How many chickens?

[MD]

I REALLY want chickens, and was hoping to get 6. But I only have 500 sq feet I can let the chickens range on, so I was wondering if 6 is too many. I want them to be happy! Thanks!

 

[usschicago1]

500 SQ should be fine for any chicken, full size or bantam LOL. What you need to post is size of the coop.
-Mark

 

[FiveHens]

I believe that the general rule of thumb is 4 sq ft per chicken inside the coop, 10 sq ft in the run. That is for chickens with PLENTY of space. Bantams, naturally, need less space than standard.

 

[MD]

The coop is 3' x 4'

I am just worried that they will not have enough space to forage and stuff... but maybe its okay?

 

[MD]

well that is what i was planning on, but i can change that because i haven't built it yet. I was told that would be fine, though.

 

[llaaadyel]

That isn't big enough for 6 normal sized chickens.

 

[MD]

oh. how big should i make it? is 6x4 okay?

 

[llaaadyel]

That would be the right size for 6 chickens but then again you have to calculate in the chicken math. Once you have 6 you will want 8 and then decide to round it to 10 and so on....

 

[Celtic Chick]

Where are you located? Do you have long or severe winters? If you do, will you want to go outside & shovel out their run when it snows? Or will they be spending a lot of time in their coop in the winter?
Once you get chickens, you will soon find out just how addicting they are, so I would recommend building the largest coop that you can. But that's just me.

FiveHens was correct: you should have a minimum of 4 sq. feet of floor space per bird inside your coop.
My coop is 8' x 8' and I have 8 chickens. For now......

 

[WalkerH]

We'll end up having around twelve chickens, well until Sept. But our coop is 10x8, with a 20x15 run. In Sept. I will probably get a few more chickens, or just order some EE's which I really really want.