Hi from South Staffordshire England

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Adey65

Chirping
Jul 6, 2021
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I am getting my first chickens on Thursday. Hoping to get a Sussex ranger and a silver Sussex. I am only starting with 2 birds, to begin with. Although this is my first time looking after hens, I did once look after a cockerel for a couple of weeks, which I loved every minute of. I'm not sure whether the neighbors felt the same way. My coop has 4 perches and two triple nest boxes. It came with a run that is 1.4 meters long but I have purchased a 4x2 Meter walk-in run which I will receive tomorrow.

A couple of questions if that's okay. Firstly, what would the coop of that size comfortably hold. To be honest I wouldn't have any more than 4 hens anyway. Secondly, I will after the hens have settled be free-ranging them as my garden is completely safe to do so. Obviously, they will be in the run whenever I am out of the house. And finally, what should I do when I get them home on Thursday? I have seen so many conflicting views in terms of time scale for them to settle.

Should I put them straight into the hen house or would it be fine for them to go in the big run? Following on from that, when will it be safe to let them free range? I look forward to your responses.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC. I’d keep the birds in the coop (with food and water) for 2-3 days to begin with. Take a look at the link below on space requirements. These are some links that may be helpful:

Best wishes

Pork Pie
 
I agree with @Pork Pie; I would also keep them in the coop for a couple of days with food and water. It's what I do with my newbies when they move from a brooder to the great outdoors. That way, they get the idea that the coop is a safe home base where they can go when it's scary outside due to predators, weather, darkness or whatever else scares chickens.

My chickens are also only outside their coops/runs when I am home. Although every coop has a run, I don't completely trust that NOTHING could get in. I've lost birds to my own stupidity and would like for that never to happen again.

Math is almost a complete mystery to me, so I won't try to comment on the size of your set-up. If there are two triple nest boxes, far more than you will need, I would GUESS you have plenty of space.

Congrats on the impending arrival of your girls. Let us know when they arrive and post photos if you can. Welcome to BYC!
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
I strongly suggest you get three birds instead of just two. If something happens to one of the birds the other will be left all alone and that's never a good situation for a chicken to be in. You could comfortably fit four birds into your current setup.
When you get them home you can put them into the coop/run combo and just leave them in there for about a week to "home" to it.
After a week, let them out of the run about an hour before roost time to let them wander around a bit under your supervision. It's also helpful to teach them to return to the run with treats. You can pair that with a click from a clicker trainer so that they will know what that sound means. The only time they will ever get a treat is inside the run after they get the click.
 

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