area needed per chicken?

[ukchickengirl]

hi - me again!

we are building a run 9' x 12' with a shed attached on the outside, how many chickens do you think i could keep in this comfortably?? i have 4 girls at the mo, 2 x isa browns & 2x marans with 12 eggs in the bator, various breeds but all about the same size (roo's will be sunday roast i'm afraid

)

H x

 

[wren]

Hi! Give us the size of the shed too, and someone will answer.

 

[ukchickengirl]

good point......!!!

prob about 4' x 4' ish :|

 

[tiffanyh]

The standard is 4sq ft of coup space per bird, so you -according to standards- could only fit 4. But IMHO, you could put 6 comfortably, ecspecially with that run space. More if you got bantams. I have 6 very comfortably in a coup that size with a slightly smaller run. They are quite happy. Try your numbers out and see how comfortable they are. If you put 8 or so in there and they are happy, then great! My girlfriend and her husband have 1 chicken per 2sq ft with a 12x12 run, and they have VERY happy chickens!

Good luck.

 

[SeaChick]

OK, I'll take a stab at it......The numbers I have found that I feel comfortable with are:
henhouse (shed)- 4 sq ft per standard chicken
run- 10 square feet per standard chicken

Some books/web sites use smaller areas but they are more commercial-oriented, not pet-chicken oriented...... on the other hand lots of people here say that if you're free-ranging them they need less space. WE live in a cold climate so our girls will probably spend a lot of time in the henhouse during the winter storms, so we wanted them to have a lot of floor space so they won't get too "stir crazy".

So, your proposed 4x4 shed = 16 sq ft = 4 hens
9 x 12 = 108 sq ft = 10-11 hens

Stacey

 

[ukchickengirl]

Thanks for your replys - i'll see what i get out of my bator and go from there, they will be free ranging some of the time (when i'm here which is alot as i'm on maternity leave!) i'll see how happy they seem as i certainly wont want to overcrowd

H x

 

[be_collective]

I agree with Seachick- per hen- 4sqft in hen house and 10sqft in run. I have 8.5 sq ft in the run for each of my hens and that seems too little.