Too small, too tight!!!

[CinnamonQueen12]

At the moment, we have 13 chickens and 2 coops. One coop is a 4x6 coop with one roosting bar. We added another one going perpendicular to the existing one and currently have 11 chickens squashed inside. The other coop is 3x4. We made it out of a dog house. This small coop holds our two misfits, if you will. One is a chicken that hatched deformed. She is smaller than the others, but there is no other problem with her but her leg. If she is not in a sepatate coop/pen, the other hens will kill her. The second hen is a very tiny bantam. The two coops are in the same pen but the doghouse coop is separated from the other chickens by foldable metal cage. Now, normaly, there isnt too much trouble with space, but we let the chickens out today, and when we came back, all 13 hens were squashed in the 4x6, with the bantam on the new roosting bar, squishing herself up against our RIR's butt and hiding her face in another chickens butt feathers while the RIR tried to bite her face. The deformed chick is unable to roost and was found hiding in a corner. Now I think it is time to face the facts: the coops are not working. I think we should either get a bigger coop or a shed. We got our coop from Benadicts in Monroe, Connecticut, I'm not sure who knows the place, but I don't know if they would buy the 4x6 back from us at a lower price. The only problem is that we build our pen around the coop. Can anyone help; we're desparate! And squished!

 

[FireTigeris]

pictures?

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

This is the inside of the coop. i don't have any pics of the outside of the coop and pen. Btw, in the magazines and online, it says that this coop can hold 12-15 chickens. Idk if this makes up for it, but the pen is pretty big. I will put pics of pen on tomorrow.

 

[3forfree]

can you combine the two coops? those birds have to real friendly or real small to be comfortable in that 4x6. maybe you can find some temporary housing for that runt and ease the crowding on the others.

 

[FireTigeris]

Chickens like to do that, I have a bunch that crowd into mine

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/album/view/id/6177963/user_id/44847

mine is smaller then yours 5*3*3 and they pack up in there in cold weather and stay out in the enclosed run in nice weather.

If I were you I'd combine the coops and try to integrate the other two birds or move them to a different housing arrangement altogether.

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

well, 11 chickens can fit kinda comfortably on the main rooststing bar, the one running straight across the length of the coop. And we're assuming that another 3 can fit on the bar that is under the window. Thing is, no chicken wants to sit there, for some reason. And they are only in the coop at night and for an hour or so in the morning. And if they were stressed from overcrouding, would we be getting eggs?

 

[FireTigeris]

Fewer eggs, and usually there would be behavior issues (feather picking, bullying, food guarding)

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

Well out of 12 laying hens we are getting 6, 7, or 8 eggs a day (we are still waiting on one chicken to finish her molting. There is some biting going on, but it usually happens right in front of us, outside in the pen, or out in the yard. No food guarding and no feather picking. Btw, FireTigeris, how many chickens do you have in your coop? And how would you suggest that we combine the two that we have?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A big pen does make up for a lot.
My birds are only inside to roost so the space can be a lot smaller.
One question though, where do you live?
I notice the roosts are round. That's fine if it doesn't get below freezing there. In very cold weather they need to be able to completely cover their toes at night.

 

[TERRY4]

We plan on building our own coop, and not having too many chickens. If we like it, we may get more, but are Blessed to be able to build if need be.