How many chickens can I put in my coop?

[Rooster Rules]

I may be acquiring some of these from a local Bantam Keeper, Black Rosecomb amd mixed breed Rosecombs

 

[bridget-rdh]

Thats awesome. We only have 3 breeds, red and black sex link, and americana. My son is begging for some bantams. We have the old (small) coop so I may let him get a few. I have a list of what breeds I want next, lol! We only have hens (no am crowing!) and sell eggs. No profit of course. It's just become a fun outlet for me.

 

[Rooster Rules]

Not sure who wants the Banties, more, me or the kids. I have been talkin about gettin chickens for 10 years, since we moved away from the "big city" life.........lol
Up here though, we can get Alaskan weather in winter, just the same as North Dakota or Minnesota, so a lot of people keep there birds inside in the coldest part of winter. We at times get a lot of snow, and some years hardly any. Coop size and construction is very important for the cold and confinement.
Years back I used to sell Hog feed and medications to major pork producers, and for major egg producers too, used to go into those 10000 bird barns and see all the white leghorns( Dekalb and Hyline) birds all caged up in the factory farm, now that is a sad life, warm in winter but very confined...

 

[bridget-rdh]

We have a friend here in OK that raises chickens for fertilized eggs.. Big name company. I couldn't believe the size of his barns, and the number of chickens in them was like 20,000 hens and 5,000 roosters. Per barn! I'd never seen anything like it!

I can definitely see needing to keep them in during the winter months with your conditions. You might want to get a couple less with having to keep them in for extended periods of time.. I'm no expert tho.

I think we need to realize that no matter the condition we keep them in it's better than a cage or a big barn cram packed full. Those chickens will never touch a blade of grass, or feel the sunshine.. Sad.

 

[Scott H]

Quote:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/inserting-pics-in-on-the-new-byc

 

[mistisuri]

Just bought a new coop it' 56 square feet, 4 nesting boxes and 4 perches, I'm receiving 10 chicks on the 3 rd and already have 8, most are big hens are big and some smaller hens, I have a run that's 30 by 6, do you think I'm going to need another coop?

 

[ch1ck3nm0mma]

I have 12 hens, 3 Roos.
The 12 hens & 1 Roo will be in an enclosed run 12x15ft daybreak til roost & the hen house is 4x6.
The other 2 Roos are bantam size so ill have them in their own 2x2x6long coop but will allow free ranging for all at times.
I'd like to add 2 more hens.
Will this be ok in the main run/coop area?

 

[Cheekycharlie]

I have 6 hens in a 30sqft coop with a 100sqft enclosed run. We live in MA so winters are tough. We have to keep a heat lamp on them during colder months, but they are cold hardy birds and manage pretty well. We only keep them confined to the coop when it's really nasty out. My beginners mistake was thinking that they didn't need a top to their enclosure because the trees are very tight around their coop. Lost a few to the Hawks in our area. The worst we have is hawks, coyotes (haven't seen in my yard yet), raccoons, and feral cats. We have garter snakes that every so often have the miss fortune of squeezing themselves into their run... Poor snakes didn't stand a chance.