Do I have room for more chickens?

rayork

Hatching
Aug 16, 2016
1
0
7
We have 7 Buff Orpington Hens.... (We had 8, lost one to a predator during a free range day.)
Of course it was my daughters chicken Fluffy. We let her get 2 new chicks ( buff's as well) My friend who gave us the chicks back in early June, had a total of 4 hatched together... she is asking if we want the remaining 2.

When all are full grown we would have a total of 11 hens if we took the additional 2.
Our coop is 6x4 with 4 egg boxes.
Total roosting bar length of 9 feet.

Currently the big hens seem to have plenty of roosting space left when I check on them during the night... they sandwich in so tight leaving 1/3 or more of the long bar open and the 3 foot section empty.

Outside pen 96 square feet. and they free range a few times a week.

So... Do we have room for 11 total?

Thanks In Advance!
 
welcome-byc.gif


I would say no. I don't know where you live, but if you live where it gets cold in the winter, they will want to be inside for at least 2-3 months of the year when it's super cold. Recommended roost space is 1' per bird. I'm not sure about the square footage of your coop and run, but I am not a big believer in "x number of feet per bird" anyway. For one thing, it tempts people to cram in more birds than they should. "X number of feet per bird" is not a magical formula. It's merely a suggestion. All flocks are different. Another thing to think about - integration requires a lot of extra space while the "old" chickens and the "new" chickens are trying to work out their pecking order. The new ones need plenty of room to be able to get away from aggressors, and hide if they can. You also would want multiple feeding and watering stations to help alleviate some stress. Here is a good article by an experienced chicken keeper on space for chickens.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
 
welcome-byc.gif


I would say no. I don't know where you live, but if you live where it gets cold in the winter, they will want to be inside for at least 2-3 months of the year when it's super cold. Recommended roost space is 1' per bird. I'm not sure about the square footage of your coop and run, but I am not a big believer in "x number of feet per bird" anyway. For one thing, it tempts people to cram in more birds than they should. "X number of feet per bird" is not a magical formula. It's merely a suggestion. All flocks are different. Another thing to think about - integration requires a lot of extra space while the "old" chickens and the "new" chickens are trying to work out their pecking order. The new ones need plenty of room to be able to get away from aggressors, and hide if they can. You also would want multiple feeding and watering stations to help alleviate some stress. Here is a good article by an experienced chicken keeper on space for chickens.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
Ditto Dat^^^^^

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
 

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