Follow the link in my signature to get some of my thoughts on how much room they need. I don’t give hard and fast numbers, just things to consider. There are way too many variables in the way we keep them and our conditions for any one square footage to work for all of us. I find the tighter I pack them the more behavioral problems I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with things that pop up.
It’s not how much space is in the coop in isolation. It’s how much room is available to them when they need it. It doesn’t matter if that is in the coop by itself, the coop and run combined, or if they free range and sleep in trees. Space is space. A big run does no good if they are locked in a coop.
That 4 square feet in the coop with 10 square feet in the run guideline is based on a small backyard flock of just a few hens all about the same age. No roosters. No integration. No broodies raising chicks with the flock. The further you get from that model the less valid it is. I believe the vast majority of integration and broody problems on this forum stems from the chickens not having enough room.
My coop and main run is pretty close to what you are talking about in size, but mine also have a big area (35’ x 70’) inside electric netting to roam in. You are going to get more snow that I do plus yours will probably get more winter weather where they won’t leave the coop on some day. If mine wake up to snow they normally avoid it for a couple of days, but eventually at least some of them go out to forage on grass and weeds sticking up out of it. Cold and snow doesn’t bother them that much but a cold blowing wind does. They don’t like a cold wind at all. I’m trying to envision 25 grown chickens in my main coop and run. I’m not thinking about when the weather is perfect. That’s unlikely to be when you will have your problems.
If it is all mature hens you should be OK with 25. You should even be able to add one mature rooster though in that space I’d be concerned with two roosters. It would help a lot if even a small area right outside the pop door was protected from the wind and maybe even snow. If you are diligent about being out there early every morning of the year to let them out, you could probably go a few more. If you sometimes sleep until noon on a Saturday and leave them locked in the coop you might want to watch your numbers a bit closer. How you manage them affects total numbers.
A broody hen could probably raise a brood without too many problems, but eventually those babies grow up and will count against your numbers. Some would be cockerels too and starting at puberty things could really get exciting in there. A hen and her baby chicks would not worry me too much in that but when those chicks start to grow up things could get exciting.
That should be big enough to integrate new chickens but again, watch your total numbers. A lot of us integrate brooder raised chicks when they are fairly young, but with that set-up you might want to wait until they are older.
That’s enough. My final thought is instead of thinking how many chickens can you shoehorn into a specific space think how many chickens you want and then provide adequate space for them in line with the way you plan to manage them.
Good luck!
It’s not how much space is in the coop in isolation. It’s how much room is available to them when they need it. It doesn’t matter if that is in the coop by itself, the coop and run combined, or if they free range and sleep in trees. Space is space. A big run does no good if they are locked in a coop.
That 4 square feet in the coop with 10 square feet in the run guideline is based on a small backyard flock of just a few hens all about the same age. No roosters. No integration. No broodies raising chicks with the flock. The further you get from that model the less valid it is. I believe the vast majority of integration and broody problems on this forum stems from the chickens not having enough room.
My coop and main run is pretty close to what you are talking about in size, but mine also have a big area (35’ x 70’) inside electric netting to roam in. You are going to get more snow that I do plus yours will probably get more winter weather where they won’t leave the coop on some day. If mine wake up to snow they normally avoid it for a couple of days, but eventually at least some of them go out to forage on grass and weeds sticking up out of it. Cold and snow doesn’t bother them that much but a cold blowing wind does. They don’t like a cold wind at all. I’m trying to envision 25 grown chickens in my main coop and run. I’m not thinking about when the weather is perfect. That’s unlikely to be when you will have your problems.
If it is all mature hens you should be OK with 25. You should even be able to add one mature rooster though in that space I’d be concerned with two roosters. It would help a lot if even a small area right outside the pop door was protected from the wind and maybe even snow. If you are diligent about being out there early every morning of the year to let them out, you could probably go a few more. If you sometimes sleep until noon on a Saturday and leave them locked in the coop you might want to watch your numbers a bit closer. How you manage them affects total numbers.
A broody hen could probably raise a brood without too many problems, but eventually those babies grow up and will count against your numbers. Some would be cockerels too and starting at puberty things could really get exciting in there. A hen and her baby chicks would not worry me too much in that but when those chicks start to grow up things could get exciting.
That should be big enough to integrate new chickens but again, watch your total numbers. A lot of us integrate brooder raised chicks when they are fairly young, but with that set-up you might want to wait until they are older.
That’s enough. My final thought is instead of thinking how many chickens can you shoehorn into a specific space think how many chickens you want and then provide adequate space for them in line with the way you plan to manage them.
Good luck!
