How many birds can I manage

[jhammett]

I have a 9X12 coop with 6 nesting boxes and a 16X32 covered Run 7 feet tall. I currently have 20 birds but will cull the roosters when identified. How many hens can i expect to house in this amount of space? I have decided that due to predation and neighboring flocks free ranging may not be a good idea (possible loss and defection to other flocks).







I can always add more nesting boxes if needed.

 

[roostersandhens]

In that amount of space 12 at the most.
Good Luck!

 

[jhammett]

In that amount of space 12 at the most.
Good Luck!

that seems real low. I have 20 in there now and they are not pressed for space no pecking or bullying going on. just normal ranking stuff.

 

[intarsia1]

we have a 10 by 10 night enclosure and a 20 by 30 run. That makes 600 square feet of run. At a generous 10 sq ft per chicken we could house 60 birds theoretically. We top it at 20. Your space is 512 sq ft. Using Gail Damerow's 10 sq ft per heavy breed adult chicken in confined housing, you could have 51 birds. I would not reccommend that many due to my idea of crowding. I like them to have plenty of room to scratch and dust and what not.

Deborah

 

[jhammett]

Thanks Deborah. I am trying to decide where the flex point is between breaking even in selling eggs and feeding the chickens. Ultimately id like to turn a profit on my birds. But I am not even sure what I should charge per dozen in my area.

 

[donrae]

Something to keep in mind is your climate. I can't see where you're from, but if you are in an area where your birds will have to be confined to the coop for long periods, due to cold/excessive rain or wind, etc, you'll need to lower the number. My birds have 24/7 access to the run and it allows me to probably have more than the "rules" call for (I'm actually not sure how big my coop is or how many birds I have at the moment!) but I've noticed long periods of rain and the ensuing mud cause them to stay in the coop more and there's more squawking during the day. Also more broken eggs--not eaten, just broken like stepped on. I'd cull your roos, see how many hens you have left and see how everyone does. You can always add birds, it's usually harder to get rid of ones you already have.

 

[jhammett]

Something to keep in mind is your climate. I can't see where you're from, but if you are in an area where your birds will have to be confined to the coop for long periods, due to cold/excessive rain or wind, etc, you'll need to lower the number. My birds have 24/7 access to the run and it allows me to probably have more than the "rules" call for (I'm actually not sure how big my coop is or how many birds I have at the moment!) but I've noticed long periods of rain and the ensuing mud cause them to stay in the coop more and there's more squawking during the day. Also more broken eggs--not eaten, just broken like stepped on. I'd cull your roos, see how many hens you have left and see how everyone does. You can always add birds, it's usually harder to get rid of ones you already have.

Thanks, I am in South Central Kansas. I plan on covering half of my run to give shade and shelter. The whole thing is covered with welded wire 2"x4" but i want to build a lean to over half. to keep fod dry and like I said give them an area outside to get shelter because my coop is only 9X12

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I agree with the above that you could keep 50 birds in there, but I've found that the theory doesn't seem to match reality, sometimes. Based on theory, we could keep 90 birds in our hen house with a 125' x 75' pasture. In reality, we start getting stress-based pecking problems if we go above 75.

So basically, keep 50 as your hard top end for number of chickens. But if you get up there and start noticing lots of pecking problems, sell some birds and back it down until everyone is less stressed. With that many birds, you'll always have some easy candidates for culling.

If it helps, we have 47 hens right now. We keep a mixed flock that is mostly white Leghorns, red sex link, and EEs. We generally run about 75-85% rate of lay this time of year. Can't do much better without specialized feed and complete dietary control and a non-mixed flock. That gives us 36-42 eggs per day, but not all of those are saleable. Just thought I'd let you know what you were looking at egg-wise with 50 hens. We also go through 200 pounds of feed in 12 days.

 

[tadpole98]

Quote: how old are these 20? you said you havent identified the roosters yet so they must be pretty young. They will get big! I agree with roostersandhens about the 12.

I will give my opinion on free ranging real quick.
I once free ranged, for about a year. I lost more hens in that run than I have free ranging. lost 40 in one year to predators in the run (not all at once either) to digging dogs, little weasels, illnesses they got from not being able to spread out and cover different areas on different days... When a predator gets in your run, either from digging under, or going through the wire (weasels), its all over for your chickens. there will be nowhere to get away from the predator. They will be cornered, and killed. Out in the open they can get away better.

I have free ranged for three years now, I have lost ten for reasons other than old age and Belle (our LGD that was in the process of being trained. Chickens are friends, not food!

)

not trying to be mean, i reread it and I sound harsh.

im really not..

 

[jhammett]

seems like the answers i am getting even with in this thread are sa vastly far apart. From 51 hens in one post to 12 in another. There has to be a guide to chicken husbandry somewhere that will give a good measure to use. I see the suggested 51 allowing a set sq ft per chicken seems to have a basis for the answer. My 20 are 6 weeks old. i am starting to see wattles under some chins I think those are the roosters but do not want to be hasty. I plan on around 40 pirds. IF they seem crowded ill expand the run or build a second i think.