chicken math - help

[ittibittirainbow11]

I hate to commandeer your thread but I'm having a similar problem. I cant figure out how many hens I can have in the coop I have brewed up.... I have it posted under My coop/hoop house/tractor thingie idea - I would put a link but can't figure out how

. I fear it may be too small. I don't know how many ladies I could fit without over crowding. So far I haven't gotten many responses. (I do thank the two people who have responded)

 

[rgmcgi]

Quote:
I agree. Your run is large enough for the 10 birds, but the coop is maxed on right now with 6. Maybe 7 would be fine, but I don't think you want to run the risks related to overcrowding your hen house with any more than that. The idea the chickens can resort to cannibalism is enough said

 

[buddymc]

So it seems everyone agrees that there really is no need for me to divide my run space in half and rotate the girls, since grass or whatever vegetation will be eaten / destroyed within a matter of days if not minutes!

I think I'll just have the entire area as their run (18 by 12 = 216 sq. ft.) so they will have plenty of room. Maybe I can build a "chicken salad bar" to give them some growing greens at all times.

I also am going to increase my coop size from 5 by 6 to atleast 4 by 8 to have more coop space and maybe larger.

Thanks for all the input so far!

 

[dkvart1]

Buddy, this has been an informative post all in all.

I too was comptemplating a divided run. I'm planning on 10-12 chickens at the moment and a 10x12 coop w/a 6x5 storage area and part of it partitioned so during the cold months I can open that area and allow them more room (but close it off during the warmer months so there's less I need to clean, giving them 54 sq ft in summer/90 sq ft in winter).

I plan on 3 separate runs each totalling about 150 sq. ft and I do plan to rotate them daily in the hopes of keeping things from turning into a dust bowl/ mud pit. Not sure how it will work, but I'm willing to give it a try. And even if it doesn't work for keeping the area green at least they'll have someplace different to investigate each day! Since I don't plan to let them free range I'd like to give them as much room and variety as possible.

Good luck w/ you're flock!!

 

[buddymc]

dkvart1 -

I may still try the divided run, but maybe use a dividing wall that is really cheap and temporary. That way if the girls do turn the yard into a barren area of dirt, then I can just remove the temp wall pretty easily and no harm done.

I could use the wood for something else.... maybe the salad bar.

I'm with you.. since my girls may be enclosed most of the time I want them to have plenty of space.

Of course I'm still hoping my one dog that looks at the chicks like the are his next meal might eventually get use to them when they are bigger, but I'm not betting on it, so am planning ahead!

Good luck and let me know what you end up with / build.