Chicken run size

[Rem700]

Hi, I have a 50x50 chicken run. How many birds would be comfortable in this size run?

 

[Ridgerunner]

That will depend on male/female mix, full-sized versus bantam, age, climate, coop size, management techniques, whether you ever plan to integrate in the future, whether you will let a broody hen raise chicks with the flock, and just so many other things. There are no magic numbers related to our flocks. We are all unique in our own ways. You might follow the link in my signature to get some of my thoughts on what affects how much room you need.

You should be looking at the system for raising chickens, not just one component. Using just the run to determine how many chickens you can have is like buying a vehicle because you like the steering wheel and ignoring everything else about the vehicle. The system for taking care of the chickens involves the run, coop, how you provide predator protection, how you feed and water them, and I don’t know what else.

If you can provide some information about what you plan for your chickens we might be able to provide some comments that can help you, but that is not even close to enough information for me to try to give you any real help.

 

[Rem700]

We plan on having all hens for laying only, not meat. All feed and water will be in a coop. The coop is 18x12.

 

[Rem700]

For predator protection they go in the coop at night. We open it every morning. We also have a net over the whole run to keep out the hawks. We have flock of 24 already but we are looking to get some black copper marans. Just looking to see how many more we can put in there and feel comfortable. Don't want to over crowd them.

 

[ksandvig]

I just googled how many chickens per sq ft in run & there are some answers on here I think it is 4 sq ft per bird? may be wrong?!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That helps a lot, thanks. With a coop that size and locking them up only at night, I’d have no problem adding another dozen. You’d probably be OK with 40 to 45 total. You will have a lot of poop to deal with but that just means you have to work harder.
This assumes your climate is not so severe that they will be stuck in the coop and not able to get in the run for days at a time. If they are stuck in the coop a lot, another dozen for a total of 36 might be a bit tight, but you should be OK.

 

[Mahlzeit]

I base how many chickens I can fit in a coop and run on the chickens themselves rather than a human made sq ft number. According to the sq ft per bird people on here go by I would have too many but my chickens are happy and healthy and that's most important in my eyes.

 

[RonP]

Raising chickens is easy.

Manure and humidity management, no so much.

Your climate will have a great impact on your numbers.