How many do you think?

[S.L.Swope]

Ok so I've heard the math 4sqft. of coop and 10sqft. of run but......

How many chickens would you have in a 8' x 8' run and 4' x 4' coop?


I've started to buid today finally!

However I decided to build a reasonable and inexpensive sized coop for my first forray into chicken keeping. I have a smallish backyard and space already taken up by vegie plots so I didn't want it to take up too much of my sons play area. I will be letting them out to forage for a few hours each day as I'm a mostly stay at home mom. I was hoping for anywhere from 3-5 hens more than enough eggs for us and some to share with my neighbors as a bribe since they have all said they loved the idea and would stay hush hush to our HOA

till I get enough support to take the issue up to the board members.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

The coop would be great for 4 standard size birds. The run is big enough for 6, but 4 birds would be very happy for the extra space. IMO.

 

[DMRippy]

Coop according to those numbers would be 4 chickens and the run could hold 6.4 chickens...

I don't know what breed of chicken you are going to get but get your hopes up too high on eggs. I have been waiting 8 months for some chickens to START to lay. Out of 18 pullets/hens on slow days I get 2-3 eggs and on high production days.... 8-9

Granted 3 are molting but they are on their way out so I don't really include them but all the rest are young girls and should be laying everydayish .... NH, Rocks, EE, Production Reds basically I have high production birds and NO EGGS!!!! OK not many anyway. Good luck!

 

[S.L.Swope]

I was thinking of Orpingtons, red sexlinks and maybe marans. I know the coop and run numbers don't match but I like the even squareness however I did type wrong on the run numbers

What I meant was a 4' x 8' run. deffiantly standard size birds though.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

A 4 x 8 run is adequate for 3 chickens, but unless you are also free ranging them you will wish that you built it larger...even if you only get 3.

 

[KDK1]

S.L.Swope :

Ok so I've heard the math 4sqft. of coop and 10sqft. of run but......

How many chickens would you have in a 8' x 8' run and 4' x 4' coop?


I've started to buid today finally!

However I decided to build a reasonable and inexpensive sized coop for my first forray into chicken keeping. I have a smallish backyard and space already taken up by vegie plots so I didn't want it to take up too much of my sons play area. I will be letting them out to forage for a few hours each day as I'm a mostly stay at home mom. I was hoping for anywhere from 3-5 hens more than enough eggs for us and some to share with my neighbors as a bribe since they have all said they loved the idea and would stay hush hush to our HOA

till I get enough support to take the issue up to the board members.

Seeing how you're in San Antonio where you'll never have any harsh winters, you'll be fine with 5 birds. They will be able to get into the run year round. Our biggest thing here is the summer heat. Just make sure you incorperate plenty of ventilation. Maybe even two or three walls of hardware cloth. You might cover the run in case you ever get any rain... looks like you might be getting some tonight!​

 

[KDK1]

Yay Chicks! :

A 4 x 8 run is adequate for 3 chickens, but unless you are also free ranging them you will wish that you built it larger...even if you only get 3.

?????????? She stated the run would be 8X8 and the coop is 4X4...
Oops... never mind

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
?????????? She stated the run would be 8X8 and the coop is 4X4...

Yes. Then she changed the dimensions in a later post.

 

[oneofseven]

If you can, build the coop on 3-4 foot stilts. This would give you a bunch more run space.

 

[S.L.Swope]

Yay Chicks -Ok so I started framing run but I guese I could add a few extra feet to it since I was hoping for three to five happy hens.

KDK1 I posted a retraction on run size as I missed typed and editing would have made other replies read strangely with different numbers