40 Hens in an 8x8x8 coop??

[Weehopper]

No

 

[Ridgerunner]

As someone once said, it will work until it doesn’t. Your climate, management practices, and many other things can affect that. As Junebuggena said, have a plan B ready in case you need it quickly.

How big are your nests? If you have community-type nests boxes you could be OK, but if they are standard size and type nests you need some more.

What are your integration plans since you are adding new chicks? Integration is one time additional space can make a huge difference.

 

[chixmaidservice]

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Bought hens once from a man who lived in a large city. Small city lot, very close neighbors both sides and behind. Thought to myself that I couldn't be in the right place. He walked me to a small single car garage that could not have been more than 10x10. He opened a door on the side and I kid you not 10 chickens had to take flight to allow the door to open. I bought 4 of the 75 some hens he had. It got even stranger as we snuck the girls out in cardboard boxes he had, instead of my nice cages, because he didn't want his neighbors to know he was keeping chickens! He had decent ventilation up high and he cleaned the floor daily and laid fresh straw. Was selling 5-6 dozen eggs/day, it was far from the best situation I have ever seen chickens in, but was not the worst either. A lot of people on here keep chickens like pampered grandkids, others like livestock. Experiment and find your way.

 

[waddles99]

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Bought hens once from a man who lived in a large city. Small city lot, very close neighbors both sides and behind. Thought to myself that I couldn't be in the right place. He walked me to a small single car garage that could not have been more than 10x10. He opened a door on the side and I kid you not 10 chickens had to take flight to allow the door to open. I bought 4 of the 75 some hens he had. It got even stranger as we snuck the girls out in cardboard boxes he had, instead of my nice cages, because he didn't want his neighbors to know he was keeping chickens! He had decent ventilation up high and he cleaned the floor daily and laid fresh straw. Was selling 5-6 dozen eggs/day, it was far from the best situation I have ever seen chickens in, but was not the worst either. A lot of people on here keep chickens like pampered grandkids, others like livestock. Experiment and find your way.

He also probably utilized vertical space too, to make the square footage larger. If you have cages stacked 4 high, thats 4x the square footage you can keep.

 

[PapaBear4]

If you have the right setup, you can do it. You'd need to have plenty of roost space and nest boxes, food and water outside, excellent ventilation and poop management, regular observation for problems. It might be worth a try if only to learn more about what parts of your setup are limiting factors, so long as you don't let it go wrong for too long.

Last year I had 60+ hens and a few roosters in a 10x14 space and it was overwhelming my systems. We downsized by a dozen hens or so and everyone was much happier. I've got a bunch of chicks coming in March and am going to give it another try with some improvements. Good luck with your flock!

PapaBear
No Clucking Around