chicken confinement question

[marvun22]

my oldest chickens have been free ranging since august. my smaller ones have been free ranging since october. i am going to help one of my grandparents move into assisted living this weekend. and he lives very far away. i would have to leave them in the coop because i have coons and foxes and maybe more. would they be ok in the coop. i have 17 chickens. 8 seven month old buff orpington hens. 1 five and a half month old golden laced wyandotte hen. 1 five and a half month old black australorp. 3 four month old rhode island red hens. 2 four month old new hampshire hens. 1 five month old buff orpington hen. 1 silver ameraucana that is im not sure how old he is but i know he's more than one year old. i have plenty of roosting space. the coop is 16' by 16'. it might turn out to be good because maybe they'd start to use the two $35 nesting boxes

 

[McGobs]

You will be fine...provided they don't run out of food or water. You got plenty of space for the number of birds you have to be comfortable locked up inside.

They say chickens should have 4 sq/ft per bird in the coop. 16x16 = 256 sq/ft. Divide that by 4 and you got room for 60+ birds. And the smaller ones probably don't even need that much space just yet.

 

[centrarchid]

All depends on how well the coop is constructed and whether the predators actually attempt to break in. Reinforce what what you can and ensure birds roost well away from sides of enclosure.

 

[marvun22]

thanks i wasn't sure about how much space a chicken needed but i'll be sure to have enough food and water