advice needed please =)

[chickenchaser88]

my partner and i are new to the whole keeping chickens down the bottom of the garden game..... we've built a 20ft by 20ft open top pen and have made a massive 6 ft by 3ft deep coop which stands about 6ft high. the coop doesn't take up any of the pen space though. (its placed beside it with the opening going into the pen) how many chickens can we comfortably keep here? we only want large birds as bantam eggs are pointless (according to the mr =P) so far we have 4 laying hens. do we have space for more or is this our limit? they seem to have masses of space but the last thing we want is to buy in more hens and disturb the peace but at the same time we're itching to get new birds.... its so addictive!! someone please advise us!!! =) thanks in advance =)

 

[saltandpepper2]

I would say you could have one more bird, two if your really wanted to push it. But after that, you might have some pecking problems. Good luck with your new chickens!!

 

[chickenchaser88]

thanks =) i would have thought a lot more so im glad i asked!!

 

[aart]

6' x 3' is not massive, it's actually fairly small depending on how your nests, roosts, feeders and waterers are arranged.
I wouldn't put more than 4 birds in there.

Might be fine while weather is fair and there's no predation problems so they can spend a good bit out in the run.
If you had a horrible winter like we had here and they had to spend days on end cooped up, it might get a bit crowded with some testy chickens pecking on one another.

You can put your location in your profile....help folks help you.

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with aart. The recommended coop space of 4 s.f./bird is a bare minimum for winter weather.

 

[donrae]

6' x 3' is not massive, it's actually fairly small depending on how your nests, roosts, feeders and waterers are arranged.
I wouldn't put more than 4 birds in there.

Might be fine while weather is fair and there's no predation problems so they can spend a good bit out in the run.
If you had a horrible winter like we had here and they had to spend days on end cooped up, it might get a bit crowded with some testy chickens pecking on one another.

You can put your location in your profile....help folks help you.

x2

You seem to have plenty of space in your run, but not the coop. Plus, adding more birds can be such a headache. I'd say just hold at your 4 birds with their nice big run right now.

 

[Mrs. K]

You don't say how old your birds are, and a very big problem newbies have is what seems like a lot of room when they are little, rapidly gets too small as they reach full size. Truthfully, keep these a year, see how it goes, and get some experience. If you are going to stay in the chickens, then you should replace a few each year, so that you ideally always have some about 3 years old, some about two and some coming into lay.

The numbers game is not hard and fast, in the summer you can have a few more as they are outside more, but in the depth of winter, they are in the coup for the long nights, and then you need to be down in your numbers.

Overcrowding causes a host of problems, that are ugly. Start small, see how it goes, you have years to add and cull chickens.

Mrs K