1st time chicken owner/coop builder...got a couple quick questions!

[smitrock5]

Hello everyone....I just bought a house with two acres and a medium sized pole barn. The people that lived there before me had some kind of farm animals in the barn but I don't know what they had. The barn is portioned out with different sized stalls. I'm going to use one of them to build my chiken coop. If someone could answer as many of these as possible myself and my 6 chicks would really appreciate it!! Here are my ?'s:
1. How much room "outside" do my chickens need to be able to run around in?
2. What all should I use on top of my barn's dirt floor?
3. How many nesting boxes should I have for 6 chickens?
4. Do chickens like flat surfaces to roost on or something they can wrap their feet around?
5. Do I need a "hen house" or will my stall with nesting boxes and roost perches be ok?
6. Do you recomend having a rooster? Why or why not.
7. Must chickens go outside "every day"?
8. My chicks live inside with me right now and just got their wing feathers. When do I know its time to take them to the coop?

Hey I really appreciate any help I can get. I wanna make these chickens happy and make sure they live somewhere they like.

 

[patandchickens]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Quote:
You would want at least 8-10 sq ft *per chicken* (that would be at least a 6x10ish area for your current six chickens), BUT more is very definitely better, and a *lot* more is a *lot* better

Most people find that the limiting factor is how much fencing etc you can afford to put up -- remember you need to not only keep chickens in but keep predators from climbing, busting or digging in to eat the chickens.

I would suggest browsing this forum, or peoples' coop design pages (link at top of page), to get an idea of the sort of ways people often do this.

2. What all should I use on top of my barn's dirt floor?

Shavings is probably the simplest and best bedding, although other options exist and some people prefer them if they happen to be able to get them cheap/free. Remember that the $5 bales of shavings you buy at the feedstore are compressed and will expand to 2-3x their volume - a little really does go a long way.

3. How many nesting boxes should I have for 6 chickens?

Two is fine

4. Do chickens like flat surfaces to roost on or something they can wrap their feet around?

They don't seem to much care if they can wrap their feet around, they don't really hold on strongly like true perching birds (sparrows, parrots, etc). But, they don't really care much either way. I would suggest either the wide side of a 2x4, or a debarked 4-6" diameter dead tree branch.

5. Do I need a "hen house" or will my stall with nesting boxes and roost perches be ok?

As long as you can seriously predatorproof it -- remembering that many predators can climb and/or dig -- it will be fine.

6. Do you recomend having a rooster? Why or why not.

Depends on what you want. If you want fertile eggs or possible chicks, obviously you need a roo

If you will be free-ranging them, a roo can sometimes be helpful to warn hens of danger or even sometimes fend off more-minor predators. Also roos are purty and entertaining to watch. OTOH some of them can be intractably aggressive, and it's a nonproductive mouth to feed. 'Sup to you

7. Must chickens go outside "every day"?

They really *ought* to. They are much happier, i.e. "less likely to peck bloody holes in each other and eat each other alive" (and yes, chickens DO do that sometimes), when they get out as much as possible and have as much room as possible. But of course pretty much all the chickens that are raised commercially, both layers and meat chickens, never see daylight in their lives, it is certainly *possible* to raise chickens that way. <shrug>. If you have to keep them in for a day, once in a while, it is not necessarily the end of the world. But I would not plan on doing it on a regular basis, personally.

8. My chicks live inside with me right now and just got their wing feathers. When do I know its time to take them to the coop?

Depends on how predatorproof (and ready

) your coop and run are; and what your weather is like. Usually people figure that once they are fairly fully feathered, like around 5-6 wks, they can go out to the coop although you may still want to run a lamp for them to warm up under if your nights are cold. Remember they are much more vulnerable to predators such as rats at that age, though.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[Ridgerunner]

1. How much room "outside" do my chickens need to be able to run around in?

At least 10 square feet per chicken. More is better.

2. What all should I use on top of my barn's dirt floor?

I use pine shavings

3. How many nesting boxes should I have for 6 chickens?

Two is plenty

4. Do chickens like flat surfaces to roost on or something they can wrap their feet around?

Use something at least as wide as the narrow side of a 2x4, which is 1-1/2". Round the sharp corners off. Some people like laying a 2x4 flat, on the theory that in really cold weather the chickens will sit on their feet and keep them cold, but mind do fine with temperatures in the single digits outside with smaller roosts.

5. Do I need a "hen house" or will my stall with nesting boxes and roost perches be ok?

I strongly recommend having a place to safely lock them up at night when the predators are at their worst and you are asleep.

6. Do you recomend having a rooster? Why or why not.

The only real reason you need a rooster if if you want fertile eggs. There are several threads on here about why or why not to have a rooster, but other than the fertility issue, it is pure personal choice.

7. Must chickens go outside "every day"?

No, but they do better with the space and fresh air. They do get some vitamins from sunlight. It relieves their boredomn which can lead to serious problems. Our chickens going outside is a big difference between us and the commercial operations.

8. My chicks live inside with me right now and just got their wing feathers. When do I know its time to take them to the coop?

That depends on your weather, your breeds, and the coop. I can lock mine in fairly warm weather (June) in the coop with no heat at 4 weeks. I've done that. My coop is very draft free, I had enough they could huddle to keep warm, and the floor was covered with pine shavings, which insulate them well. In colder climates or more drafty conditions, you might need to wait until 8 weeks. There is no one right answer for everyone. I will mention that young chicks are in more danger from certain predators (rats, snakes, some small weasels for example) than larger chickens.

Good luck!

 

[sune42]

Looks like you got good answers to your questions so I will just say