Be honest, what would YOU do? Vote.

[Cluckcluck1215]

6=Best
7-8=Good
9=Eh
10=No

 

[Living_Legend]

For the people that voted six or seven chickens if I did add an extension to the Run making the Run larger but did nothing to the coop would that change any of your minds or in your opinion both would have to be expanded which is really not an option on the coop

 

[Alaskan]

If one was to giveaway chickens at what age would be best? Meaning hey it seems like they're all going to make it and are healthy but I don't have room for all of them.

Grown and half grown pullets always sell well.

 

[bobbi-j]

For the people that voted six or seven chickens if I did add an extension to the Run making the Run larger but did nothing to the coop would that change any of your minds or in your opinion both would have to be expanded which is really not an option on the coop

I didn't vote, but you need to think about this - in the winter (You're in Maryland, correct?) your chickens will likely be spending a lot of time in the coop because they don't want to go out in the snow and cold. They will be bores, and possibly crowded. Winter tends to be when things go bad for behaviors. Ventilation is another thing to consider when wintering your flock. You need ventilation in the coop to get the moist, humid air out. That can help prevent frostbite and respiratory problems. The more chickens in a smaller space, the more humidity issues you could face.

 

[Living_Legend]

Grown and half grown pullets always sell well.

What would suck is the give them away and put them in worse conditions then if they stayed but again it would be putting the rest of the chickens in a better condition

 

[bobbi-j]

Grown and half grown pullets always sell well.

Agreed. They will be easier to sell when sex is obvious. People looking for started or POL pullets may be interested.

 

[bobbi-j]

What would suck is the give them away and put them in worse conditions then if they stayed but again it would be putting the rest of the chickens in a better condition

A chance you take when rehoming chickens.

 

[BantyChooks]

maybe...but....

I see my chickens as livestock, not pets. I butcher them myself, eat tgem, rah, rah. BUT, I greatly prefer large square feet per bird because then it is SO MUCH LESS WORK!!!

If the birds are crowded and a nasty behavior starts it is VERY difficult to get the bad behavior to stop. Nightmare. I want less work and productive chickens and that is why I am such an advocate of more space. You can also go WAY longer between coop cleanings.

x many.

 

[Living_Legend]

I didn't vote, but you need to think about this - in the winter (You're in Maryland, correct?) your chickens will likely be spending a lot of time in the coop because they don't want to go out in the snow and cold. They will be bores, and possibly crowded. Winter tends to be when things go bad for behaviors. Ventilation is another thing to consider when wintering your flock. You need ventilation in the coop to get the moist, humid air out. That can help prevent frostbite and respiratory problems. The more chickens in a smaller space, the more humidity issues you could face.

I have good ventilation I also have power to the coop if I needed to add some radiant heat and I also purchased cold weather Hardy Birds. But you're right we do have winter in Maryland.... We don't have snow on the ground too much it happens but it goes away pretty quick

I would search this before next winter comes but since we're already talkin At what point do you cut access off to the Run for the chickens? A certain temperature?

 

[BantyChooks]

I have good ventilation I also have power to the coop if I needed to add some radiant heat and I also purchased cold weather Hardy Birds. But you're right we do have winter in Maryland.... We don't have snow on the ground too much it happens but it goes away pretty quick

I would search this before next winter comes but since we're already talkin At what point do you cut access off to the Run for the chickens? A certain temperature?

You could get away with keeping more birds, then. I almost never cut off access to the outdoors for my birds, even though they don't go outside anyway because of the metre of snow out there, lol. They all jump out and tromp around in the (small) shovelled area even in below zero F weather. Just that little change in scenery makes them much happier. I think.