bantams?

[baitlobber]

gday all, am in the process of building my first tractor.the run frame is an old swing set that ive cut down,its 2.85m long,1m wide at its base and 0.85m at centre height of the A frame.coop area will be 1.25m long x 1m wide and will be mounted above the run. am not sure about height of the coop,just wondering if anyone can tell me the average height of a bantam hen or how high the coop area should be?with a flat or pitched roof? they will be able to free range so how many bantams will a tractor of this size comfortably keep? can anyone tell this will be the first time ive kept chickens thanks

 

[chisNchickens]

Hi. I'm sure someone here can give you a better idea but my bantam roo is around ten inches standing tall...maybe this post will help get more answers.

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

my hen is about a foot tall... But dont make the coop smaller in height for the bantams, circulation is needed.

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

Bantams are usually housed the same as standards, only you can keep more in the same space.

The books say 2 square feet apiece. If your run is roughly 30 square feet, that would translate into 15 bantams. If you included the square footage of the coop, it would be closer to 20.

Personally, coop included, I would keep 12-14. But you are the best one to tell that (if they are crowded they will pick and fight more) - I would say somewhere in between 12-20 would be a good number.

As far as height goes, I have one coop which partially overhangs the run and is probably 18 inches or a little less. Some of the taller roosters have to duck a little, but as long as they have a section of run that is not covered they will be fine.

Inside the coop I would keep two feet high my minimum height, but you could go up to four. After that it gets a little big to move.

Good luck on your first tractor, they are almost as much an art to build as chickens are to raise - Don't despair if there is a flaw with your first one - I have built a half dozen or so and am only just now starting to figure out what kind of portable pen works best for me, and how to build one that move somewhat easily and contains the chickens. You just gotta keep building and amending as needed. Hope this all helps, MW

Oh, right and

 

[baitlobber]

thanks heaps... as for coop building being an art,im finding that out.seems the design is changing as i go,as i finsish one part,i think to myself i'll have to change the next step to make it work..

 

[Animalian]

Another reason not to skimp on the height too much, if they get freaked out by something and jump up. They can smash their beaks and scalp themselves if the roof is too low.

 

[thaiturkey]

Any update on the banties and coops?

I can't work out what the young ones I got a couple of weeks ago prefer. We have a big coop with perches. Plenty of space of the four of them. Some nights they head for that and perch inside. Other nights, they make their way to the top of an adjacent tree.

My friend who gave them to me has quite a few banties and they all roost in trees. He has no coop. I wonder whether I should just close up the coop and forget it.

 

[thaiturkey]

These little dears are so easy to care for after having turkeys and cooped laying chickens.

The chap starts his crowing from the top of a big cherry tree at about 3.00am. By the time I get up to check on them, all four are feeding themselves on what they can find. Later, after the heat of the day eases off, they look for the old cooked rice that my wife has thrown down for them and wander off again. At 6.15pm they head back to the top of the tree.

We have to do nothing for them other than throw down some discarded rice and I'm sure that they would be happy without that. Once the girls start to lay, I shall have to hunt for eggs but that doesn't seem to much to do given the easy time they give us now.