20x30 run sufficient?

[MiniBarnFarmMaine]

Hi! I’m in the process of building the barn and adding onto it a chicken run. Chickens are a new addition and will have 22 chicks coming soon.
Do you think a run that’s 20ftx30ft = 600 square feet will be enough? I can possibly add on in the coming years too, but to start ... 600 square feet seems to be enough, thoughts?
Sheep pasture is also half an acre that the chickens, once grown, will be allowed to roam every so often with supervision.

 

[Hannahnic14]

Hi! I’m in the process of building the barn and adding onto it a chicken run. Chickens are a new addition and will have 22 chicks coming soon.
Do you think a run that’s 20ftx30ft = 600 square feet will be enough? I can possibly add on in the coming years too, but to start ... 600 square feet seems to be enough, thoughts?
Sheep pasture is also half an acre that the chickens, once grown, will be allowed to roam every so often with supervision.

I think that's plenty! That's roughly 20-something square foot a bird. They'll live like little kings and queens

 

[black_cat]

That's MORE than enough room!! You've got room for loads of chickens and chicken math!

 

[MiniBarnFarmMaine]

That's MORE than enough room!! You've got room for loads of chickens and chicken math!

I was sure to get a couple breeds that are known to be broody so could end up with a hen wanting to hatch out chicks

 

[U_Stormcrow]

YES. and you will benefit from the "extra" space in better behavior of the flock, on average, overall, and available run space to partition off for integration, or segregation (breeding, injury, etc). Of course, you can't put your quarantine pen there, that you want far far away from the rest of the flock, but honestly, most don't have quarantine pens, or construct them as temporary structures at need.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes, that's double the recommended minimums so you should have happy chickens.

My run is vastly-oversized for the current flock and I LOVE having the flexibility that extra space provides.

 

[aart]

Sounds good to me.

Will it have a solid roof for winter?
How big is your coop?

 

[MiniBarnFarmMaine]

Sounds good to me.

Will it have a solid roof for winter?
How big is your coop?

They will have an 8x14 stall in the barn. No roof, I assume if I shovel an area for them they would still come out in the winter, my neighbors chickens would hang out in their plowed driveway lol

 

[black_cat]

They will have an 8x14 stall in the barn. No roof, I assume if I shovel an area for them they would still come out in the winter, my neighbors chickens would hang out in their plowed driveway lol

I would recommend roofing or netting at least part of it to make it easier for birds to get cover from ariel predators, and make sure that they have hiding spots. I'm assuming that this whole 20x30 isn't just an open field, and has bushes etc in it, but you should still add lots of clutter. You have the space and they will enjoy it. @aart always links a great article about clutter in the run but I can't find it for the life of me.

 

[aart]

@aart always links a great article about clutter in the run but I can't find it for the life of me.

It's a thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/