Quick answer
4 standard hens need about 12 square feet of coop floor, such as a 3 x 4 ft coop, plus about 32 square feet of run, such as 4 x 8 ft.
- Roost: about 2.7 feet of bar. Nest boxes: 2.
- Bantams: 8 sq ft of coop and 16 sq ft of run. Large breeds: 16 and 40.
- No run at all: about 32 sq ft of coop (4 x 8 ft).
Four hens is the classic starter flock. It fits under the hen limit in most cities that allow chickens, gives a family a steady supply of eggs and fits in a small backyard. Here is everything you need to size a coop and run for 4 chickens, plus a free floor plan you can print.
Coop and run size for 4 chickens
| Breed size | Coop floor | Coop size | Run | Run size | Coop only, no run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bantam | 8 sq ft | 2 x 4 ft | 16 sq ft | 4 x 4 ft | 24 sq ft |
| Standard | 12 sq ft | 3 x 4 ft | 32 sq ft | 4 x 8 ft | 32 sq ft |
| Large | 16 sq ft | 4 x 4 ft | 40 sq ft | 6 x 8 ft | 40 sq ft |
Not sure what breed you will get? Size for standard hens. Most backyard layers, like Australorps, Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns, fall in that group. If you plan to add birds later, size for the flock you expect in two years.
What else 4 hens need
| Item | For 4 standard hens | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Roost bar | 2.7 ft | About 8 inches of bar per hen, about 2 feet off the floor |
| Nest boxes | 2 | 12 x 12 inch boxes, lower than the roost |
| Feeder space | 12 inches | About 3 inches per hen so they can all eat at once |
| Waterers | 1 | One nipple drinker for every 6 hens |
| Vents | about 2 sq ft | High on the walls, about 1 sq ft per 10 sq ft of floor |
| Feed | about 7 lb a week | A 50 lb bag lasts about 50 days |
| Eggs at peak | up to about 20 a week | Roughly 1.7 dozen, less in winter and molt |
Free floor plan for 4 chickens
This plan starts at 3 x 4 ft for the coop and 4 x 8 ft for the run. Change any size and it redraws, then print it or download it.
Can you keep 4 hens where you live?
Hen limits vary a lot by city. Here is how the cities and counties on Coop Ready compare for a flock of 4, updated as we add places.
126 places allow 4 or more hens on a typical home lot
- Birmingham, AL 6 hens under the zoning code
- Avondale, AZ 6
- Buckeye, AZ 6
- Casa Grande, AZ 6
- Chandler, AZ 6
- Gilbert, AZ 6 on lots of half an acre or less
- Glendale, AZ 6
- Goodyear, AZ 6
- Lake Havasu City, AZ 6
- Mesa, AZ 10 (first half acre)
- Oro Valley, AZ 6 (10 on lots of 42,000 sq ft or more; 24 on 144,000 sq ft or more)
- Phoenix, AZ 6 (lots of half an acre or less)
- Prescott Valley, AZ 10
- Sierra Vista, AZ 6
- Tempe, AZ 6
- Yuma, AZ 6 on lots of half an acre or less (more on bigger lots)
- Elk Grove, CA 6 (12 with a 40 ft buffer)
- Escondido, CA 6 in R-1 (25 in R-A and R-E)
- Folsom, CA 6
- Long Beach, CA 20 (4 without a permit)
- Los Angeles, CA No set limit
- Modesto, CA 12 per home
- Oakland, CA No set limit
- Riverside, CA 5 (RE and R-1 zones)
- Roseville, CA 10 (ducks, chickens and pigeons combined)
- San Francisco, CA 4 animals total
- San Jose, CA 6 without a permit; up to 20 with a permit, by distance to neighbors' homes
- Santa Ana, CA 4 (more with a special permit)
- Colorado Springs, CO 10 fowl (4 months or older)
- Denver, CO 8
- Fort Collins, CO 8 under 1/2 acre; 12 up to 1 acre; +6 per extra 1/2 acre
- Longmont, CO 4
- Thornton, CO 6
- Jacksonville, FL 5 (5 more per extra half acre over 1 acre)
- Miami, FL 15
- Orlando, FL 4
- St. Petersburg, FL 10 fowl, on any size lot
- Tallahassee, FL No set limit
- Alpharetta, GA 6 (lots of 1 acre or more only)
- Athens, GA 6 per parcel
- Atlanta, GA 25
- Cherokee County, GA 8 (lots of 20,000 sq ft or more)
- Decatur, GA No set limit
- Dunwoody, GA 6 (lots of 10,000 sq ft or more only)
- Forsyth County, GA 8 (lots of half an acre or more)
- Macon, GA 6 hens where allowed in residential districts
- Marietta, GA 4
- Boise, ID 6 (as pets)
- Chicago, IL No set limit
- Indianapolis, IN 12 adult birds (chickens, quail, pigeons and ducks combined)
- Louisville, KY 5 non-crowing poultry (lots under half an acre)
- New Orleans, LA 6 (more needs a conditional use)
- Boston, MA 6
- Detroit, MI 8 (chickens and ducks combined)
- Minneapolis, MN 6
- Kansas City, MO 15
- St. Louis, MO 8, limited by coop and run space
- Omaha, NE 10
- Las Vegas, NV 10
- Albuquerque, NM 15
- New York, NY No set limit
- Cincinnati, OH 6 under 10,000 sq ft; 12 up to 20,000 sq ft; 24 above
- Oklahoma City, OK 6
- Tulsa, OK 6
- Beaverton, OR 4 (lots of 5,000 sq ft or more)
- Bend, OR 4 hens and rabbits combined (lots of 5,000 sq ft or more)
- Eugene, OR 6 adults plus 6 young birds (lots under 20,000 sq ft)
- Lake Oswego, OR No set limit
- Medford, OR No set limit
- Portland, OR 4 (6 on lots of 10,000 sq ft or more)
- Salem, OR 12 poultry total
- Tigard, OR No set limit
- Chattanooga, TN 8
- Knoxville, TN 6
- Memphis, TN 1 per 1,500 sq ft, up to 6; lot must be 5,000 sq ft or more
- Allen, TX 4
- Austin, TX No set limit
- Baytown, TX 6
- Bedford, TX 5 fowl
- Buda, TX 4 hens (half acre or less); 10 hens (over half acre)
- Burleson, TX 4
- Carrollton, TX 6
- Converse, TX 8 domestic fowl
- Dallas, TX No set limit
- Denton, TX 8 fowl
- El Paso, TX 5 (more with a permit)
- Flower Mound, TX 4 on lots up to 1 acre
- Fort Worth, TX 12 (lots of half an acre or less)
- Frisco, TX 12 per enclosure
- Galveston, TX 6 per lot
- Garland, TX 4
- Georgetown, TX 8 hens
- Grapevine, TX No set limit
- Houston, TX 30 in city code
- Hurst, TX 5 hens (20 on lots over 1 acre)
- Hutto, TX 5 (pen 50-100 ft from neighbors) or 10 (100 ft+)
- Irving, TX 25 chickens (lots of 1 acre or less)
- Keller, TX 12 hens (SF-8.4 zoning or larger)
- Kyle, TX 6 hens (plus up to 2 other fowl)
- Leander, TX 10 chickens or other fowl
- Lewisville, TX 6 on lots under 1 acre (5 per quarter acre on 1+ acre)
- Little Elm, TX 10 fowl
- Mansfield, TX 6 at 50 to 70 ft from neighbors' homes; up to 25 farther out on bigger lots
- McKinney, TX 12
- Missouri City, TX No set limit
- New Braunfels, TX 4 hens on lots under 40,000 sq ft
- North Richland Hills, TX 6 at 30 to 50 ft from neighbors' homes; up to 18 farther out on bigger lots
- Pasadena, TX No set limit
- Prosper, TX 12 fowl per enclosure
- Richardson, TX 8
- Round Rock, TX 5 (pen 25-50 ft from neighbors) or 10 (50 ft+)
- Rowlett, TX 10
- San Antonio, TX 8
- San Marcos, TX 8 hens
- Seguin, TX 8 (up to 26 or 50 with larger setbacks)
- Wylie, TX 8 hens
- Salt Lake City, UT 15
- Richmond, VA 6
- Bellevue, WA 6 (more only on lots of 10,000 sq ft or more)
- Bellingham, WA No set limit
- Everett, WA 6 on lots up to 10,000 sq ft (more on larger lots)
- Olympia, WA 5 on lots up to 1 acre (up to 10 on larger lots)
- Seattle, WA 8
- Tacoma, WA 6 (10 with neighbor consent; more on lots over 10,000 sq ft)
- Vancouver, WA No set limit
- Milwaukee, WI 4
2 places cap the flock below 4
27 places set the limit by lot size
- Flagstaff, AZ 6 on lots under 20,000 sq ft; up to 25 on larger lots
- Tucson, AZ 2 per 1,000 sq ft of lot, up to 24 (lots under 16,000 sq ft)
- Anaheim, CA 1 per 1,800 sq ft of lot
- Fremont, CA 5 on 6,001 to 9,999 sq ft; 6 on 10,000 sq ft or more
- Santa Rosa, CA 3 to 30 by lot size
- Stockton, CA 4 per 5,000 sq ft of lot (lots of 5,000 sq ft or more)
- Aurora, CO 6 hens (8 on lots of 20,000 sq ft or more)
- Westminster, CO 6 on a quarter acre or less, up to 30 on 2+ acres
- Tampa, FL 1 per 1,000 sq ft of lot
- Brookhaven, GA 1 per 1,000 sq ft of lot, up to 25 (lots of 6,000 sq ft or more only)
- Cobb County, GA 1 hen per 5,000 sq ft on lots under 2 acres
- Columbus, GA 6 on a single-family lot (more on lots of 2 acres or more)
- DeKalb County, GA 1 hen per 2,000 sq ft of lot (lots of 10,000 sq ft or more)
- Gwinnett County, GA 3 to 10 by lot size (lots of 10,500 sq ft or more); no limit on 3+ acres
- Roswell, GA By lot size: none under 0.33 acre; 6 on 0.34 to 1 acre; 12 per acre (up to 36) over 1 acre
- Savannah, GA 1 per 1,000 sq ft of high ground, up to 30
- Charlotte, NC 20 per acre
- Cleveland, OH 1 per 800 sq ft of lot, up to 6
- Ashland, OR 5 on lots up to 5,000 sq ft; 1 per 1,000 sq ft above that, up to 20
- Hillsboro, OR 3 on 7,000 to 10,000 sq ft; 6 up to 1 acre; 9 over 1 acre
- Pittsburgh, PA 5 on a 2,000 sq ft lot, plus 1 for each extra 1,000 sq ft
- DeSoto, TX 6 on a quarter acre; more on bigger lots
- Katy, TX 25 per acre (lots of 1 acre or more)
- League City, TX Up to about 96 per acre (a density cap shared with other barnyard animals)
- Kent, WA 3 on a 5,000 sq ft lot, plus 1 per extra 1,000 sq ft
- Redmond, WA 4 to 10 by lot size (none under 4,000 sq ft)
- Spokane, WA 1 per 1,000 sq ft of lot
Draw your lot in the Coop Ready planner to work out your number.
Not counted: places that keep hens off typical home lots. Zoning, HOA rules and permits can still change your answer, so open your city's page before you buy chicks.
Then check where the coop can go. Many cities also set a distance from your lot line or your neighbor's house; our coop setback guide explains how those work, and the free coop planner tests a spot on a satellite map of your yard.
More coop sizes: 6 chickens, 8 chickens, 10 chickens, 12 chickens. Buying a kit? Run it through the prefab coop capacity checker first, or work out any flock size with the coop size calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How big should a coop be for 4 chickens?
About 12 square feet of floor for 4 standard hens with a run, such as a 3 x 4 ft coop. Without a run, plan on about 32 square feet.
How big a run do 4 chickens need?
About 32 square feet for standard hens, such as a 4 x 8 ft run. Bantams need about 16 square feet and large breeds about 40.
How many nest boxes do 4 hens need?
2 nest boxes. Plan on 2 for the first 4 hens and 1 more for every 4 after that.
How much roost space do 4 chickens need?
About 2.7 feet of roost bar, at roughly 8 inches per standard hen.
How many eggs will 4 hens lay?
Up to about 20 eggs a week at peak, roughly 1.7 dozen. Expect fewer in winter, during molt and as hens age.
How we sized this: coop and run space per bird follows Oregon State and Penn State Extension (2, 3 and 4 sq ft of coop and 4, 8 and 10 sq ft of run for bantam, standard and large birds; 6, 8 and 10 sq ft of coop with no run), the same figures as our coop size calculator. Nest boxes follow Penn State: 2 for the first 4 hens, then 1 per 4. Feed is figured at about a quarter pound per hen per day.
