Consistent bullying issues

[Bluepheonix13255]

Ok then that makes perfect sense. I'll have to see what we can do moving forward.
A thousand thanks for the help!
I was stumped with how to address it- as making the coop isn't something I could do single handedly. I'm 22 and my family members are far more knowledgeable able home-owner level contruction.I'm sure we'll be able to do something for them in the coming months, even if they have to endure it for alittle while.
And that other thread will definitely help in figuring out how to go about fixing the issue, especially in the interim.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Did I count right that you have about 20 birds right now?

@3KillerBs is great with coop dimensions. They should be able to tell you for sure!

Thank you for the vote of confidence.

Here are 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 of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

For 20 birds you need:

• 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.

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean by "coop" and "henhouse". The normal definition of the terms is that the coop is the enclosed shelter where the roosts are and the run is the outdoor fenced area. Henhouse and coop are usually considered the same thing -- the enclosed section where the roosts are.

Your 40 square foot area is half the coop space you need for 20 birds.

Your 76 square foot area is about 1/3 of the run space you need for 20 birds.

This article explains why these numbers are guidelines rather than hard-and-fast rules, https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/ but given that you're having significant behavior problems there is a very good chance that the behavior is related to the over-crowding.

We're getting insulation but that's how it's been.
As for lighting those two heatlamps go all night.

If you said where, in general, you're located I missed it. Climate matters a great deal, especially when it comes to housing.

Here in the US Southeast, uninsulated metal roofing and siding are very common for animal housing and present no problems as long as there is abundant ventilation. The most common reason to insulate a metal roof is to prevent condensation from forming on underside of the roof in cold weather and dripping on the birds. It is completely unnecessary to insulate in order to keep a coop warm.

Speaking of warm,

Why are you running heat lamps for fully-feathered, 24-week-old pullets? Depending on various circumstances, the usual time to wean chickens completely off heat is between 4 and 8 weeks. Chickens tolerate cold much better than they tolerate heat because they have built-in down parkas.

A well-acclimated chicken doesn't even notice the cold until it gets down near 0F. Here's a useful article for you if you're in a cold-winter area: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

Looks like the run has very little shelter to help a low pecking order hen escape the notice of the bullies.

Clutter in the run is important. A chicken shows it's acceptance of another chicken's dominance by moving away from the dominant chicken and breaking line-of-sight. In a barren rectangle the subordinate bird can't break line of sight so the dominant bird interprets that as a challenge that calls for discipline.

This is what my former run looked like before I moved the chickens to the new coop:

There was nowhere in the run where I could stand and see the entire thing and I'm a lot taller than a chicken.

 

[Mrs. K]

Instead of pulling out the victim, pull out the bullies. Or get them pin-less peepers.

 

[Painted Calls]

They need much more space. That will likely resolve all issues.

 

[Bluepheonix13255]

Once more a thousand thanks for the advice.
First off yeah I had my terminology mixed up. I call the run a coop and the coop a henhouse.
I'ld like to also say that we're totally ignorant of basically everything. After googling and actually understanding what it was saying I realized we were way under- the 2-3 ft^2 per bird of coop was understood as the run measurement. On that note thanks for giving hard numbers- that will leave no room for my own ignorance to cause problems in that regard.
As for location I'm in Tennessee.
The reason I seek insulation was just because the temperature in the coop matched outside temperature- I have a mild form of asperger's- or at least am on the spectrum. Having the inside and outside temperature was just like a ÷0 error, but if it's fine then I'm glad.
And the heat lamps are because my uncle- who has a few- was told and told us that their combs, waddles, and feet were very vulnerable to frostbite.
I didn't even know that clutter had any particular importance before today- that's definitely something I'll change within the next few days. As for the rest it's a factor of the financials of it and getting enough time for my uncle or grandfather to help me expand.
I did not say these things to dispute anyone's words, just to be clear. I think that it's good to just explain where I went wrong- even if only for myself.
Once again thank you. Just having someone to tell me where we went wrong is a blessing.

 

[Painted Calls]

Once more a thousand thanks for the advice.
First off yeah I had my terminology mixed up. I call the run a coop and the coop a henhouse.
I'ld like to also say that we're totally ignorant of basically everything. After googling and actually understanding what it was saying I realized we were way under- the 2-3 ft^2 per bird of coop was understood as the run measurement. On that note thanks for giving hard numbers- that will leave no room for my own ignorance to cause problems in that regard.
As for location I'm in Tennessee.
The reason I seek insulation was just because the temperature in the coop matched outside temperature- I have a mild form of asperger's- or at least am on the spectrum. Having the inside and outside temperature was just like a ÷0 error, but if it's fine then I'm glad.
And the heat lamps are because my uncle- who has a few- was told and told us that their combs, waddles, and feet were very vulnerable to frostbite.
I didn't even know that clutter had any particular importance before today- that's definitely something I'll change within the next few days. As for the rest it's a factor of the financials of it and getting enough time for my uncle or grandfather to help me expand.
I did not say these things to dispute anyone's words, just to be clear. I think that it's good to just explain where I went wrong- even if only for myself.
Once again thank you. Just having someone to tell me where we went wrong is a blessing.

You've totally got this. Stick around here long enough, and you'll be a pro in no time!

 

[David61]

yea, to much eyeballing going on. You have to break up line of sight. { hiding} from the bully is simlpy standing behind a bucket. turning them out in a day run that is netted will give you move space and still have the security of the armored coop/run.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We all had to start somewhere. I still call my chicken's digs a hen house because my MIL, God rest her soul, corrected me when I called it a coop. A coop, she said, pronouncing it so it rhymed with "cook," is what you use to haul chickens in the back of your truck to somebody's house when you buy or sell them. Like a dog crate. Well that was news to me but I had to learn a whole new language when I moved here to Missouri so I just chalked it up to my ignorance and went to saying hen house instead.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Agreed that space is the main issue here, and to a lesser degree the fact that you're heating them - the red light is 1) a massive fire hazard 2) unnecessary in your mild temperatures 3) keeping the birds up at night and adding to their existing behavioral issues.

Chickens can easily survive below freezing temperatures. Frostbite is caused by a lack of ventilation and low temperatures, not just "cold."

As far as space you have room right now for 7 standard hens (that's using a minimum calculation of 10 sq ft per bird in run, which may not be enough). If it's not realistic to expand both coop and run this winter, you're better off rehoming all but 6 or 7 birds and then expanding the set up to above the minimum size suggestions for number of birds total you wish to keep, and regrowing the flock from that point. Otherwise you're looking at more feather picking, more cannibalizing, and other behavioral and health issues associated with crowding.

 

[aart]

I doubt you need to worry about frostbite.

I'm in Tennessee.

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