chicken yard

[Wally]

Hello Folks,
I hope all is well with everyone...........
I have a question.......my coop is 10'X10' and the yard is 40'X44'. The chickens roost in the coop at night and they get let out in the morning and go in and out all day to lay and eat. How many birds do you think I could keep in a space like that? I currently have 24 standard chikens and 2 bantams. I was thinking of getting some bantam silkies. I hear y'all talking about them and they really sound cool. What do y'all think of the space I have?
Wally

 

[CoyoteMagic]

10x10=100sq ft/4ft per chicken=25 chicken.

You could squeeze in a few more banties if you wanted.

You can get a bunch more into your run. Have you thought of putting up some additional coops around the run? I've heard that if you train the birds to what coop is theirs, they will return there every night.

just my 2 cents

 

[Wally]

Thanks for the input

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
Ok, now ya did it. Ya made me confront an option I didn't think was available...

I have this 4x6x2 coop from www.coops4you.com which we obtained before we got our birds. The order was for like 6 or 7 birds and we came home with 10. They were just so freaking cute.

Anyhow, the coop is too small for all 10 and I'm about to spend 3-4 days and nearly a grand in material to build a 10x12 shed that will be large enough for the 10 hens + any extra birds that just happen to show up next spring. But I have a fairly large dog house t(3x4) that could be extra coop space and save me the stress of yet another construction project before the end of this dry season. (Winter around here is not a nice time to play outside with building projects, so it's either now or next season.)

So... Fess up please... How does one train the birds to stay in one coop or the other? Will they adapt well to seperate living quarters?