How many chickens should I keep

[TaylorGlade]

You can not stuff 25 chickens in a 5X5 coop!

No. It's definitely untenable at best and cruel at the worst. Thankfully, OP came here for advice and was willing to heed it.

Sounds ok, but like I said, 25 birds are the absolute most.

NO!!!! stop telling people this and do some research! So many very informed people on this thread, including @21hens-incharge (an official moderator and respected chicken keeper) have already reiterated that the most that you can put in a 25 ft² coupe is five chickens. That is no where near 25! Not to mention that part of that 25 ft² space is actually taking up by nesting boxes. So five is squeaking by. If you are putting one chicken per square foot, you might as well be running a factory farm which is absolutely the opposite of what backyard chickens is about.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

No. It's definitely untenable at best and cruel at the worst. Thankfully, OP came here for advice and was willing to heed it.

NO!!!! stop telling people this and do some research! So many very informed people on this thread, including @21hens-incharge (an official moderator and respected chicken keeper) have already reiterated that the most that you can put in a 25 ft² coupe is five chickens. That is no where near 25! Not to mention that part of that 25 ft² space is actually taking up by nesting boxes. So five is squeaking by. If you are putting one chicken per square foot, you might as well be running a factory farm which is absolutely the opposite of what backyard chickens is about.

It’s obvious that most people are advocating for a much larger setup. 25 chickens in my coup wouldn’t even be possible. They would be cramped like sardines, even with the roosting bars… I couldn’t even imagine 25 chickens in this thing.

Even if 5 birds comfortably roosted on each bar that would leave 15 chickens squeezing into 21 sq feet on the floor. The thought of that sounds cruel.

I might consider rehoming some of the 13 birds if I can’t manage making the box any bigger, but I will for sure update the thread once they start growing.

For research purposes I think I’ll designate this thread to report any problems I start facing until the coop can be expanded. I suspect that many of you are right. I might infact have to clean it way more often than I should, deal with bullying, feather pulling behavior etc….

Which is stuff I don’t want to do for sure.

I appreciate everyone for the advice! I want to again mention that I do care about the wellbeing of these birds. I love chickens! They were a huge part of my childhood. Regardless of what I decide to do, I am so lucky that backyard chickens is a thing!! I’ve had to battle illness, surprise cockerels, expanding brooders with moving boxes, had a chick drown in a waterer that had rocks in it because a brooder plate broke and moving chickens almost 3 hours away in my car with two dogs in tow (ended up being okay) every single thing I mentioned I came here for help and have been helped every time!!

I appreciate everyone here!!

 

[TaylorGlade]

It’s obvious that most people are advocating for a much larger setup. 25 chickens in my coup wouldn’t even be possible. They would be cramped like sardines, even with the roosting bars… I couldn’t even imagine 25 chickens in this thing.

Even if 5 birds comfortably roosted on each bar that would leave 15 chickens squeezing into 21 sq feet on the floor. The thought of that sounds cruel.

I might consider rehoming some of the 13 birds if I can’t manage making the box any bigger, but I will for sure update the thread once they start growing.

For research purposes I think I’ll designate this thread to report any problems I start facing until the coop can be expanded. I suspect that many of you are right. I might infact have to clean it way more often than I should, deal with bullying, feather pulling behavior etc….

Which is stuff I don’t want to do for sure.

I appreciate everyone for the advice! I want to again mention that I do care about the wellbeing of these birds. I love chickens! They were a huge part of my childhood. Regardless of what I decide to do, I am so lucky that backyard chickens is a thing!! I’ve had to battle illness, surprise cockerels, expanding brooders with moving boxes, had a chick drown in a waterer that had rocks in it because a brooder plate broke and moving chickens almost 3 hours away in my car with two dogs in tow (ended up being okay) every single thing I mentioned I came here for help and have been helped every time!!

I appreciate everyone here!!

My comments were not aimed at you - but the person who insists you can get 25 birds in your coop. I really hope you find a way to keep them. I know I would not want to part with any of mine

 

[BrahmasMama02]

My comments were not aimed at you - but the person who insists you can get 25 birds in your coop. I really hope you find a way to keep them. I know I would not want to part with any of mine

I know ^ people can get pretty ballsy behind a screen. you have been a great help!

 

[jkarchner65]

Hello!

I was wondering how many chickens I should cap out on?

My coup/ box is 5*5 with two roosting bars that extend all the way across. It’s going to have internal nesting boxes that will slide out.

My run is 14*5 (it includes the space under the coup)

That would make the coup 25 square feet and run space 70 square feet. So 95 square feet total.

They will be free ranged on days I’m home and can have my Pyrenese mix who has worked as a lgd in the past home. I don’t want her outside when I’m not home because she’ll run off in the case her collar isn’t working.

What do yall think?

Here’s a photo of my corgi: Artemis checking out the chickies !!

I have 13 hens (RI Reds, Barred Rocks, Black Australorps) and my hen house is 6x4 with two 6 foot roosting bars. My run area is 26x6 with 18 feet covered including under the hen house. Three nesting boxes project out on one side of the hen house. My hens use the hen house to roost and lay eggs. Otherwise they are in the run all day. I was told to use 10-12 inches of roost bar per bird for the hen house. Given that, my max should be around 12 birds. The hens actually roost with about 8-9 across one bar and 4-5 on the other bar. Thus, they are actually using 7-8 inches of bar per bird to roost. The girls seem very happy and low stress. I get anywhere from 8-11 large brown eggs on average per day. I think you are fine with 13 but if they seem stressed or egg production seems low, then perhaps you should consider reducing your flock or extending your run...

 

[karen not a karen]

Hello!

I was wondering how many chickens I should cap out on?

My coup/ box is 5*5 with two roosting bars that extend all the way across. It’s going to have internal nesting boxes that will slide out.

My run is 14*5 (it includes the space under the coup)

That would make the coup 25 square feet and run space 70 square feet. So 95 square feet total.

They will be free ranged on days I’m home and can have my Pyrenese mix who has worked as a lgd in the past home. I don’t want her outside when I’m not home because she’ll run off in the case her collar isn’t working.

What do yall think?

Here’s a photo of my corgi: Artemis checking out the chickies !!

I'd say 5 if they are good size hens. Maybe a couple more if they're a small breed. I have a 8x12 covered elevated open air aviary for my 3 hens and just made a screened lanai on the ground run that's 4x8 feet. They are happy with plenty of room.

 

[Red Star 2019]

At most 20- 25 birds.

Take the square feet of the chicken coop and divide by 4 sq. feet. 5.5 x 5.5 =30.25 divided by 4 = approx 8 chickens. If they are too crowded you will have them fighting each other. Also, for 8 chickens have 2 nests. It figures for 4 chickens to a nest.

 

[Mrs. K]

Almost all problems with chicken behavior comes from not enough space. And the rule of thumb comes from that. However, there are some quirks.

• Some birds, (not necessarily breeds, although breeds can influence this) can take crowding in stride, and some are highly intolorant of that.
• being raised together has almost no influence on future behavior
• what seems like more than enough space when they are tiny, rapidly becomes not enough space when they are grown
• free ranging for an hour or two, absolutely will not make up for too small of space the rest of the time.

The really sure thing, is to be able to adjust your flock so that the remaining birds live peacefully and healthily together. It is a quick fix, where as for most of us, building takes money and time. It is a slow fix.

With birds, the number needs to fit the space you have NOW. If you want more birds than that - build first, and then add in more birds. Keeping too many birds in too small of space with the idea that they will wait for you to build later is a recipe for miserable and unhappy birds.

Mrs KK

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Almost all problems with chicken behavior comes from not enough space. And the rule of thumb comes from that. However, there are some quirks.

• Some birds, (not necessarily breeds, although breeds can influence this) can take crowding in stride, and some are highly intolorant of that.
• being raised together has almost no influence on future behavior
• what seems like more than enough space when they are tiny, rapidly becomes not enough space when they are grown
• free ranging for an hour or two, absolutely will not make up for too small of space the rest of the time.

The really sure thing, is to be able to adjust your flock so that the remaining birds live peacefully and healthily together. It is a quick fix, where as for most of us, building takes money and time. It is a slow fix.

With birds, the number needs to fit the space you have NOW. If you want more birds than that - build first, and then add in more birds. Keeping too many birds in too small of space with the idea that they will wait for you to build later is a recipe for miserable and unhappy birds.

Mrs KK

I appreciate that you took the time to write this long and informative message. You don't need to sweat it, in the end, we're going to do what we want.

We will do everything in our power to keep OUR birds from becoming "miserable".

I was just about to come on here and mention that we have decided to rehome some of them, not just the ones we are growing out for a family friend.

I want to gently remind you that CAPITALIZING words and choosing to type your words condescendingly is not cute. It is obvious that I have already received countless tips in a RESPECTFUL way, and in all fairness, your input was both repetitive and unnecessary.

BYC is supposed to be both fun and informative. It is not a space to exercise keyboard warrior behavior.

Have a great Easter. I hope you get the opportunity to de-stress. You need it.

 

[aart]

I want to gently remind you that CAPITALIZING words and choosing to type your words condescendingly is not cute. It is obvious that I have already received countless tips in a RESPECTFUL way, and in all fairness, your input was both repetitive and unnecessary.

BYC is supposed to be both fun and informative. It is not a space to exercise keyboard warrior behavior.

I don't see any capitalization, nor condescending, in Mrs K's post.
So who the "keyboard warrior"?