How many chickens can my 12x4 inside area plus my 12x8 run hold?

[chixcoop]

I have 6 barred rocks, and their run is 12x8 and their inside area is 12x4. What is the max total amount of chickens that I can have in there? I also free range them 7-7 every day.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

12x8=96 square feet -- if you use the commonly accepted "10 square feet per bird outside" you would be looking at 9 birds.
12x4 = 48 square feet -- if you use the commonly accepted "4 square feet per bird inside" you are looling at 12 birds.
As you can see, there is a discrepancy in the two areas occupancy limits already. Now, you also have to factor in the space that would be occupied inside and/or outside by feed/water stations, etc that will take up area and eliminate space that can be occupied by birds.
Then there is the matter that those numbers above are merely guidelines and you must allow for things such as individual bird personality and temperament, the size differences in breeds, gender mix, etc. There is a whole lot more that goes into balancing the space needs and stocking levels of a given flock than just the number of square feet in a given area and how many birds one can cram into it. The numbers above are also guidelines to the minimum amount of space for birds -- there is no such thing as providing too much space per bird, but providing too little is the key ingredient in a host of issues you can encounter with the health and well-being of the birds. While it is great that you are currently able to free range the birds for such a good portion of the day, when you are looking at stocking levels I would encourage you to consider the minimum space, the enclosed areas, as your working area because there can be times when you are not able to free range and if you have built a large flock while counting on having them out free ranging and then suddenly must confine the flock to the enclosed run/coop you would have the potential for some serious issues.

 

[aart]

OGM makes great points.

Also keep in mind that the free range aspect that can help in summer, goes out the window once snow starts piling up...
......and if you have a predator issue and have to keep them confined, you want enough space to do so.

Your location dictates that you may want to have more space than the "rule of thumb' for your coop, like double.
Extreme winter conditions will have your bird spending days on end in the coop,
unless your run has solid roof and serious wind breaks to deter most snow pack from that area......or you keep it shoveled.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

On the snow issue and the run....an alternative to shoveling an uncovered run is simply to put down a layer of straw, hay or other organic materiel. My flock will pile up at the coop door the morning after a fresh snow and as soon as the straw goes down they are outside for the day. The layer lasts until the next snow fall......and as the spring melt takes place you have layers of materiel already in place over the mid that would form.

 

[aart]

On the snow issue and the run....an alternative to shoveling an uncovered run is simply to put down a layer of straw, hay or other organic materiel. My flock will pile up at the coop door the morning after a fresh snow and as soon as the straw goes down they are outside for the day. The layer lasts until the next snow fall......and as the spring melt takes place you have layers of materiel already in place over the mid that would form.

One plus to shoveling is that the run ground is clear again much sooner in the spring than if you don't shovel.

I keep part of the run totally cleared, near the run door and the pop door,
then a path down the whole run mostly for run maintenance when the snow sticks to the mesh,
(learned that the hard way to the first winter when it darn near collapsed and it was hard to get in to the knock the snow off).
Found that they roamed much more outside during the winter with the access path kept open.
But we about 140 inches of snow both of the last 2 years and I do spread some straw if it's icy.