How many chickens should I keep

[21hens-incharge]

The internal nesting boxes will only take up 4 feet of space … hmmm

That leaves you with 21 square feet. If you have feed or water or both inside even more usable floor space is needing subtracted

 

[BrahmasMama02]

That leaves you with 21 square feet. If you have feed or water or both inside even more usable floor space is needing subtracted

 

[BrahmasMama02]

That leaves you with 21 square feet. If you have feed or water or both inside even more usable floor space is needing subtracted

 

[21hens-incharge]

Good that you have that outside the coop. That saves space.

I still say the maximum is 5.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Good that you have that outside the coop. That saves space.

I still say the maximum is 5.

Okay, good to know .I won’t be getting anymore chickens haha. 4 square feet sounds like a lot per bird inside a coup tho … I mean you have to take in account that they will be more than likely be using the roosting bars to sleep too… I do understand the run being a measurement to watch out for, but the coop should hold the 13 comfortable if 5 birds can roost on each bar at minimum…I’ll have to reevaluate the number of birds that I have once they get full grown

 

[TaylorGlade]

The internal nesting boxes will only take up 4 feet of space … hmmm

If your nesting boxes are taking up part of that 25 SQ ft then, you don't have 25 SQ feet. I think 5-6 is maximum. Your birds don't have enough coop space with that small of a coop. I would honestly consider adding some coop space. We have 620 ft of run space and we have 2 coops. One is 80 SQ feet and houses 20 birds. Our other coop is large enough to house house 40 birds. So - since our coops will only house a total of 60, that's all we can have. You don't add the run space to that.

If you have 15 birds, you should have 60 SQ ft coop AND 150 SQ FT run.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

To find out how many chickens you'll actually cap out at go here: https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/chicken-math-calculator/
Take the quiz and you'll see what you'll wind up with.

It said 168 chickens and a lot of goats … hahaha

 

[21hens-incharge]

Okay, good to know .I won’t be getting anymore chickens haha. 4 square feet sounds like a lot per bird inside a coup tho … I mean you have to take in account that they will be more than likely be using the roosting bars to sleep too… I do understand the run being a measurement to watch out for, but the coop should hold the 13 comfortable if 5 birds can roost on each bar at minimum…I’ll have to reevaluate the number of birds that I have once they get full grown

Full grown birds have much different personalities than chicks or half grown birds.
The 4 square foot recommendation is a starting point. Some birds can be quite cranky and require even more space.

 

[AinaWGSD]

The generally accepted recommended MINIMUM space allotment for chickens is 4sq ft/bird in the coop and 10sq ft/bird in the run. But that's minimum, the smallest amount recommended, and if you have room for more its better for the birds if you can give them that extra space.

The run is big enough for 9 birds, but that coop maxes out at 5. You might be able to squeeze a 6th bird in there but it's really pushing it. I would cap it at 5 unless you can expand the coop without cutting into the run space.

So what I’m hearing is I should stick with the 13.

That may be what you're hearing, but what people are saying is that you should par it down to 5.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

If your nesting boxes are taking up part of that 25 SQ ft then, you don't have 25 SQ feet. I think 5-6 is maximum. Your birds don't have enough coop space with that small of a coop. I would honestly consider adding some coop space. We have 620 ft of run space and we have 2 coops. One is 80 SQ feet and houses 20 birds. Our other coop is large enough to house house 40 birds. So - since our coops will only house a total of 60, that's all we can have. You don't add the run space to that.

If you have 15 birds, you should have 60 SQ ft coop AND 150 SQ FT run.

I don’t think it’s “small” it’s actually one of the larger coups I have seen but I see what you’re saying. I wasn’t expecting 5 birds to be the answer I was thinking more like 13. I know several people who’d gawk over the size of this coup. It’s not one of those dog crate sized coups you’d buy at tractor supply after all.

I’ll see what we can do run-wise, even if that means letting them free range all the time. I don’t want them to not get enough exercise so I guess back to the drawing board I am attatched to these little suckers now so they ain’t going anywhere