How many Hens can I have?

[OlpA]

I have a coop thats 4x10 inside and a outside run thats 14x6. How many rhode island red hens can I have in that space?

 

[wynedot55]

you can have 10 to 12 hens depending on how much they stay in the hen yard.

 

[Saltiena]

i dissagree, if all hens need at least 4 square ft then the inside is 40sqft=10 hens and the out side is 84sqft=21hens, now i know they won't always be in the run, but i think you could have around 20, if the run is always open to them then 25

 

[Llysse]

Actually, the recommended outdoor run space per chicken is 10 to 12 square feet, with 4 square square feet of indoor coop space recommended... so if you kept 10 or so hens, you'd probably have the fewest problems with parasites, aggression, cannibalism and so forth.

10 Rhode Island Reds will give you LOTS of eggs... YUM! 50-60 or more a week when they really start laying!

 

[Saltiena]

Oh ya?!?! i forgot ythat the outdoor space was much larger than indoor, sorry about the false info :*

 

[OlpA]

Thank you for your answers. How much inside room would I need to have 20 hens? A friend of mine bought 20 rhode island red hen chicks and does not want them now. So he is giving me them for free. I can enlarge the space inside of my coop. I have a 10x14 shed I use for storage. I was planing on letting them just have 4x10 of the space inside, but it sounds like I need more room than that. Would 7x10 be large enough for them. I am just trying to advoid using up all my storage space. Also would 5 gallon buckets on their sides make an okay nesting box. I should have posted all of this right the first time sorry. Thanks again.

 

[Llysse]

8 x 10 would probably be ideal for their indoor needs, and each 4 or 5 hens can share a nest box. You can use buckets laid on their sides, but if they're just laid on the floor of the coop, the chickens tend to tread and poop in them, getting them dirty--thus making your eggs poopy. You're better off if you can figure a way to slightly raise the nesting area off the ground, and keep it dark (like black buckets rather than white). You might consider making a simple shelf and then using plastic storage tubs on top. Whatever you use, make sure it has adequate ventilation, and won't roll!

The buckets you could fix so they wouldn't roll, I'm sure.

Another tip is to make sure the hens have about 10 inches of roosting space each; the roosts should be higher than the nests, too, to keep the birds from roosting in the nests and getting the eggs dirty, or even breaking them. Roosts can be about 2 feet high.

Lucky you--20 Rhode Island Reds!