how many chickens can i fit in......

[Fanny]

I would say go for 2 or 3 standard chickens plus your two silkies (they really are adorable). These would fit well in your existing run, provide you with more eggs than you need, and also allow you room to add to your flock in the coming years. You may want to do this down the road because:
a) baby chicks are cute
b) you're going to get excited about different breeds and decide you want/need them
c) younger hens lay more eggs than older hens, and you might not want to get rid of your birds that are past their egg-laying prime

If you do decide you want 10 birds, then to meet the 10 square feet rule you should add roughly 4' on to one end of your 8'x8' run (ie. make it 8'x12', 8'x13' or greater).

Good luck!

 

[patandchickens]

Depending on breed, unless you get some very unusual breed that lays only poorly and seasonally, you can expect between 3-6 eggs per week per hen.

If you only watn 3 dozen eggs per *month*, you would only need maybe 3-4 chickens total. Although, you may find that once you have your own eggs you end up using more of them -- we go through WAY more eggs than when I used to have to buy them

The square footage is REALLY SIMPLE, honest. Just multiply length times width. That tells you the square footage of your run or coop or wahtever. So an 8x8 space is 8x8=64 square feet. Then divide by the number of chickens you're considering, to see how many square feet *each one* will have.

Still, build it as big as you can. You WILL NOT regret it, I promise, and live will be pleasanter for the chickens and easier for you

Good luck, have fun,

Pat