How many chickens in the coop?

[Katrina89]

*Best guess, please!*
If I were to build a 16' x 24' coop, how many hens and roosters do you think I could comfortably hold in there (minus a little 4'x16' section on one end of the coop for the brooder)? Thanks in advance!

 

[irfxr]

My guess would be about 20. You don't really want to over crowd them. But it also depends on there size too ...

 

[Pork Pie]

Coop size recommendations exist (4sqft per bird coop space, 10sqft per bird run space) but these are not caste in stone. If you intend to free range your flock all through the year, for example and they will only use the coop for sleeping, then a greater population density than those suggested by the standard recommendations can work.

If you intend to keep your flock confined to a run, then the more space, the better. Providing it is protected agains the elements, thus allowing your flock to access the run all year round, then the same applies as above.

If, however, there are certain times of the year (even a week or so) when the birds will (voluntarily) be confined to the coop, then it's best to consider the standard recommendations as minimums.

On the whole, the more space your flock has in the coop, the happier they will be.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In Santa Fe you can have days over 100F, you can have nights well under zero F. You can have some fairly heavy snowfalls. There will be days that they will not venture outside, mainly because of the snow on the ground.

Will they stay indoors 24/7/365 or will they often be outside, weather permitting? If you can block off an area outside where snow does not accumulate your carrying capacity goes up. People like to think of the coop in isolation, but it's just part of your total "space" system. If they are confined to the coop section only then that is your system.

I disagree with Pork Pie Ken (I see you changed your screen name, CT. I just noticed that was you. I can be slow.) It's not the more space your flock has in the coop, the happier they will be. The more space they have total the happier you will be. I find the more I crowd them the more behavioral issues I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues that crop up. It's more about you than the chickens. If you wish you can follow the link in my signature for some of my reasons for saying that.

What are your goals for chickens, why do you want them? You are obviously going to be hatching chicks and brooding them, which I think means you will be integrating them. Integration requires more room that housing chickens the same age that have already worked out pecking order issues. Multiple roosters often require more space than a flock with just all hens or a flock with just one rooster. Outside space can really help with that.

You can pack them pretty tightly in there, commercial operations have proven that. The tighter they are packed the more manure you will have to deal with. The more likely you are to have fighting and injured chickens. If a chicken gets injured and needs to be isolated from the flock to heal, how are you going to manage that? If a hen goes broody will you let her hatch eggs or put her in a broody buster? Having the flexibility to handle some of this stuff can be a great benefit to your stress levels.

You can certainly try one chicken for every 4 square feet even if you don't have any outside room. It might work out for you, even at integration. You may be dealing with behavioral issues. You may be OK dealing with that kind of workload and the issues that will pop up. I don't know you or your reasons.

 

[Katrina89]

Coop size recommendations exist (4sqft per bird coop space, 10sqft per bird run space) but these are not caste in stone. If you intend to free range your flock all through the year, for example and they will only use the coop for sleeping, then a greater population density than those suggested by the standard recommendations can work.

If you intend to keep your flock confined to a run, then the more space, the better. Providing it is protected agains the elements, thus allowing your flock to access the run all year round, then the same applies as above.

If, however, there are certain times of the year (even a week or so) when the birds will (voluntarily) be confined to the coop, then it's best to consider the standard recommendations as minimums.

On the whole, the more space your flock has in the coop, the happier they will be.

In Santa Fe you can have days over 100F, you can have nights well under zero F. You can have some fairly heavy snowfalls. There will be days that they will not venture outside, mainly because of the snow on the ground.

Will they stay indoors 24/7/365 or will they often be outside, weather permitting? If you can block off an area outside where snow does not accumulate your carrying capacity goes up. People like to think of the coop in isolation, but it's just part of your total "space" system. If they are confined to the coop section only then that is your system.

I disagree with Pork Pie Ken (I see you changed your screen name, CT. I just noticed that was you. I can be slow.) It's not the more space your flock has in the coop, the happier they will be. The more space they have total the happier you will be. I find the more I crowd them the more behavioral issues I have to deal with, the harder I have to work, and the less flexibility I have to deal with issues that crop up. It's more about you than the chickens. If you wish you can follow the link in my signature for some of my reasons for saying that.

What are your goals for chickens, why do you want them? You are obviously going to be hatching chicks and brooding them, which I think means you will be integrating them. Integration requires more room that housing chickens the same age that have already worked out pecking order issues. Multiple roosters often require more space than a flock with just all hens or a flock with just one rooster. Outside space can really help with that.

You can pack them pretty tightly in there, commercial operations have proven that. The tighter they are packed the more manure you will have to deal with. The more likely you are to have fighting and injured chickens. If a chicken gets injured and needs to be isolated from the flock to heal, how are you going to manage that? If a hen goes broody will you let her hatch eggs or put her in a broody buster? Having the flexibility to handle some of this stuff can be a great benefit to your stress levels.

You can certainly try one chicken for every 4 square feet even if you don't have any outside room. It might work out for you, even at integration. You may be dealing with behavioral issues. You may be OK dealing with that kind of workload and the issues that will pop up. I don't know you or your reasons.

The way I'm thinking, the run area (including the side of the coop where I'll keep the broody hens and chicks) will hopefully be 4-5 acres, so plenty of room. I just have to figure out how to cover a portion of that off for the Winter season... So, with that in mind, could I sleep more chickens in the large coop? 16 ft x 24 ft... sounds pretty big, right?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is big. If they can get outside practically every day and that is mostly just for sleeping and egg laying, 80 would be a very comfortable number, 100 would not be unreasonable.

Your issues in winter are keeping some area cleared of snow and something I did not mention, you need some windbreaks. My chickens do not like a cold wind at all. When it's down below freezing and a strong wind is blowing they will be in shelter. They don't mind the cold, mine go out on a calm day when it is below zero Fahrenheit. But a cold wind blowing and they find a corner where the wind can't hit them.

 

[Katrina89]

It is big. If they can get outside practically every day and that is mostly just for sleeping and egg laying, 80 would be a very comfortable number, 100 would not be unreasonable.

Your issues in winter are keeping some area cleared of snow and something I did not mention, you need some windbreaks. My chickens do not like a cold wind at all. When it's down below freezing and a strong wind is blowing they will be in shelter. They don't mind the cold, mine go out on a calm day when it is below zero Fahrenheit. But a cold wind blowing and they find a corner where the wind can't hit them.

So, 80-100... Ok. And, to save them from the cold... about a 6' roof area? To go the length of the coop (maybe a low wall around it to keep the wind off of them - adding a door for them to be able to get to the rest of the run on warm days)... It's hard to explain what I mean.

 

[aart]

What are your goals?
Eggs only, meat birds, show birds???
This is important, very different operations.
Think of all the stages and where (and when) you will need what kind of space.
16 x 24 is great space, there are many ways to utilize it.

Have you thought about how to handle manure.....
.....dry shavings, deep litter, poop boards, ...or..???
Keep in mind space for feeders, waterers, storage of feed and supplies.
Have a plan for heating water in winter.

...16' x 24' coop.....(minus a little 4'x16' section on one end of the coop for the brooder)?

I have a 4' wide brooding area, created with a temporary wall, and found it to be a bit too narrow for ease of navigation, tho I do have a 1' poop board(that I wish was wider-2') in there that makes things tighter for me to move around.

Being a drafter by trade and nature, I always like to suggest getting some graph paper and laying things out to scale. Easier to fix mistakes on paper than in lumber, and gives a realistic check to ideas that seem great in your mind.

 

[Katrina89]

What are your goals?
Eggs only, meat birds, show birds???
This is important, very different operations.
Think of all the stages and where (and when) you will need what kind of space.
16 x 24 is great space, there are many ways to utilize it.

Have you thought about how to handle manure.....
.....dry shavings, deep litter, poop boards, ...or..???
Keep in mind space for feeders, waterers, storage of feed and supplies.
Have a plan for heating water in winter.

I have a 4' wide brooding area, created with a temporary wall, and found it to be a bit too narrow for ease of navigation, tho I do have a 1' poop board(that I wish was wider-2') in there that makes things tighter for me to move around.

Being a drafter by trade and nature, I always like to suggest getting some graph paper and laying things out to scale. Easier to fix mistakes on paper than in lumber, and gives a realistic check to ideas that seem great in your mind.

I have thought about the manure issue. I know what I'm going to do about that. I'm going to be raising chickens for eggs mostly, and maybe when I know how to do so safely... meat as well. I was thinking a pipe with those water nipples so that the water is continuous, but I don't know how well it will handle in the winter... I'm a small person, so maybe 4 ft is wide enough... but maybe I should widen it to 5 ft.

 

[aart]

Manure plans are....?

Do you need 80-100 chickens for eggs?
That's A LOT of eggs!!
That was tongue in cheek.

As you are just starting out, or rather planning well ahead of time(KUDOS!),
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-to-the-idea-of-chickens.1183627/,
readreadreadreadread here about different situations, things that went well, things that did not, different coop configurations, different feed/water setups.
There's ton of little things that can make a big difference,
and some big things that you don't want to skimp on,
learning it all is like getting a sip of water out of a fire hose.
I read for 6 months before starting to build, and I had a big shed to start with.
There's ton of good info here but you have to wade thru a lot of flotsam and jetsam.
I kept notes(copy and pasted links and text) into a word doc and a spread sheet as I found stuff that I wanted to save for reference later.

Not sure how you chose 16x24, and whether that is carved in stone or not,
but it would be a very nice sized building that would give you many options.
Design your space to be flexible and multi functional.

Nipple in pipes with heat and flow not impossible but complicated,
I wanted it but settled on this and it has worked out very well.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples.67256/