2 Roosters, 5 hens, 7 pullets

[aart]

Added that last night I believe, thanks though!

Might have forgotten to hit 'save'?

 

[3SiameseCats]

Might have forgotten to hit 'save'?

Probably. Let me try again

 

[jpalmatier83]

Yeah I could see bumping it out a few feet on the left side. Although if I don’t need to worry about confining them in winter I shouldn’t need to add anything on, at least before next summer, giving me time to save up some money for pt wood. We already got plenty of extra hardware cloth. 4 feet out on the left equals 80 total square feet of run, would that be good? Hardware cloth is 4ft wide.

I’ll look into that, although I like keeping stuff uniform. Although it’s a chicken coop, you can’t expect fancy.

Assuming your measurements of “4 feet out on the left equals 80 total square fee of run” are accurate, my math says 64 sq ft of coop, plus 80 sq ft of run, equals 144 sq ft total combined area. 14 birds means 10.28 sq ft per bird.

I’m from northern Michigan. Some of my thoughts. Some times it’s easier to free range birds in the winter. They may not get as much food from it, but they’re way less inclined to roam way away from home. I snowblow and shovel paths for mine. They like going out under pine trees and other cover. So, if you can give them the coop and expanded run the majority of the time, and add “curated free range space” for a bit during the winter that may be enough.

Also in north MI, in the last 8 years I’ve not had a storm that lasted long enough to keep me from at least opening the doors and giving them the option of coming out. 4.57 sq ft inside the coop is not feasible, add the run to up it to 10.28 and you’re getting much closer. Maybe throw a top and one wall on the side of prevailing wind. And give them frequent (if not constant) access to range. I think that’d be fine.

This is all assuming that you either reduce the flock to one (well behaved) roo or make very sure the two get along.

 

[rosemarythyme]

4 feet out on the left equals 80 total square feet of run, would that be good? Hardware cloth is 4ft wide.

I’ll look into that, although I like keeping stuff uniform. Although it’s a chicken coop, you can’t expect fancy.

I'd aim closer to 150 sq ft for the run if possible (especially with the roosters) but I don't know how much room you have to work with there. I see what appears to be a garden bed on one side and fencing on the other.

And yes chicken coops are function over fancy in most cases. The chickens don't care what it looks like, they're going to poop all over it and maybe eat some of the paint to spite you.

 

[MrsNorthie]

In a potential predicament here. Also hope this is there right place to post this as I’m new here. But as the title says, I have 2 roos and 5 hens. They all grew up together, and have been together since almost the beginning (4 were bought a week after the roos and the hen hatched). They are roughly all 3m old.

I’ve been warned by many that this isn’t enough hens to satisfy both roos. So today, I went and bought 7 more pullets since we got plenty of space. Problem is, as you probably know, is that they aren’t going to mature fast enough. So the question is, what are my options? I have plenty of space to separate a roo into a temporary bachelor pad, but I don’t have the resources to build anything major. Plus, this is just going to be for at most a few months.

Also, when can I intergrate the chicks in with the others? And is there any chance the hens might see the chicks as their own and look after them? The meat hen (who we have no plans to use for meat) is the most mature hen, who we call Mumma hen because she’s acted like a mother in a sense to the others when they were younger, so it wouldn’t be surprising to me currently if she did the same with these chicks. But I know it’s highly likely I’m wrong.

@Shadrach is my "go-to" for all things rooster/cockerel, as I got tired of always reading cull them. Edited to add this link, which I meant to provided, not just name drop. This article really helped me in handling the boys. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

I am still relatively new to this but, we are getting close to having to integrate new chicks with an existing tribe. After quarantining, I started taking them out to the nursery run for a few hours per day, so that they can get to know our 4 month-old hens (9) and roosters (3). they have checked each other out through the wire and there does not seem to be any signs of aggression from the boys, and a couple of the broody hens seemed absolutely enchanted by them.

We are planning on them making the full time move outside this weekend and integrating them fully as soon as possible so they can get settled into their tribes and really start learning to do chicken things. I know that I will never buy hatchery chickens again, not because these aren't healthy or because of any bad experience, they are all thriving and learning to be more natural chickens, but more so because of this issue of integrating strange chicks into the existing group, it is a bit stressful. From this point on, if we have chicks, they will be hatched with their family. Please let us know how it goes and share any tricks that you pick up through the process.

 

[Mrs. K]

On integrating chicks, using a safety zone for chicks has worked well for me. The trick is to open the zone so that the chicks can venture out on their terms, and retreat out of the reach of bigger birds. I usually leave a gap at the bottom of the fence.

 

[MrsNorthie]

People have strong opinions on this site regarding Roos and flock management.

You said you started with 7 birds and are able/willing to add 7 more? Sounds to me like you’re well set up for one happy roo with 12 hens.

I have 9 hens and 3 cockerels, (and 26 chicks, that should all be female, to balance out the numbers. Yes, it was a panic move to make sure that we could keep the cockerels.) The 3 boys seem to have worked out their relationship. One is the dominant, another is his right hand boy, and the third is the perimeter security and they all get along.

 

[jpalmatier83]

I have 9 hens and 3 cockerels, (and 26 chicks, that should all be female, to balance out the numbers. Yes, it was a panic move to make sure that we could keep the cockerels.) The 3 boys seem to have worked out their relationship. One is the dominant, another is his right hand boy, and the third is the perimeter security and they all get along.

So, 35 hens/pullets to 3 cockerels/Roos. ~ a 12:1 ratio. As long as everyone acts right and they’ve got space to get away from each other, sounds like a plan.

 

[3SiameseCats]

I'd aim closer to 150 sq ft for the run if possible (especially with the roosters) but I don't know how much room you have to work with there. I see what appears to be a garden bed on one side and fencing on the other.

And yes chicken coops are function over fancy in most cases. The chickens don't care what it looks like, they're going to poop all over it and maybe eat some of the paint to spite you.

Would 141sf work? I did the math for adding a back section that’s a little longer than the back of the coop, and it came out to that.

 

[3SiameseCats]

I have 9 hens and 3 cockerels, (and 26 chicks, that should all be female, to balance out the numbers. Yes, it was a panic move to make sure that we could keep the cockerels.) The 3 boys seem to have worked out their relationship. One is the dominant, another is his right hand boy, and the third is the perimeter security and they all get along.

If you get a male chick, chances are it’s probably intersex. If that does happen, keep me updated because I’m curious about how an intersex chicken would behave.