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A larger backyard flock of hens beside a wooden coop

What Size Coop for 12 Chickens? Coop, Run and Roost Sizes

What size chicken coop do you need for 12 chickens? Coop, run, roost and nest box sizes for 12 hens, a free printable floor plan, and which cities allow 12 hens.

Quick answer

12 standard hens need about 36 square feet of coop floor, such as a 6 x 6 ft coop, plus about 96 square feet of run, such as 8 x 12 ft.

  • Roost: about 8 feet of bar. Nest boxes: 4.
  • Bantams: 24 sq ft of coop and 48 sq ft of run. Large breeds: 48 and 120.
  • No run at all: about 96 sq ft of coop (8 x 12 ft).

A dozen hens is a big backyard flock. Plenty of cities cap hens at 4 to 8, so check your city before you plan for twelve, and give them a walk-in coop. Here is everything you need to size a coop and run for 12 chickens, plus a free floor plan you can print.

A larger backyard flock of hens beside a wooden coop

Coop and run size for 12 chickens

Breed sizeCoop floorCoop sizeRunRun sizeCoop only, no run
Bantam24 sq ft4 x 6 ft48 sq ft6 x 8 ft72 sq ft
Standard36 sq ft6 x 6 ft96 sq ft8 x 12 ft96 sq ft
Large48 sq ft6 x 8 ft120 sq ft10 x 12 ft120 sq ft
Sizes are rounded up to common build and kit sizes.

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 12 hens need

ItemFor 12 standard hensWhy
Roost bar8 ftAbout 8 inches of bar per hen, about 2 feet off the floor
Nest boxes412 x 12 inch boxes, lower than the roost
Feeder space36 inchesAbout 3 inches per hen so they can all eat at once
Waterers2One nipple drinker for every 6 hens
Ventsabout 4 sq ftHigh on the walls, about 1 sq ft per 10 sq ft of floor
Feedabout 21 lb a weekA 50 lb bag lasts about 17 days
Eggs at peakup to about 60 a weekRoughly 5 dozen, less in winter and molt

Free floor plan for 12 chickens

This plan starts at 6 x 6 ft for the coop and 8 x 12 ft for the run. Change any size and it redraws, then print it or download it.

Can you keep 12 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 12, updated as we add places.

37 places allow 12 or more hens on a typical home lot
132 places cap the flock below 12
38 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)
  • Fayetteville, AR 4 on lots up to 5,000 sq ft, plus 1 per extra 1,250 sq ft, up to 20
  • 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
  • Fishers, IN Only on 5+ acres in AG, ER or OS zones (about 3 chickens per acre in AG and OS, 2.25 in ER)
  • Gary, IN 1 per 3,000 sq ft of lot, up to 10 (lots of 5,000 sq ft or more)
  • Covington, KY 8 on lots under 1/2 acre; no cap stated for larger lots
  • Charlotte, NC 20 per acre
  • Concord, NC 10 on 1 acre or more; 15 on 2 acres or more; none under 1 acre
  • Greensboro, NC None under 7,000 sq ft; 1 per 3,000 sq ft up to 4 on lots of 7,000 to 12,000 sq ft; 1 per 2,000 sq ft up to 20 on bigger lots
  • Cleveland, OH 1 per 800 sq ft of lot, up to 6
  • Edmond, OK By lot size: 4 under 1/3 acre, 6 up to 0.68 acre, 8 up to 1 acre, 12 to 30 up to 5 acres (at least 2)
  • 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
  • Harrisburg, PA 10 birds per 40,000 sq ft of lot (lots of 40,000 sq ft or more only)
  • Pittsburgh, PA 5 on a 2,000 sq ft lot, plus 1 for each extra 1,000 sq ft
  • Hendersonville, TN 1 per 10,000 sq ft of lot (chickens and ducks combined)
  • 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)
  • Orem, UT Based on lot size: 2 hens on 5,000 sq ft, up to 12 hens on 30,000 sq ft; 20 poultry per acre on lots of 1 acre or more
  • Provo, UT Based on lot size: 2 hens on 6,000 sq ft, up to 6 hens on 10,000 sq ft or more
  • 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: 4 chickens, 6 chickens, 8 chickens, 10 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 12 chickens?

About 36 square feet of floor for 12 standard hens with a run, such as a 6 x 6 ft coop. Without a run, plan on about 96 square feet.

How big a run do 12 chickens need?

About 96 square feet for standard hens, such as a 8 x 12 ft run. Bantams need about 48 square feet and large breeds about 120.

How many nest boxes do 12 hens need?

4 nest boxes. Plan on 2 for the first 4 hens and 1 more for every 4 after that.

How much roost space do 12 chickens need?

About 8 feet of roost bar, at roughly 8 inches per standard hen.

How many eggs will 12 hens lay?

Up to about 60 eggs a week at peak, roughly 5 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.

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