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- #11
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.The Usual Guidelines
For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:
20 hens
- 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.
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.
- 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.
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