Chicken Math - How much space do I need for my chickens?

Having happy and relaxed chickens is critical for your egg production and health of your flock. We designed our original coop to be large enough for growth, but we grossly underestimated how our needs would grow. As all veteran backyard chicken keepers know, chicken math is a funny thing so I thought I would break it down for you.

Here are some numbers to get you started.

1. The average American uses about 5.5 eggs a week.

2. A family of four consumes around two dozen eggs a week (truth.)

3. An average hen lays 6 eggs a week (in summer.)

4. You need 5-6 chickens to get two dozen eggs a week during the long days of summer. 

5. You need 8-10 chickens to get the same during the short days of winter - and you need to provide them with at least 12 hours of light to keep them laying.

6. Chickens lay 20% less eggs every year as they get older.

7. Broody, stressed or sick chickens won’t lay as many eggs.

8. If you have chickens it is expected for you to have a surplus for giving to friends and family, so plan for another dozen a week (+2 chickens)

So - all that math considered, the average backyard chicken keeper should have at least 10 - wait, no 12, I mean 20 chickens at all times!!

Now here is some more math:

• You need 8 square feet of run space, and 4 square feet of coop space per standard breed chicken. Double that for large chickens.

• You need one nesting box for every four chickens. 

Some Calculations here:

10 Standard Breed Chickens

• 3-5 dozen eggs a week

• 3 nesting boxes

• 40 square feet of room in the coop

• 80 square feet of run if they are not free range

20 Chickens

• 6-10 dozen eggs a week

• 5 nesting boxes

• 80 square feet of coop space

• 160 square feet of run

30 Chickens

• 18-30 dozen eggs a week

• 8 nesting boxes

• 120 square feet of coop space (two coops is better for peace)

• 240 square feet of run (separation options are best to avoid squabbles)

Now remember that all of these numbers will completely change if you have any disease, if you lose any chickens, if some of your chickens are older or based on the time of year and their stress level! Chicken math… it is completely bonkers.

Based on this math, by September I will have 27 laying hens, 7 of which are 2 years old, 10 are 1 year old and 10 that are just starting to lay. How many eggs will I get, and how much coop and run space do I need?

Welcome back to elementary school math.