Help! I need to know how many chickens I can fit in a ....

[jen61871]

Hi
I have a homemade chicken coop that was given to me and tomorrow I am going to order birds for it and need to know how many chickens I can fit in it.
The size is 33inx86in with a nice sized yard
Thanks!

 

[jen61871]

Also has 4 small nesting boxes and two perches

 

[BlazeJester]

Have you had chickens before? I would start with just a few (3) and go from there. There are all kinds of rules of thumb about how many chickens you can cram into a certain sized space, but the honest truth is that the more space they each have, the better. When you get cramped you start getting problems like parasites, which are horrible to deal with… and the more birds you have, the more unmanageable parasite control is.

I have 7 hens. My backyard is about 40' x 8' (and no longer has ANY grass, the only surviving plants are holly bushes). The coop is 3' x 2' and all they ever do is sleep and lay in it. It's just big enough for them to all roost together. Each Australorp-sized bird takes up about 12" of roost space. They will pack together in winter and spread out in summer, so the number will change some.

One thing to note is that it does not matter how many nesting boxes you have, they will all want to lay in the same one. So if you can remove some nesting space to make room for roosting, I highly recommend it.

 

[redsix]

5 or 6.

 

[21hens-incharge]

5 or 6.

This seems to be a good number for the size coop.

Space matters a lot in managing the flock. Yes more space per bird will make for happier healthier birds.
I also like the idea of starting with a small number. It makes tending to their needs much easier. Adding new hens later can be difficult but that is another topic.
As your birds age and laying slows if you started with 3 you could add 3 new ones and by the time they slow your original may all be gone and you can add 3 new ones.
(smaller numbers also means they will be more inclined to be friendly and that helps when dealing with physicals)

AND

Lots of nice folks on here. Glad you joined us chicken nuts.

Babs

 

[tracecom]

33 in. x 86 in. = 2838 sq. in. / 144 = 19.7 sq. ft.
19.7 sq. ft. / 4 sq. ft. per chicken = just under 5 chickens

 

[BroodyMama2]

As tracecom calculated, - 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop... also, 10 sq ft per chicken in the run/yard is also the recommendation I see most.

Along with the other good answers you got, another reason to consider giving them the recommended space (or more) is--- the more crowded they are, the more they will fight. Often you will find that they have little squabbles. Especially at first, while they are establishing pecking order. If one bird is getting picked on, she needs a place to be sort of out of sight, out of mind. Otherwise, life is gonna be pretty miserable in there. Your flock will be happier and healthier if they have plenty of room. Especially if you are not going to free range them, and the coop and run will be the only place they are allowed to roam.