That is just cruel. What the heck. Maybe you could get away with making the run smaller (though imo no) or the coop smaller if the run was huge (again, not recommended) because I know some people free range but it doesn't sound like your coop or run is big enough at all and in your case it's just cruel. That is big enough for 3, 4 at most. I wouldn't even put 8 in there let alone 25. Amd you said it yourself that 100 sq ft of run space is fine (it isn't) yet you keep them in a 15 sq ft coop???? Make the coop the size of your run or bigger and you'd be far better off. Unless you free range every day, your birds are probably sickly or poorly behaved.
However, that said, even the largest coop and run in the world is useless if there is nothing to do. IMO, providing nothing to do but eat, drink, ****, sleep, and lay your eggs, is just as cruel as not enough space. Theoretically my run is big enough but they sometimes squabble with nothing to do. Yet when I occupy them, they are fine. Can be as simple as some shovel fulls of dirt/sod to scratch through or a handful of treats. Or more complicated like cat toys or cucumber tether ball or veggies to rip up. In the new run I am also doing a deep litter floor. That should keep them occupied with the bugs and stuff. I sometimes free range but can't every day and recently had a hawk scare. But IMO they need something to DO too rather than just pace the cage. I mean, how would you like it if you were locked in your house 24/7, even if it was a mansion, and all you could do was eat and sleep and pace around. You weren't allowed any books or a phone, TV, Internet access or anything. You had some friends but nothing to do. Boring right? Now imagine you're also now confined to one room if you're one of the people who provide way too small a space. Now us humans, we could maybe entertain ourselves since we can talk amongst ourselves and even create our own music and stories to entertain but chickens are rather simple creatures and can't really do that so I guess a better analogy is imagine you are all alone in that house or that room. How crazy you would go. Chickens need to be able to do something. Maybe some would argue they don't need cat toys and **** and fine, they don't, but I bet those same people let their birds free range or toss them in scraps. Chickens need to be able to BE CHICKENS imo. It's why battery cages are so cruel, locked in a cage in a dark warehouse all their lives. A huge run is useless if it's all barren muddy dirt or lets say tile for example. Though a big run IS needed
However, that said, even the largest coop and run in the world is useless if there is nothing to do. IMO, providing nothing to do but eat, drink, ****, sleep, and lay your eggs, is just as cruel as not enough space. Theoretically my run is big enough but they sometimes squabble with nothing to do. Yet when I occupy them, they are fine. Can be as simple as some shovel fulls of dirt/sod to scratch through or a handful of treats. Or more complicated like cat toys or cucumber tether ball or veggies to rip up. In the new run I am also doing a deep litter floor. That should keep them occupied with the bugs and stuff. I sometimes free range but can't every day and recently had a hawk scare. But IMO they need something to DO too rather than just pace the cage. I mean, how would you like it if you were locked in your house 24/7, even if it was a mansion, and all you could do was eat and sleep and pace around. You weren't allowed any books or a phone, TV, Internet access or anything. You had some friends but nothing to do. Boring right? Now imagine you're also now confined to one room if you're one of the people who provide way too small a space. Now us humans, we could maybe entertain ourselves since we can talk amongst ourselves and even create our own music and stories to entertain but chickens are rather simple creatures and can't really do that so I guess a better analogy is imagine you are all alone in that house or that room. How crazy you would go. Chickens need to be able to do something. Maybe some would argue they don't need cat toys and **** and fine, they don't, but I bet those same people let their birds free range or toss them in scraps. Chickens need to be able to BE CHICKENS imo. It's why battery cages are so cruel, locked in a cage in a dark warehouse all their lives. A huge run is useless if it's all barren muddy dirt or lets say tile for example. Though a big run IS needed
