A- Frame Stand in...Chicken numbers?

[Marko]

Hi so i've been mulling over this for a while now...I want to make a A-Frame cage that will be 12ft Long, 6ft wide and 7ft ish Tall...Now 4ft of that in length i will close off into the house and have 2 bars in length inside and nest boxes that hang to the outside for easy access and cleaning and all will be large enough for me to walk in and clean out the house. How many birds can i keep in such a cage? I want 3 different Roo's and hens to go with...I will be making 2 of these...Also will make additions later to make the run bigger. THis will all be they get to walk in unless i let them out on weekends when i'm around as we have a nasty hawk and eagle issue lol.

 

[Lollipop]

Probably 12-15 would be max, figuring 4 sf per bird. You should limit your roos to 2 and they should have been raised together to prevent war. If it was me, I would have 10-12 with one roo. this is the number for one pen.

 

[patandchickens]

12x6 is 72 square feet total. Personally I would not put more than 7 or so chickens in there. Remember that the two long edges of the floor area will not be as useable to them because of how the sides slope down at an angle.

Some people would try more chickens. However that increases your chances of running into serious pecking/cannibalism problems; it will also mean that you have to move the tractor more often (and even moving it daily you may *still* have significant mess made of the ground).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat