How many? Before chicken math

[porkchop48]

My coop is coming along slowly.

The coops itself it roung 15 ft 8 ft and the run is going to be about 25X25.

What would be a good number of chickens to have in there? They will also get free ranged while we are home but when they can not be supervised they will be penned up.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
The run size is great but not for determining how many chickens you can keep in coop. You want 4 sq feet per bird. so you take 15 x 8=120 sq ft divide by 3-leaving you with 40 chicken in that coop with adequate room to walk around-make sure you add plenty of roosting bars I would personally keep 30 or less to make it even more comfortable for them and not pack them in like sardines-thats when I have noticed feather eating-and picking with fighting...

 

[porkchop48]

Awesome. Thank you.

I was thinking along the lines of 10-12 so I should be in good shape then

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
I bet by the end of Summer you'll have 30 in there!

I would!!!
10-12??? Good luck with that!

 

[porkchop48]

Quote:
I bet by the end of Summer you'll have 30 in there!

I would!!!
10-12??? Good luck with that!

YOU are NOt helping

I am trying to be semi well behaved. Trying is the key word.

 

[Noymira]

Bigger is always better if you've got the room! I think your 10-12 will be very comfortable there, and you'll have room to grow.

We are converting a 10'x10' shed and building a 12'x19' run, we only planned on 6-8 chickens. We've somehow ended up with 14.

I have no idea how it happened!

 

[creekrats]

Quote:
I bet by the end of Summer you'll have 30 in there!

I would!!!
10-12??? Good luck with that!

YOU are NOt helping

I am trying to be semi well behaved. Trying is the key word.

You can try, but I'll be you fail!!

I started out just wanting a few hens for eggs (this was in February). We went to an auction and came home with 11 birds. Then Easter rolled around and the local Feed store had these adorable baby chicks, so I got 10. A few weeks later a friend decided he didn't want the four he had gotten, so we adopted them. Then one of my hens went broody and I decided to let her hatch some babies, another seven added. We did lose a few initially (four), but we now have a grand total of 29! LOL!

So good luck sticking to 10-12!

 

[hencam]

4 square feet per bird inside and about 8 square feet outside is the minimum. Good for you to have enough space! So many prefab coops are being advertised for more hens than they can hold. I've just heard from someone with health problems in their flock because of the lack of ventilation and roosts in her (expensive!) coop. Although it's easy to get more and more birds, if you're getting them for amusement and companionship, along with eggs, then a flock of a dozen is ideal. The fewer the hens, the more you get to know their individual personalities. Think about it that way and you won't go overboard. BTW, check out my HenCam.com and you can see my roosts. Hens like a choice of heights. The roosts are hinged, so I can lift up and easily clean underneath.

 

[ladyride]

We started with wanting a couple for eggs then decided to have a few dual purpose ended up getting 20. DH decided we needed a roo so talked a breeder I ended up pickin 4 pullets I can't seem to pick a roo to save me now that makes 24 . Dh decides we need some pretty dual purpose hence some buff brahmas new 4x8 coop got 5 pullets 1 roo + a buff orp roo + 9 packing peanuts now we have 40 chicken math

It happens & it spreads all thru this site .

 

[Sparks]

Quote:
Great advice..I have been watching your Hencam for a long time!