Best Chicken Coop for 10 Chickens

Are you thinking about buying 10 chickens?

There are so many benefits to raising chickens, from fresh eggs to natural fertilizer for your garden. Before buying your hens, you will first need to buy your own chicken coop. But with so many options on the market, it can be difficult to choose. Let us help…

Best Chicken Coops for 10 Chickens – Buyer’s Guide

Looking for the perfect coop to suit your 10 feathered friends? We recommend…

Castle Chicken Coop

The Castle Chicken Coop is an ideal choice for those who are looking to house a flock of 10-12 hens. Constructed from rot-resistant fir wood and with a new design stainless steel tray, you can trust that this coop will last a long time.

How Many chickens?

This large chicken coop can comfortably house up to 12 full sized chickens, if let out daily to free range

Size

• External dimensions: L2880mm x H1800mm x D2170mm.
• This includes the nesting box and roof overhang.
• Walk in design – door is 134cm tall
• 3 nesting spots

Best Features

• Stylish white stain to suit any backyard
• Pull out tray for easy cleaning
• New improved wire mesh – long lasting black coating

Castle Chicken Coop & Run Package

This is the Castle Chicken Coop with the Castle Run joined onto the end as an extension. This gives you almost 6 metres of length! The pitched roof on the chicken run is a stylish feature that is rarely seen.

How Many Chickens?

This large chicken coop is suitable for up to 12 full sized chickens, if let out daily to free range

Size

• External dimensions: L5880mm x H1800mm x D2170mm.
• This includes the nesting box and roof overhang
• Pitched roof on the chicken run is 169cm tall, making it easier to stand up in

Best Features

• Two doors on the chicken run section – multiple access points
• One door joining the Castle Coop and Castle Run – can be closed off to restrict access to the run at night time
• Stylish pitched roof on the chicken run section

How Big of a Chicken Coop Do You Need for 10 Chickens?

Chicken coops come in a huge variety of sizes. When choosing the right coop for 10 chickens, there are a few things to consider:

Run Space

If your chickens will live inside the coop full time, you need 1 square metre of run space per chicken. If your chickens will be let out for free ranging every day, you can have a smaller chicken run area.

Roosting Bars

Your roosting area needs to allow enough space for all 10 chickens to perch at the same time. This way, they all have somewhere to sit overnight.

Nesting Room

You will need three or four nesting boxes to accommodate 10 laying hens.

Breed

If a coop is recommended for 10 chickens, that is talking about standard sized hens. If you are thinking about getting bantam chickens, which are smaller, you can fit a few more chickens in.

What Happens if Chicken Coops are Too Small?

It is important to give your chickens enough space. If your coop space is too small and overcrowded, your chickens will start to feel stressed and overwhelmed.

This can lead to the following problems:

• Laying Issues – Stressed hens will lay less eggs. The eggs they do lay may be lower in both quality and weight.
• Laying in the Wrong Place – If you don’t have enough nesting boxes, your hens might lay their eggs on the ground or in hard-to-find places. This may result in broken or wasted eggs.
• Bullying – Chickens higher up in the pecking order will fight more submissive birds for the limited space.
• Health Issues – Stressed chickens are more likely to experience malnutrition, to pull out their feathers, and are more prone to disease.
• Dirty Housing – If you have lots of chickens in a small space, their poo will accumulate faster and the smell will become overwhelming quickly.

How Many Nesting Boxes Do I Need for 10 Chickens?

A nesting box is a man-made box where hens go to lay their eggs. Each nesting area fits one hen at a time. Chickens will naturally want to lay their eggs inside a nesting box because it helps them to feel safe and protected.

A nest box is a huge benefit to chicken owners too as it makes egg collection easier. You don’t need to spend time searching the whole yard for eggs!

Nesting spots will need to be placed inside the chicken coop. All Coops and Cages chicken coops have nesting boxes mounted onto the side of coops with opening lids.

This means you can easily open the lid and collect eggs, without needing to enter the coop yourself. Laying hens do not need a nesting box each. They will not all lay at the exact same time and they are usually happy to take turns.

You need at least 1 nesting area for every 3 chickens. This means for a coop with 10 chickens, you will need 3 or 4 nesting boxes.

How Many Eggs will 10 Chickens Lay?

Having chickens as part of your homestead is incredibly rewarding. Not only do you bring a bit of country life to the city but your hens provide you with fresh, healthy eggs!

If you have 10 chickens, you would usually get about 10 eggs per day. However, it’s important to remember that your flock won’t produce at consistently high levels of productivity every single day.

Numerous factors can lower the number of eggs your hens lay, including:

• Temperature – Hens will usually stop laying during winter or any period of cold weather
• Molting – During this period, hens use up all their nutrients on re-growing their feathers and are unable to produce eggs
• Age – Hens typically begin laying at around 4 months old and stop laying at around 5 years old
• Stress – A stressful event, such as a run in with a predator, may cause your hens to temporarily stop laying their eggs
• Nutrition – If your hens are not eating enough or are low in calcium they will be unable to produce eggs
• Light – Not enough light can affect your hens ability to lay eggs. This will lay less during winter time when the days are shorter

How Do You Take Care of 10 Chickens?

If you are considering buying pet chickens, it is important to remember that this is a long term commitment and these animals will require a significant amount of dedication from you. As with any pet, they require:

Food

Backyard chickens typically eat 150g of feed per hen per day. This means your backyard flock of 10 could eat up to 10.5kg of feed per week! Hens will usually eat more when they are laying, as they require extra nutrients to produce their eggs.

Free range chickens may eat less feed as they will supplement their diet with their own food they forage, such as plants and bugs. Use a treadle feeder to protect your chicken’s food from wild birds and rodents.

Water

You will need to provide your chickens with fresh water daily. The average hen drinks approximately 500ml of water per day. That means your flock of 10 could drink around 5L of water per day!

Always provide more water than you think they will drink, to ensure they never run out. Chickens will usually drink more water on hot days. We recommend having multiple drinkers per coop, so hens don’t need to fight over them.

Cleaning

You will need to put absorbent bedding material in the roosting area and nesting boxes, such as wood shavings, shredded paper, straw or sugar cane mulch.

As a chicken coop courtesy, this bedding will need to be removed and replaced whenever it starts to smell. For a large coop with 10 chickens, this will probably be twice weekly. Buy a chicken coop with a pull out tray for easy cleaning.

Introducing Chickens

Note that it can be difficult to introduce chickens into an already established flock.If you start off with a few chickens then buy more later, it is likely they will fight. If you are hoping to have a homestead with 10 chickens, we recommend starting with 10 all together from a young age.

What To Consider Before Buying a Chicken Coop?

Before raising backyard chickens, you will need to buy your own chicken coop first. When choosing a chicken coop, consider the following:

Your Yard

Consider how much space you have in your backyard. Can you fit a large chicken coop? Before purchasing, always check the coop’s dimensions then measure it out in your yard with a tape measure. It can be difficult to tell coop sizing from photos alone.

Some councils do not allow you to have a chicken coop too close to a fence, so that the noise and smell will not bother your neighbours. Contact your local council for advice specific to your area.

Quality

Look for a sturdy coop made from high quality materials. You want your coop to last the life of your chickens! Chinese fir wood is a great option because it is naturally resistant to rot without being treated with harmful chemicals.

Also look for an asphalt roof as this will help your hen house to be waterproof and protect your chickens from the rain.

Easy to Assemble

Choose a flat packed coop that is easy to assemble. It should come in large panels with the wire mesh already staple gunned onto the frames.

Also shop for a coop which comes already coated in water based stain. Some companies force you to paint the coop yourself before using it, which is a real hassle.

Easy Cleaning

Choosing a coop that is easy to access will make for easy cleaning! Look for a chicken coop with multiple access doors. A small coop may have an opening roof.

You want a coop with a slide out tray. This means you can easily pull out the tray to change the dirty bedding.