1acre

[BuddyT]

If i had a run that was one acre which is around 40000 sqft (I think) does that mean i could have 4,000 birds?!? how big woud a coop for that need to be?


(Im a hypothetical thinker/Big time Dreamer)

 

[7L Farm]

The run is 10 sq ft per bird. The coop is according to this forum 4 sq ft per bird I perfer more.

 

[teach1rusl]

Okay...I just said my brain wasn't working...

I'd GUESS around 17,000 sq. ft., since 20,000 would be 5 sq. ft each...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

What I have found is that they are much more comfortable with 100 square feet each for pasturing.

I agree with 7L Farm in the numbers he/she quoted, and that they are happier with more.

 

[Omran]

Quote:
well you can have all the birds you want but don't forget you will have 4000 birds pooping each minute and it will start to stink after few minuts

and when you need to feed them you need to go haul thier feed with grain truck.

 

[cluckinthecity]

I would be afraid to go out the back door, for fear they would all stampede, thinking I had treats for them.

 

[Illia]

You could have 4,000 birds, yes, but your place would look much like a commercial producing area and the chickens would be very stressed and unhappy.

 

[Ksane]

Quote:
No kidding! And what if they mistook an innocent plastic bag as a bread bag??

It would be days before they found your mangled mashed body covered in chicken tracks!

 

[cluckinthecity]

well..at least it would be quick.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I dream big too. We keep 2500 hens on about 3/4 acre of pasture (around 12 sq ft per bird). The pasture used to be a lot smaller at about 5 sq ft per bird but they were eating it down to a nub so I expanded it last year. It is not lawn grasses, but a mix of timothy and alfalfa with some wetter areas overgrown with reed canary grass. The area probably produces better than 5 tons of forage throughout the growing season. The timothy can grow to a couple feet tall by late June and the canary grass can reach 5-6 feet by late June and is extremely dense. They tunnel through the heavy stands and use it for cover from overhead predators. I have chickens running throughout picking and scratching and eating grass but it still grew into a jungle. I finally mowed it this week to knock it down some before winter. These are photos from late May. The only bare areas are right around the hen house. The hen house runs about 1.75 sq ft per bird. There are more photos on my BYC pages.