Bullying

[LaFleche]

I don’t take you as a spoil sport at all. I truly appreciate the criticism. If you were in my shoes, how would you remedy the issue of needing to leave. So you think it would be enough to keep the predators at bay if I would have my neighbor come over once a day to check feed and water and just be a “presence?”

As an easy provisonal measure I would install several strands of hot wire all around the run (low at 8 cm and another about 15-20 cm above the lowest, the third another 10-15 cm above the second) and another on top.
Plus having a neighbor checking on them at least twice a day spending some time there while doing so.

As you can't set up traps without being around to control them twice a day, the above mentioned measures will hopefully keep them safe until you come back.

 

[whittleah]

So in total there are 19 chickens in this chicken tractor.

Could you upload some pictures from the inside of your coop? How much roosting space does each bird have? I really wonder how they all fit in there without sitting on top of each other.

I think that even without the 4 newcomers you recently added they were crowded in there.

Red Stars, Black Stars, RIR all are high performance hybrids/breeds that tend to be quite aggressive, even more so in tight quarters.

I’ll upload pictures of the inside as soon as I get a chance. I was also worried about space, especially when I agreed to rescue these most recent four. I know they aren’t completely grown yet, but I’ve been amazed at how much empty space they leave on the roosts at night. They all like to huddle together on one side and leave lots of empty space. Some of them are nearly sitting on top of each other, but they choose to do so.

 

[3KillerBs]

Would you still consider it much to small if the chickens are mostly free range? On a normal basis, they spend a larger portion of the day ranging than they do in the tractor.

That can change the equation, depending on exactly how much "a larger portion" means.

But since you do have social problems you have to consider the effect of the crowding as a possible cause.

 

[LaFleche]

Also, the mesh we used for the floor of the coop is thick gauge welded wire with 1x1 holes with all attachment points reinforced. I don’t see how anything could get through that, even if something were to get into the run. There’s a chance that a raccoon could stick his hand through the wire, but I don’t think it’s possible that he could stick his arm in far enough to reach anything since the roosts are above that.

Please, try to not see me as some kind of spoilsport or similar. I am just trying to make you aware of the possible dangers to your flock while they will be left alone during your absence.

For how long will you be gone?

If it will be just for one or two days, you might get lucky and nothing will happen, but with each additional day and night of absence the chances increase that some predator might get in.

Raccoons and foxes for example, tend to observe closely learning your daily routine and when they notice your absence, they start.

 

[whittleah]

Another thing to keep in mind: your tractor is not safe.

Predators can easily dig underneath, get in and have a feast. A closer look at picture 2 and 3 reveals that they do not even have to dig to get in.

The upper coop part is actually very secure. At night the ramp closes and locks. We had an experienced chicken keeper look at the coop when we built it and he confirmed that it is very secure when locked.

 

[whittleah]

Another thing to keep in mind: your tractor is not safe.

Predators can easily dig underneath, get in and have a feast. A closer look at picture 2 and 3 reveals that they do not even have to dig to get in.

Also, the mesh we used for the floor of the coop is thick gauge welded wire with 1x1 holes with all attachment points reinforced. I don’t see how anything could get through that, even if something were to get into the run. There’s a chance that a raccoon could stick his hand through the wire, but I don’t think it’s possible that he could stick his arm in far enough to reach anything since the roosts are above that.

 

[whittleah]

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

20 hens

• 80 square feet in the coop. 8'x10' is the most practical because 7'x12' or 6'x14' require a lot of weird cuts.
• 20 feet of roost
• 200 square feet in the run. 10'x20', 12'x16' or 8'x25' as suits the land available.
• 20 square feet of ventilation.
• 5 nest boxes.

So, with 19 birds in a total of 180 square feet you're pretty crowded -- since you'd need more than that in the run alone plus the the space required in the coop.

Crowding doesn't *inevitably* cause bullying and social problems, but it is very frequently a contributing factor.

Additionally, since you have an A-frame design a certain amount of the space at the walls -- the space too short for a chicken to stand upright -- is unusable for them.

Moving a tractor takes care of the sanitation issues associated with crowding but it also makes it difficult if not impossible to improve the quality of the space by adding "clutter" to the run so the birds can have plenty of hiding space where they can break line of sight with the bullies.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/21588571

Would you still consider it much to small if the chickens are mostly free range? On a normal basis, they spend a larger portion of the day ranging than they do in the tractor.