Bad start with chickens; now what?

[lunahills]

We moved into our house a year ago and it came with a nice prefab coop, about 3x5 feet. The attached enclosure is about 30 sq ft total which includes the space under the coop. We didn’t get any chickens last year because things were crazy, but this past April we ended up taking two 6 month olds from my aunt and uncle - a Buff Orpington hen and a Welsummer cockerel.

Being brand new to chicken ownership and knowing nothing about chickens, the rooster was too much. Also we knew that having just one hen for him was a bad scenario. We gave him away to a good home this past week, and our hen actually seemed happy for a couple days alone in the pen.

This past Saturday we brought home another buff hen around her age, along with an 8 week old barred rock and a black maran. The guy we bought them from had all his chickens together in one massive enclosure, from 6 weeks all the way up to full grown hens and roos. Because of this and his advice that they’d all “figure it out” my husband was okay with putting them directly in our pen with our current hen.

Having read the forums here, we’ve done everything wrong so far as chicken owners. And our once sweet and gentle buff has turned into a nasty bully. I know about the pecking order but she and the other buff are preventing our younger ones from leaving the coop. I’ve provided food and water both inside and out, and in a way I think the young ones are at least safe inside away from the older hens. But I did read that 8 weeks is generally too young to put them with bigger hens. On the contrary, I then read that taking them out and reintroducing them later would only cause them more bullying when I bring them back.

I have no idea what my best course of action is now. I wish I could go back in time and not bring home the hen and roo, opting to get all chicks at one time. The balance and pecking order has been off ever since. Can anyone offer some advice on how to help the two young ones feel saver and keep the two older ones from bullying them?

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Let me make sure I understand what you're dealing with,

You have a 3x5 COOP and a 30 square foot RUN with 4 hens, right? If I counted everything right you probably have 2 issues going on.

First, you didn't do a slow integration. Don't feel guilty -- you didn't know any better. Your first chickens are aggressive because strangers have invaded their home.

Second, your space is too small -- especially because integration takes more than the minimums found in the Usual Guidelines.

Speaking of the Usual Guidelines, in case you haven't run across them yet,

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

4 square feet in the coop,​

10 square feet in the run,​

1 linear foot of roost,​

1/4 of a nest box,​

And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.​

That would be:

16 square feet in the coop.​

4 feet of roost​

40 square feet in the run.​

4 square feet of ventilation.​

2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice​

​

If you show us photos of your setup we can help you figure out how to clear this up and make your chicken keeping a happier experience going forward.

 

[K0k0shka]

I'm sorry this is happening to you. Reading up beforehand and being prepared is always the best way to go. It's good that you're asking here now. See what people have to say, but also read up on introductions, space, and all the basics, so you are better informed before you make your next decision.

The #1 problem right now is that your space is too small for the number of birds you have. That coop and run are only good for no more than 3 chickens, on a good day when they get along. Chickens that don't get along (yet) need even more space to get away from each other. So you have 4 warring chickens in a space big enough for 3. The best course of action from here on out is to either find a way to expand the space quickly to something more adequate (by building extensions or attaching another coop+run of this size so the older ones and the younger ones can segregate if necessary); or, if that's not possible, then rehome either the two older chickens, or the two younger ones (since it sounds like the two older ones are okay with each other, and likewise for the two younger ones, as far as I understand). Good luck!

 

[lunahills]

Thanks for the advice so far. I had a hunch the space was not adequate, and we were planning to build a larger run but I can’t seem to convince my husband that it’s urgent. I’m attaching some pictures of our current setup for reference.

Our plan was to get two older buffs to go with the one we had, but when we went to pick them up the seller said he’d made a mistake and only seemed to have one older buff. That’s how we ended up with two younger ones, as I didn’t want to bring home just one young hen to be with the two older ones.

So to clarify, we have:
Our original 7 month old buff
A new 8 month old buff
New 2 month old barred rock
New 2 month old maran

I did just order two 4x4 foot pens that I was hoping to move around the yard while I’m outside, like tractors so that they could have grass and be separated if necessary. Free ranging isn't possible, since we have two dogs and lots of wild animals around. As of now, I’m ready to give all of the chickens away I’m so stressed out.

 

[K0k0shka]

Looks like you have a lot of open space all around the coop and plenty of room to expand (not always the case - for example I'm in the 'burbs and there are things all around my coop and run in the yard, with no empty space left to expand into at all).

Pens will certainly help the outdoor situation, but you still have the coop to deal with, and that will still be too small. Lots of drama goes down in the coop when they're getting ready to sleep and figuring out who sleeps where. So even if you get it to a point where they are okay outside, when bedtime comes around there will be fresh opportunities for bullying.

If you are that stressed out, and unable to expand the coop ASAP (in addition to the pens), then give them all away, give yourself time to build something larger, read some more about chicken-keeping, and when you are in a better spot, start over with day-olds, or other chicks that are the same age (the younger, the better). Set yourself up for success. Chickens are a long-term investment, and it pays off to start out right.

 

[ReelFaster]

Could be me or just the picture but that coop looks like it should work for 4 hens. You've got 15sf, 3-4sf per bird, 12-16 sf needed.

I agree the run looks small for all of them. I am sorry this happening as well

 

[ReelFaster]

Looks like you have a lot of open space all around the coop and plenty of room to expand (not always the case - for example I'm in the 'burbs and there are things all around my coop and run in the yard, with no empty space left to expand into at all).

Agreed, I think you can easily expand that run out a bit with minimal effort and materials.

 

[lunahills]

I am surprised to hear the coop is too small, as it has two roosting bars (each probably 5 feet long) and 6 laying boxes. If I’m not mistaken this size coop is marketed as being suitable for a much larger flock. The run I do agree is quite small.

 

[K0k0shka]

I am surprised to hear the coop is too small, as it has two roosting bars (each probably 5 feet long) and 6 laying boxes. If I’m not mistaken this size coop is marketed as being suitable for a much larger flock. The run I do agree is quite small.

Don't listen to sellers or trust what the box of a prefab coop says. They are trying to sell a product, and often don't know much about chickens and their needs. The capacity of a coop isn't measured by the size of the roost or the number of nesting boxes. Doesn't matter how many boxes you stuff in there, your chickens are still probably going to use only 1, max 2. This comes up over and over. Folks with 12 chickens and only 1 or 2 boxes ever get used. A coop's capacity is measured by floor space, and it needs to provide 4 unobstructed square feet per bird - that is, the space taken up by the nesting boxes and other infrastructure isn't counted. This coop is too tight for 4 birds, and it's especially tight for birds that are actively fighting.

 

[ReelFaster]

Don't listen to sellers or trust what the box of a prefab coop says. They are trying to sell a product, and often don't know much about chickens and their needs. The capacity of a coop isn't measured by the size of the roost or the number of nesting boxes. Doesn't matter how many boxes you stuff in there, your chickens are still probably going to use only 1, max 2. This comes up over and over. Folks with 12 chickens and only 1 or 2 boxes ever get used. A coop's capacity is measured by floor space, and it needs to provide 4 unobstructed square feet per bird - that is, the space taken up by the nesting boxes and other infrastructure isn't counted. This coop is too tight for 4 birds, and it's especially tight for birds that are actively fighting.

I agree 100% don't listen to sellers and makers of coops as they very often exaggerate how many chickens they can actually hold.

I disagree with you on this particular sized coop (not the run). I am going by what my eyes tell me and doing the math on the size coop provided.

I think we can all agree on the run size needs increasing that's a great place to start.