Build a bigger run or free range?

[mamaofmany]

Thanks ill see what we can put together. I think we still have a lot of that left from our ducks. Do you think I can put it around a crab apple tree?

 

[Chic Rustler]

Unless anybody has any suggestions for a cheaper way to build onto it but that thing was $400 so I'm not letting it go to complete waste and I'm not separating the chickens from each other. Counting again I actually only have 18 chickens I forgot that we lost two baby chicks when they were smaller due to Natural reasons /a type of muscular disease in chickens.

Just get some cheap sheet metal from homedepot and enclose the whole thing. Turn the run portion into coop. Put some 2x2s in for perches and call it good. You could throw up a fence around it or let them free range.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Idk if crab apples are bad for them or not. I would assume it would be fine

 

[Mrs. K]

What experienced people are trying to say, is you are headed to a train wreck, probably by fall, when everything is full grown if not before then. You can cheat with the numbers in the summer, the days are long and the nights are short. However, with the long nights of winter, ugly behaviors will develop.

If you can't make a bigger set up, then you should reduce your numbers. Point of lay birds can bring in some nice money, maybe 10-15 per head.

Those prefab houses really need to be addressed as they inform the buyer that nearly 4 times the number of birds will fit, that will actually fit and be healthy.

A simple used shed, often times are very reasonable if you keep an eye out. A bit of paint, and it can be spruced up. A flock of 18 full grown birds should be housed in a coop about 8 x 9, or 6 x 12. Anything smaller, and from the picture it looks (but I might be wrong) but it looks much smaller.

If you need to keep this set up, then you need to reduce the size of the flock. If you don't, more than likely they will be an upset fighting flock, with terrible pecking going on.

Beware of the idea that free ranging can let you cheat on the numbers, come the fall they are spending MOST of the hours in the day on the roost. They will be packed together and pecking each other un-mercilessly, even if they have been raised together and are free ranging.

Mrs K

 

[bobbi-j]

What experienced people are trying to say, is you are headed to a train wreck, probably by fall, when everything is full grown if not before then. You can cheat with the numbers in the summer, the days are long and the nights are short. However, with the long nights of winter, ugly behaviors will develop.

If you can't make a bigger set up, then you should reduce your numbers. Point of lay birds can bring in some nice money, maybe 10-15 per head.

Those prefab houses really need to be addressed as they inform the buyer that nearly 4 times the number of birds will fit, that will actually fit and be healthy.

A simple used shed, often times are very reasonable if you keep an eye out. A bit of paint, and it can be spruced up. A flock of 18 full grown birds should be housed in a coop about 8 x 9, or 6 x 12. Anything smaller, and from the picture it looks (but I might be wrong) but it looks much smaller.

If you need to keep this set up, then you need to reduce the size of the flock. If you don't, more than likely they will be an upset fighting flock, with terrible pecking going on.

Beware of the idea that free ranging can let you cheat on the numbers, come the fall they are spending MOST of the hours in the day on the roost. They will be packed together and pecking each other un-mercilessly, even if they have been raised together and are free ranging.

Mrs K

This.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

This.

X 2!

 

[lazy gardener]

All new to this chicken thing but be honest with you that Coupe is sold rated for 18 chickens and there's no way for me to guess if that is true or not. Either way they will not be getting a new one or Coupe until roughly about 6 months from now because there is absolutely no way that I can afford to land another $700 down

Unless anybody has any suggestions for a cheaper way to build onto it but that thing was $400 so I'm not letting it go to complete waste and I'm not separating the chickens from each other. Counting again I actually only have 18 chickens I forgot that we lost two baby chicks when they were smaller due to Natural reasons /a type of muscular disease in chickens.

I can tell you that pre-fab coop manufacturers grossly misrepresent their products. I have yet to see a pre fab that did not misrepresent the number of chickens that could be comfortably housed in that coop. We are not giving you the 4 s.f. and 10 s.f. rule of thumb to be mean, but because this is the reality of it. You could easily close in the sides of the existing building, and then erect a covered run that would join up to it. You would then need to adjust your flock size to match your existing structure size. While folks can and do keep their birds under more crowded situations, the flock owners usually run into issues as the birds reach sexual maturity. Those problems include stress induced behaviors: feather picking, aggression, undue bullying including blood shed, starving out a weaker flock member, cannibalism. Stress also results in increased susceptibility to disease, internal and external parasites. A crowded coop and run are more difficult to keep clean.

 

[MeganBreslin]

There are a lot of pallet designs. I am not sure of your area but in mine a lot of local business give away pallets or large wooden shipping crates. You can always salvage and put something cheap together until you have solid idea of how much space your birds will need. Each flock can be different.

I also used a 300 dollar shed from lowes for 8 months one year until my coop was finished ( my grand idea turned into more work than expected.)

 

[mamaofmany]

The coop is Outside assembled dimensions are 105 in. x 84.6 in. x 77 in.

 

[lazy gardener]

If the 77" is the height, your coop structure, if you closed in the whole building and turned that into coop, would house 15 birds. Then, you could attach a run of 150 s.f.