How many chickens can I have?

[Matilda Belle]

I’m still working on it. But here is what I have so far. The breeds of chicken I have are silkies and one frizzle. I think those are bantams, right?

 

[llombardo]

I’m still working on it. But here is what I have so far. The breeds of chicken I have are silkies and one frizzle. I think those are bantams, right?

That is kind of small. Maybe make the run a little bigger and add another coop or build on to the one you have? You have options, since you are not finished yet.

I'm not even done with my enclosure and I'm thinking about expanding it and making a large coop in a couple years. I'm finding this chicken thing addicting.

 

[lazy gardener]

To OP: You live in snow country. I'd stick with the 5 birds. I would also see to it that at least part of your run is weatherproofed. I have a peaked green house tarp over part of my winter run, while the rest of the winter run is covered with 2 x 4 welded fencing. I have to go out and knock snow down 2 - 3 x/storm. The sides of their winter run are closed in with poly during cold weather: Nov. through April. When chance of snow is passed, I then open up the remainder of the 500 s.f. run and put bird netting over it to make it hawk proof.

One thing that has not been brought up is: ventilation. Even when temps go below 0*F, you still need good venting. A minimum of 1 s.f./bird or = to 10% of floor space. I have 3 windows, soffit vents, gable vents, floor level vent, pop door, clean out door, human door, nest box doors, and broody pen doors. On a hot summer day, I may open up all those doors which gives me more than 60 s.f. of ventilation in a 10 x 12 coop. In the winter, I leave a window open, pop door open during the day, plus the soffit and gable vents are always open. Is your coop a walk in style? Short coops make it very difficult to have enough cu. ft. of air space to allow proper moisture reduction in the winter.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Great ideas and advice. Thank you!

 

[cmom]

This is my thought process. When they roost, I am seeing them all stick together.

I don't shut the pop doors on my coops. Their feeders are in the coops but they have auto waterers outside the pop doors. I had a couple malfunction when they were in the coops so I moved them outside. A couple of the coops are open on one side. My coops and pens are very secure from every angle. I haven't lost a bird to a predator in years, but it could happen anytime. The only birds I have lost are a couple of Leghorns, Houdini 1 and Houdini 2. No matter what coop and pen I put them in they could find a way out. They eventually disappeared.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I would love to free range but my neighbors are too close and they have a mean dog that likes to invite itself onto our property.

Are silkies considered bantams? The math is different for them?. I don't plan on getting larger breeds.

 

[cmom]

Yes, Silkies are bantams.

 

[Matilda Belle]

One more question on this topic....Right now I have two 6 week old silkies and three 2 week old silkies/frizzle. Next spring it is highly likely i'll be thinning out the flock if I have too many roosters, which leads me to my question....Is it okay to temporarily have 6-7 young chickens in this space, at least until next spring when I may have to part with some? I suppose I could just start the process all over again in the spring with baby chicks, but maybe it's better to have them all the same age? What do you think? I'm just trying to think of the big picture.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Too many boys/not enough "get away space". Your coop in a beginners coop. You are obviously not a beginner anymore. That's why I always recommend to beginners to start off with 5 to six birds but build housing that would comfortably hold 20. Most people start off small and find themselves in your position- wanting more birds and now in a jam with over crowding. It's time to build a jumbo house. You are a victim of chicken math. First 2 birds here, then two birds there, more birds.. WE all fall victim to chicken math at one time or another. It's best to prepare in advance.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Nobody warned me these things were addicting! lol