How many chickens

[Mrsfoote]

So my husband and I have almost completed our first coop its 6x6 with a run on the bottom....How many chickens can I have standard and bantam and what is chicken math.... I know I'm a newbie

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

chicken math XD is people hat keep ADDING CHICKENS!!!! measure your coop plus run..... i would suggest 4-5 square ft per chicken

 

[NonnasBabies]

Adding your dimensions of your coop you'll have 36 sq ft. Depending on your weather conditions and if in the winter you will leave them lock up for any extended period of time I believe the the reccommended rate is 5 sq ft per bird.

Chicken math is adding your chickens up. If you have 55 chickens you'd add 5+5=10. So you always have lots of room to get more!!

Good Luck with starting out!!

Missi

 

[teach1rusl]

I pay no attention to chicken math - it's one of those new fangled math methods that will do nothing but get you into trouble...lol

So if I'm reading you right, your run area is 36 sq. ft. and your housing is 36 sq. ft as well?? Most folk have about 2X as much run space as coop space, which makes this equation a little more tricky. IMO, if you free range for several hours a day in your yard/property, then you could have up to 9 LF chickens. Of course less chickens means more space per bird, which is always preferred (at least by chickens...lol). Space-wise, you can figure 2 little bantams for each 1 LF. Now, if they are totally contained within the coop/run, then I would not keep more than 4 LF birds in your set-up, as you want at least close to 10 sq. ft. of run space for each standard chicken. I use the 4 sq. ft. of housing per bird as a minimum. Once again, more space is always better.

 

[gryeyes]

The previous poster explained the space requirements quite well. So I will address the chicken math issue.

You start with 4 chicks, and one "fails to thrive" so you only have 3 chicks. Well, that's sad, must go replace it. At the feed store, you realize you cannot buy just ONE chick - that would be so awful for that chick on the way home. So you have to get two. And if you're getting two, and you had four in the beginning but now are down to three, you KNOW you can get four because you already did that the first time. So you come home with four.

Now you have seven chicks. But really, one doesn't count because it's just replacing the one you lost. So you REALLY only have six chicks.

That's how chicken math STARTS. Like all mathematics, there is more than just simple addition. There is subtraction, multiplication, and algebraic calculations. Bantam breeds only count for half a chicken because you can have two bantams for every large fowl chicken. Chickens somebody gives you don't count - you didn't buy them, right?

And so on, and so forth.

It's how I started with the intention of having 4, maybe 6, no more than 8 chickens...... and you can read the result in my signature paragraph.

....plus I bought an incubator and just yesterday hatched six little chicks from 7 olive egger eggs I won in a BYC auction.... one drowned in the incubator water reservoir, so of course I'm gonna have to get more eggs to hatch.... can't put just ONE egg in an incubator and expect it to hatch, right? Need more, to ensure enough hatch....

 

[aduplantis]

I totally understand !! I'm a newbie and I currently have 11 chickens. But I have more coming in. And on Sept 13th I have 24+ Silkie eggs coming in. Plus my incubator is full with Quail & Pheasant eggs. I'm HOOKED on hatching !!