[jacob and Georgina]

i am currently in the design stage of making a much bigger hen house due to my love of chickens and the want to expand our flock, we would like to have a house big enough for between 50-60 hens and i was wandering what size house would suit. i have read lots of different figures and will be interested to hear what people who have this amount of chickens think. I will be making the house myself as i am a carpenter/joiner so can make it whatever size necessary.

Look forward to hearing what you people think! thanks

[Daveravey]

You'd be looking at 8' x 8' minimum for 50 hens.

I'm sure the rule of thumb is 1 sq ft per bird floor space, plus a bit more for good measure.

You'll also need a few roosting bars @ 9-10" per bird.

Nestboxes are minimum 12" sq, 8 birds per nestbox to prevent queing, not that layers can read the rules, cos most of the time they all lay in one nest   

[jacob and Georgina]

lol sounds about right, that is interesting to hear, the house a currently have is 8 X 6 and i only have 6 hens! so perhaps i dont need to make the next one much bigger! thanks for advice 

[Castle Farm]

1ft per bird is fine if your a commercial poultry farmer and the health and wellbeing of your birds is governed by how much profit you can make on your flock.

If you add more to your existing 6 there will be problems.

The balance is enough birds in the shed to allow enough exchange of fresh air and carbon dioxide to keep the healthy.

Can you imagine what the air quality would be like in an 8x6 shed with 50-60 birds in it

[jacob and Georgina]

that was my thoughts, i will not be adding the 6 i have to the new hens as i am aware that problems will be caused. So castle farm if am am not a commercial Farmer which i do not aspire to be how much space would you say per chicken? and how big should the shed be for this number of hens? i was thinking of something fairly big i.e. 16 feet X 16 feet is this plenty big enough?? According to my calculations that would allow 5 foot square of floor space per hen for 50 hens!!

[doganjo]

Why do you want so many hens all at once?

I have a 6 x 4 shed for mine and had only 10 in there - now only 6 for various reason but will add to them in time.  And why not introduce the 6 you have at present?

[jacob and Georgina]

well we will soon be moving to a country house with a lot more land, and as well as other things we would like to keep a fairly large number or hens. we will not reach 50  for a while as we want to slowly increase the size of our flock with a variety of different breeds however i thought if i made it big enough for 50 there is plenty of room for more hens if i wish and no shortage of space. This is because we would love to sell all of our produce from our small holding in a small shop and therefore want to ensure we have a good supply of eggs. we already have 6 hens but have heard that when introduced to other hens bullying can be a problem? Also we would like some to have free range hens but 50 free range hens may ruin the place so we were thinking the 6 we have could be free range as they are almost 3 years old now anyway and no doubt their egg laying days are soon to be over.

[doganjo]

You can't keep 50 hens in a coop all day long surely?  I take it they will have an outside run although perhaps not fully free range?  I have a run 12 feet by 36 feet for my six but they get out to browse round the front half acre most afternoons, once the dogs have had a run around.  You can introduce others to your original 6 by putting them in the coop at night.  Hens don't have good night vision nor long memories so by morning they will all think they have always been together.  There is bound to be some sorting out of the pecking order though, but not usually anything serious.  There are numerous books on hen keeping and Rosemary does courses so I am sure she will give you any advice you need.

[Castle Farm]

Hi Jacob.

If your intending to sell eggs as part of a small business you really need to think it through clearly.

Set up cost of house and equipment.(drinkers/feeders/egg boxes ect).
Cost of birds.
Loses.

Against profit on eggs and your in competion with all local suppliers and any super market.

You need an edge and about the only one you will find is dark brown eggs which sell for more, BUT dark brown egg layer lay fewer eggs than other colours, so they cost more to produce.

From 50 hens (if you ever get that many), you may get 30-35 eggs a day...X 7 = 210 plus eggs a week to sell and unless you have a market your going to be drowning in eggs.

Be careful before you spend alot on a project that may lose you money.

best of luck though.

[jacob and Georgina]

hens will have a very large outside area several acres to roam hopefully. In terms of making a profitable business i am under no illusion that i will be making my millions from selling eggs however so many people we speak to wish we had more eggs to give them and i am fairly confident we could shift 20-30 a day but as i said we would not go for that many straight away so we would increase the size of our flock untill our supply could meet the demand. (however much that is) as long as i could sell enough to cover the basic costs of feed, worming etc then i will be happy. I will be going on several courses in the near future to make sure i know enough and i have been reading lots of books.

Thanks to all of you for your advice i have found it really useful!!!

[Castle Farm]

Are you intending to hatch your own replacements or buy in POL?

Forget worming put them all on Cider Vinegar.

If possible mow your grass short (lawn like), as the new growing tips provide up to 30% vegetable protein.

We sell our eating eggs at £2.50 per dozen and that is cheaper than out local Co-op and ours are free-range from 'rare breeds'.

Brown eggs will sell fastest and for more money.

A mixed box of Brown/buff/white/blue sells easily.

Marketing..Get a lable printed by Ascott and put it on your box...Mine reads..

Fresh Eggs From Rare breeds.

My web site has a bit about most things on it.

[jacob and Georgina]

that sounds very good, with regards to hatching or buying i think for now i will be buying pol as i know i can get them fairly cheap locally however hatching will definately be something i would like to try in the future. That is really good advice about the grass cutting not heard it before but will definately try that, will have to make sure not to run the hens over though!!  i would also like to have rare breed hens aswell as some hybrid for a mixture will check tht website out about the labels and see what they have to offer thanks for all ur advice.