How many chickens would you keep in this coop?

[Cowgirl71]

I have a coop that is 9' x 22' (198 sq. ft.), attached to a 20' x 22' run (440 sq. ft.). How many standard size chickens would you recommend keeping in this setup? Thanks!

 

[NoseyChickens]

45-50. The coop is plenty big for 50. But the run is a little small. 10sq feet of run space per bird is best. But if you let them free range too they should be good.

 

[DPC poultry]

50-60 birds

 

[chickendude]

I would say 40 birds max. The run is a little small. And as for the coop 40 birds is just under 5 sq feet per bird. If you go with 28 birds the sq feet per bird would be a much more desirable 7. My opinion is the more sq feet the happier and healthier the birds will be.

 

[Mahonri]

40-45... If they are all large fowl 40.

 

[teach1rusl]

What kind of winters do you guys get?? If you get a decent amount of snow/ice, I'd go with less birds...maybe 25 birds. But if you're asking how many you could fit without chaos (feather picking, etc.), then I'd say around 40 if they're a milder breed of bird. That's based on your run size, not free ranging. You would need LOTS of roosting space...

 

[Cargo]

I would imagine that you do not get too much snow in that part of MO. They will probably not spend much time in the coop except to sleep and lay. So your really limiting factor is the run size.
I would only go 40 maximum. Less would be better for happy chickens.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm currently keeping 60 chickens in it, and was wondering if I could put another 12 in it. I guess not...

No, we don't get much snow. When we do, it usually melts within 48 hours. In the four winters we've been here, the most snow we got was 8." It was actually a combination of snow and ice pellets, and it lasted two weeks. It was nasty, because it would start to melt during the day, and then refreeze overnight, making it REALLY slippery. My brothers would start their sleds up behind the garage and then sled down the hill, turn left to miss the pond and barbed wire fence, then turn right to miss the trees, and then go down the driveway to the creek. It was an extremely fast 1/4 mile ride! It was really slippery, and we had an old cow who went into heat, and the bull hopped on her and made her do the splits, dislocating her hip so that she could barely walk. We had to sell her for dog food. She had a six week old heifer calf that became a bottle calf. Poor girls.