I am sure you are getting the general idea, that more space and less chickens will produce healthier, happier flocks. It really does not matter if we say "Oh this number will fit there." If you start having behavioral problems, you have too many for the space.
My 2 cents. It is not so much this space can equal this many birds, and therefore you can have this many birds year round. The numbers should fluctuate with the season.
What works very well for me, is what I call the base number. And that is my winter flock, that is the number I need to be at come the first of November. In the spring, I start adding chicks to the flock. The chicks are small, the day is getting longer, and they spend more time, close to 14-15 hours each day outside, out and about, seldom in the run. However, I never get a flock so big that they cannot be locked up in the run/coup for a couple of days. Predators are real problem, EVERYTHING likes to eat chicken. However, with good broody hens and a rooster, hideouts and multi level perches, a lot of birds can be in my set up for a few days, if I am going to be gone, or if a predator has begun to think that my birds are their easy food. I have had fair luck with locking up my birds for a few days and the predator will move on.
Come the fall, I begin to harvest excess birds, going down to my base number, the days are very short, and my birds are often to roost in December by 4:00 pm till 7:00 am making for a LONG period of time on the roosts. Less birds makes for more space per bird for these long periods of time.
So for my multi - generational flock, my numbers fluctuate with the seasons.
Mrs K
