How many hens in 430 square feet?

[SkyBlueJar]

We have a fenced area 24' x 18' for a chicken run. Our chosen breed is lightweight: 5 - 5 1/2 lbs per hen. How many birds would you recommend keeping in this square footage?

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

Is that the run and coop? Will they get to free range outside of the run?

 

[dickhorstman]

Minimum of 2 sq.ft per bird. The more room the better. I like 5-6 sq ft per bird not counting the run.

 

[SkyBlueJar]

It's 430 sf of total space. We have an open-air setup with a roof and one wall; no henhouse in the conventional sense. It's something I read about in Harvey Ussery's book and works well in our mild climate. I'm undecided about whether it's safe for them to free-range. For now, let's just assume they'll be living in the fenced area full time. Thanks!

 

[aart]

Are you going to provide roost space under a roof?
They need 10-12 inches of roost per bird...that might give you a number of birds.

Minimum run space of 10 sq ft per bird is usually recommended here...but more is always better.

What does Harvey recommend?

 

[SkyBlueJar]

Yes there's plenty of roost space under cover.

I see that the common recommendation on BYC is "4sf per bird in the coop plus 10sf in the run". So at 14sf per bird, this space will accomodate up to 30 birds. Which is great, because I've 12 in there now, and was thinking about adding a few. Thanks, everyone!

 

[aart]

Well and it depends on the site, climate, manure management...best way to know is watch them and see how it goes, adjust when necessary.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

That sounds like a good plan!