the two.
- Flies in the coop, and the number that stops them - The published moisture range flies breed in, the life-cycle figures that explain a summer explosion, and where traps genuinely help.
- How to choose a chicken coop - The nine checks that decide a coop purchase, in priority order, and the coop we would buy at each flock size once they are applied.
- Can you use a chicken coop for ducks? - Ducks need roughly twice a hen's indoor floor and produce manure wet enough to rot a timber coop. The coops that work, with the published figures.
- Can turkeys live in a chicken coop? - Turkeys need 6 square feet indoors each and should not share a site with chickens. What that rules out, and the walk-in runs big enough to be an answer.
- Can you keep quail in a chicken coop? - Penn State puts quail at 1 square foot indoors, so any coop is big enough. What stops it working is the 1in mesh every kit ships with.
- Turning a shed into a chicken coop - A 6x8 shed holds twelve hens on the published figures, which no kit coop in this category comes near. The five buys that convert it.
- How long can you leave chickens alone? - The feed and water arithmetic says ten days. The failure arithmetic says three. The four buys that make a weekend away safe, in order.
- Is pressure-treated wood safe for a chicken coop? - Residential treated lumber has been copper-based since the end of 2003. No kit coop uses it, which makes rot a question about material and elevation instead.
- Can you use a dog kennel as a chicken run? - A dog kennel gives you run area no kit coop comes near. What it does not give you is an aperture, a floor or a roof. The three buys that fix that.
Single-Model Reviews
- Single-model reviews - One coop at a time, measured against its own spec sheet.
- PawHut 147in Extra Large Hen House - 51.6 sq ft measured against a claim of ten - the one coop here that understates itself rather than the reverse.
- Formex Snap Lock Large Chicken Coop - 17.3 sq ft of real henhouse floor in double-walled polyethylene - four hens, not the six on the box.
- AECOJOY 84in Large Chicken Coop - 40.3 sq ft measured against a claim of ten birds - claim and arithmetic in agreement, which is rare here.
- Aivituvin AIR31 Wooden Hen House - 13.5 sq ft whole-unit, no claimed bird count, and a 26in depth that decides everything. A good two-hen coop.
- TRYKERPET Walk-In Coop for 10-12 Chickens - 47.4 sq ft measured against a 10-12 bird claim - a wooden walk-in that includes the henhouse a metal run leaves out.
- 4ever2buy Metal Chicken Coop, 10x13 FT Walk-In Run - 128.4 sq ft of walk-in steel run in galvanized hardware cloth, cover included - enormous daytime space, and no henhouse.
- HERBAN Large Metal Walk-In Coop (discontinued) - Discontinued. Amazon lists it as currently unavailable with no return date - our largest-enclosure pick moved to the 4ever2buy 10x13.
- Petsfit Outdoor Coop with Run - 20.7 sq ft measured against a claim of six birds - five is the honest count, and the gap is smaller than most.
- VEVOR Metal Walk-In Run, Spire Roof - 43 sq ft steel enclosure whose peaked roof sheds snow - the detail that matters most in a hard-winter climate.
- HomeSheek Predator-Proof Wooden Hen House - 15.2 sq ft against a claim of up to ten birds - the widest gap we measured, and a useful lesson in reading listings.
- RUN-CHICKEN Door T50 Automatic Opener - An automatic pop door reviewed on what actually matters - trigger, power, opening size and cold-weather behavior.
- Formex Snap Lock Standard Coop - 11.4 sq ft of genuinely enclosed floor in the best material here, against a claim of four birds the arithmetic puts at two.
- GUTINNEEN 115in Large Hen House with Run - 43.1 sq ft against a claim of ten birds - claim and arithmetic agreeing, with margin, on a large wooden kit.
- Pawpuler 135.7in Extra Large Coop with Run - 59.5 sq ft measured against a claim of 15 birds - the largest wooden kit here, and close enough to honest to say so.
- GOJOOASIS Outdoor Large Metal Chicken Coop Run, 118in - 32.4 sq ft of covered steel run, with no bird count claimed by the maker and no henhouse included.
- Omlet Automatic Coop Door Opener - Omlet automatic pop door reviewed on opening size, safety sensors, trigger, power and the cutout it demands.
- Amagabeli 1/2" Hardware Cloth, 48in x 100ft - A hardware cloth roll reviewed on the three specifications that matter - aperture, gauge, and whether it was galvanized before or after welding.
- TIMEBAL 200W Radiant Coop Panel - A UL-certified radiant coop panel reviewed on safety certification, radiant versus convective heat, thermostat control and whether heat is the right fix at all.
- Grandpa's Feeders Automatic Chicken Feeder, 20 lb - A treadle feeder reviewed on rodent exclusion, feed waste and the one claim on this site that survived checking.
- Premier 1 All-Season Heated Poultry Waterer, 3 Gallon - A heated nipple waterer reviewed on its published thermostat range, the 12-hour rule, and the lid-freeze problem the maker discloses.
- Hen's Choice Reversible Roll Out Nest Box, 2 Compartment - A roll-out nest box reviewed on the published nest figures, the bedding conflict every roll-away box has, and the hinged perch that sets it apart.
- RentACoop Automatic Treadle Chicken Feeder, 25 lb - A treadle feeder reviewed on the specification that decides whether your lightest birds can eat, plus capacity against the published feed figure.
- Farm Innovators Heated 3 Gallon Hanging Water Fountain - A traditional heated font reviewed on its published 0F rating, the 12-hour rule, and the open-water problem no heater solves.