how many chickens will fit?

[summerb76]

We have made a coop that is 8x8(of floor space) it has 8 perches, 10 nesting boxes. We can add more perches if we need to. The coop is conected to a 10x10 run. My question is how many chickens can it house? We have 27 4 days old chicks now and have a few people that want some. How many should we keep? Also we have 2 acres where they will be able to free range for 1-2 hours a day.

 

[redoak]

Your coop can comfortably hold 16 standard size chickens, at 4 sqft per bird.

 

[tvtaber]

MINIMUM guidelines are 4 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet in the run. A few hours out is good but the remaining hours in such a small run will lead quickly to boredom and related issues. I wouldn't put more than ten hens in that space, and you may find that is tight after awhile. Can you make the run larger?

Also, if the hens are inside for months in winter you'll need at least 4 square feet of open floor space per bird, since the nest boxes and food take up some space. That needs to be figured in as well.