What's a safe number...?

[DLCShark]

What's a good number of birds to put in a 10x 10 area. The hen house is raised so they have the entire space. I've got 3 in there now and three more set to go in once they mature. I don't want to crowd them but I also want to maximize space.

 

[Judy]

Is that their whole space, with a small coop inside the 10x10 area? I probably wouldn't put more than 6 or 7 large fowl.

 

[DLCShark]

That's what I figured. Thanks.

 

[number1newbie]

It really depends on the birds aggressiveness. Chickens do well in small places. So a maximum of eight would be pretty good as long as they are well behaved of course once you introduce the new ones there will be some fight for the first week or so but that's normal. As long as they get along it should be fine.

 

[donrae]

It really depends on the birds aggressiveness. Chickens do well in small places. So a maximum of eight would be pretty good as long as they are well behaved of course once you introduce the new ones there will be some fight for the first week or so but that's normal. As long as they get along it should be fine.

I disagree. If chickens did well in small places, entire sections of this board would not exist. There would be way, way fewer posts about aggressive birds, sick birds, dealing with parasites, behavioral issues like feather picking, pecking each other, and bullying in general. More space is always better. I agree if that is all the space the OP has for the birds, stick with the 6 and have a healthy, happy flock vs trying to cram a few more birds in there and having management issues.

 

[number1newbie]

You have to take into consideration of how occupied the chickens are and how well they are taken care of such as vaccinations, cleanliness, ect...... That will reduce the chance of illness and feather plucking. Don't get me wrong the more space the better but some people don't have a whole lot of space be that does not mean that you can just have a few chickens. And I'm not saying that he should get more than six chickens I'm just saying that that if space does not allow he would be fine to get a couple extra. So in that sense the more you have in a single area there will be more Maintnance. A little more than if you had an abundance of space. Plus you have to take in consideration the agressiveness in that particular breed. Such as buff orpingtons or black australorps they would do well as those breeds are laid back. You just have to way the pros and cons. And just because you have a little more chickens than that space allows does not nessacairily mean that they shall be in happy. Again if they are occupied and can stretch there wings and flap and have many things to choose to eat and places to scratch they'll be perfectly fine. @donrae

 

[DLCShark]

Thanks everyone for the input. The current flock consists of 1 RIR 2 Black Sex Links. They are in the 10x10. I also have 3 White Leghorns waiting to be integrated into flock. That makes 6 total. I want to add 2 more but I may rethink that idea.