How many chickens half acre

[WindingRoad]

How many chickens can comfortably fit on a half acre of land

A lot.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My smart aleck comment aside... What do you use to fence in half an acre? Math says that's about 500-600 feet of fence. What is an economical way to do that? My economical is probably different from someone else's, so, say $250-$500? I don't think this is in my future, but I can dream...

Electric fencing. Your fence charger is likely $100-150 (depending on the predators you are keeping out - less if you can use AC power and have smaller predators). 1/4 mile of wire is either $30 or $45 depending on gauge. You will want 5 wires or 6. so another $100-150. Insulators aren't cheap, buy in bulk. Then either cut your own poles, use metal poles ($4-5 each), or pray for useful trees and have your fence line less than straight. Plus a length of high voltage wire for you hot lead and ground ($41) and a bunch of ground rods (I used 10' lengths of 1/2" rebar instead of the much more expensive 8' galvanized rods, and ended up using more of them - and still saved money). Don't use household wire - its copper (can't mix with aluminum or galvanized steel or electrolysis occurs, not good) - and its not insulated for these kinds of voltages.


Or you can use the same metal poles, unroll 330' lengths of 4' tall woven wire @ $275 ea, then tie hardware cloth (or chicken wire if you have no small predators) to the inside to keep your littles in. That's probably more like a $700 job.

Fencing is one of those things that gets cheaper per enclosed sq foot as the size increases.

 

[NatJ]

How many chickens can comfortably fit on a half acre of land

Several people have already answered about how many can have enough room to move around.

But chicken manure is another consideration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarding
Wikipedia quotes the book "Poultry Breeding and Management" by James Dryden (published 1916), which says 100 hens per acre (= 50 per half acre) is probably sustainable, if the nighttime droppings are collected and taken somwhere else. So maybe half that, 25 per half acre, if none of the manure is taken anywhere else.

Chickens are prone to killing all the plants in their pen, but having only 25 per half-acre would probably help with that too.

So anywhere from 25 in half an acre (measured by how much manure) to 2178 per half acre (10 square feet each, as Sally PB said), up to an almost unlimited number if you put them in cages, and stack the cages in buildings all over that half acre.

 

[Sally PB]

Thank you, U_Stormcrow! This puts it in perspective and the realm of possible possibility.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

six

Make sure to subtract the room taken up by feeders! More like 4!!!

 

[svh]

@Sally PB

OK, on 2 separate occasions, I traded guns parts and ammo, to a local farmer for 500 feet of 5' horse fence. Fence value was approx. 750 to 800 $. Parts and ammo cost me around 450 $

What a country !

On top of that, I was given over 150' of used 5' chain link fence, and with the dimensions of my barn added in as part of the enclosure perimeter, 110' total, I came up with + - 760 feet for the perimeter.

Now, I don't know how many problems I have, because math is one of them, but I believe that is at least in the ball park of 1/2 acre.

On top of the fence cost, I purchased 40 6' T-Posts for around 150 $, and scrounged up another dozen or so from around the community, in exchange for future eggs.

Also, with concrete for a half dozen or so posts, baling wire, fence stakes, misc. screws and washers, and the 100 $ I paid the neighbor kid to help me erect the fence, I have a total cost of + - 700 $

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and I'm currently housing 30 birds in a 80 sq ft raised hen house 3' above a 110 sq ft protected "run" - i have ducks, they don't go upstairs - which is inside a 1,000 sq ft woven wire run. They free range an acre and a half, with access to another roughly 3+ acres which is still in a natural state. I've just finished electric fencing an area around 2100 ft around the perimeter, but its irregular in shape and real hard to guess at the true size internally. Roughly 600 x 400?

I have a fence charger rated at 30 miles (A/C powered, $90 on special), have used 1 1/4 mile of 12.5 gauge wire ($190 on special), and a bit under 1 mile of 14 gauge wire ($80, some on special). Close to 50 corner insulators (as i said, its not straight, and I have room for four gates) $60 and at least 100 other insulators (screw in or nail on) $70 attached to various trees along the route. Call it $500...

For the number of birds I have, its excessive, but I'll be flexing the flock size soon (butchering some young adult drakes and adding some hatchlings, ducks this month, chickens next) as well as bringing three goats into the area (which is why I woven wired the run).

 

[cmom]

I would suggest figuring out how many eggs you want to how many birds to get and build you coop to accommodate the amount of birds you want plus some room for future expansion in the event you decide you want more birds. Also if you should decide to free range, your birds will eventually be discovered by predators. You may go for several years with no incidents but eventually most who free range will loose a bird. If you build a run/pen, make sure it and you coop is secure against predators. Everything likes chickens. Also the birds will eventually destroy the grass. Plan ahead. Good luck and have fun...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^^ as @cmom said, figure out what your needs are, plan a flock size around that, add 20% (chicken math) because at times you will need to have extra babies, or to separate out a behavior problem, or...

and keep in mind that there will be seasonal trends, breed differences, birds will eventually go into molt, get sick, or whatever. If you have 10,000 birds under artificial lights, the statistics will give you a nice predictable daily yield. If you have a smaller flock, you will have really high days, and really low.

I have 3 laying age duck hens, 3 laying age Golden Comets, 7 Laying age Hoover Hatchery Rainbows, 2 laying age CornishX (don't ask, long story), and 6 just hitting laying age Dark Brahma. In theory, I could see as many as 21 eggs in a day. In practice (before the 6 DB hit *potential* laying age), I've received as many as 9 in a day, and as few as 4. 6 is the current typical - the ducks are very irregular, the Comets are almost clockwork 2 per day, the Cornish are almost 50/50, and the Rainbows are just confused. Come Spring, I'm going to have to sell eggs, because I don't think I'll be able to give them to neighbors fast enough.

 

[cmom]

I have a few hundred birds and I do sell my eggs. This is an average day of collection. Now I also have some white egg layers.