I've kept various breeding groups in "chicken tractors" 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, 3 feet tall. Egg fertility seemed fine. I know Buff Orpingtons were in one, and Light Brahmas were in another. (I think they were hatchery-quality birds, thus smaller than what breeders select for, but it's been enough years I cannot now be sure.)
I typically kept 6 adult chickens in each such pen (6 hens, or 5 hens plus a rooster.) That made 4 square feet per chicken, and it was dragged onto fresh grass every day or so.
There was a roost across the short way near each end, about halfway up. Nestboxes were plastic bins with a lip, that sat between a roost and a support brace in the end of the pen.
The pens had tarp over the entire top, and a tarp wrapped around one half of the sides--one short side, half of each long side, so that end was sheltered. The design was basically copied from the book "Chicken Tractor," with a few minor modifications.
These pens were used in the summertime near Kenai, Alaska. Temperatures were have been above freezing, below about 80 degrees fahrenheit; no hurricanes or tornadoes, sometimes rain but no real downpours or heavy winds. No predators dug under (but since I do not know what predators were in the area, that's probably not very useful information
)
I do not think the daily moves were stressful for the birds. The pen just got dragged with a rope handle while they walked inside it. They seemed to like having fresh grass each day. Because the pen was only moved one pen-length, the chickens were not really in a "new" place, just a little ways over from where they were before.
I typically kept 6 adult chickens in each such pen (6 hens, or 5 hens plus a rooster.) That made 4 square feet per chicken, and it was dragged onto fresh grass every day or so.
There was a roost across the short way near each end, about halfway up. Nestboxes were plastic bins with a lip, that sat between a roost and a support brace in the end of the pen.
The pens had tarp over the entire top, and a tarp wrapped around one half of the sides--one short side, half of each long side, so that end was sheltered. The design was basically copied from the book "Chicken Tractor," with a few minor modifications.
These pens were used in the summertime near Kenai, Alaska. Temperatures were have been above freezing, below about 80 degrees fahrenheit; no hurricanes or tornadoes, sometimes rain but no real downpours or heavy winds. No predators dug under (but since I do not know what predators were in the area, that's probably not very useful information
)I do not think the daily moves were stressful for the birds. The pen just got dragged with a rope handle while they walked inside it. They seemed to like having fresh grass each day. Because the pen was only moved one pen-length, the chickens were not really in a "new" place, just a little ways over from where they were before.
