How many chickens in this space?

[cmchsmjm]

Hello all,
I am new (as in do not yet have any) to keeping chickens but have read up on the subject a fair bit.
I have read conflicting articles on the suggested or recommended amount of space that one should give to chicken when building a run.

To keep things simple, how many chickens would I be able to keep comfortably (for the chickens, not me!) in this space. The coop will be included in this space as well. I was thinking of having an area below the coop to the left of the picture and a 'second' floor to the right to try and maximise the floor space. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pork Pie]

Assuming the coop is raised, and thus freeing up room under the coop, then I'd say 3 birds. Looking at the brickwork, you live in the UK, so a covered run would be a good idea to keep off the worst of the weather (it will stop your run becoming a mud bath).

Coop dimension miminum would be 4sqft per bird and 1.5ft roost space per bird. This does not account for a nesting box (could be external to the coop). Sorry, I know its in feet, but they are the standard recommended measurements.

Foxes are likely to be the only issue in terms of predators, so I'd suggest you read up on that.

 

[cmchsmjm]

Thanks CTKen,
Yes I live in the UK and was planning on adding a cover to the run.
I will be installing a 6' high fence against the brick wall prior to building the coop so it will A, allow me the room to raise the coop to a height that would allow the chickens access underneath and B, would act as a further deterrent to foxes. Neighbours either side have 6'+ fences so there will be little or no chance of a fox getting in to any of our gardens

 

[Pork Pie]

Sounds like you've got things sorted. I'm also from the UK, in case you were wondering how someone in Africa could look at bricks and determine in which country the photo was taken

 

[cmchsmjm]

I did wonder!!
How long have you been keeping chickens? How many?

 

[Pork Pie]

I did wonder!!
How long have you been keeping chickens? How many?

only a few years. I only keep between 10-15, unless i get some broilers to grow out and sell. It's very difficult to get actual breeds here, but I managed to get a blue egg-layer and I'm working on breeding my own. I've managed to hatch 3 more blue egg layers, and have 7 more in the incubator that should hatch on Monday, hopefully.

What breeds are you planning to get?

 

[cmchsmjm]

I am planning on getting some brown ones!!
Seriously I really like Rhode Island Reds or Welsummers. I like the look of them and they are so calm.
We have a house in France and our farmer friend next door has a lot of this type. I've always though they would be nice to have...

 

[Pork Pie]

I am planning on getting some brown ones!!
Seriously I really like Rhode Island Reds or Welsummers. I like the look of them and they are so calm.
We have a house in France and our farmer friend next door has a lot of this type. I've always though they would be nice to have...

Why not indeed! I wish you the best of luck with them.

 

[Pork Pie]

Just a thought, but you may want to pop in to the UK thread and say hello -
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/655508/uk-member-please-say-hi/890

 

[Egghead_Jr]

That's a fair amount of space. On the order of 4x10' raised coop which can hold a lot of birds. Your limiting factor is the run. Birds like to be outside and the larger the run the better. With that size fixed run I'd only have 4 birds but you could go with a few more.