Consistent bullying issues

[3KillerBs]

Just having someone to tell me where we went wrong is a blessing.

We learn as we go.

Being willing to learn is the key thing.

Just for reassurance, I'm keeping chicks hatched in late September in an Open Air style coop here in central NC and we've seen our first frosts this week. The chicks have been entirely off-heat since they were 4 weeks old (and only had a 100w bulb after the first few days of brooding).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Ok so my measurements came out to 24x9 and 8x5 for 116 and 40, but the henhouse is in the coop so I subtracted, for
76ft^2 for the coop , and 40ft^2 for the henhouse.

We now have 6 Plymouth bluerocks, 8 black sussesxes, and 5 Easter eggers

6 + 8 + 5 =19.

24 x 9 = 216 square feet

216 / 19 chickens = just over 11 square feet per bird in your current space system

I don't think you really need to be this precise. The real question is do they have "enough" room. Whether it is enough or not is not a square feet measurement. It depends on the individual chickens' personalities, flock dynamics, how they are managed, climate or weather, and many other things.

As for restrictions. They come and go in the henhouse as they please- which is to say there is no difficulty.

Since they can come and go as they please you have a situation where those coop square feet numbers don't really mean anything as far as this problem. If they are inside and need more room, they just go outside. The coop and run together are your space system. Where the size of the coop is more important is when the chickens are locked in that coop only for extended periods of time when they are awake. Many of us lock them in the coop section only at night as protection against predators and may not let them out as soon as they wake up. Or weather, like snow, may keep them inside. You may run into problems with coop size this winter but right now with that door open I doubt the coop size is not contributing to the feather pecking issue. I did not see where you said when and where you are seeing the feather picking. That might be good information.

This is only about your current "coop" situation. That can change this winter. As far as your overall room, it is fairly tight. I wouldn't be surprised that the limited overall room is contributing to your feather picking problem. More overall room could help, clutter could help, or reducing the number of chickens could help.

I'm always in favor of providing as much room as reasonable. You can follow the link in my signature below to see why. In your situation I'd feel a lot more comfortable with a coop twice as big because of what might happen this winter or you may find a need to lock them in the coop section only. And I'd want more run space. With the price of construction materials that could be pretty expensive to achieve.

As for lighting those two heatlamps go all night.

I grew up in the Cumberland Gap area of Tennessee. I saw chickens sleeping in trees in weather well below 0F with no frostbite. Those chickens were not on a bare limb overlooking a bluff and squawking into the teeth of a blizzard, they were in a sheltered location out of the wind. In a tree they had great ventilation.

You don't need to keep the chickens warm unless it gets colder than you will ever see where you are. You need to let them keep themselves warm. You do that by providing good ventilation and protecting them from a cold wind when they are sleeping. If it is dry the risk of frostbite is really low, even if it s pretty cold. Moisture comes from their breathing, their wet poop, and any thawed drinking water you may have inside the coop. Good ventilation allows that moisture to escape. They keep themselves warm by trapping tiny pockets of air in their down. A breeze strong enough to ruffle their feathers can allow heat to escape. The way I like to accomplish this is to provide ventilation higher than the roosts so any breezes go over their heads.

At the very least you need a small opening above their heads. Their poop creates ammonia as it breaks down. Ammonia is a poisonous gas but it is lighter than air. Just a small opening up high will allow that ammonia to escape.

They do not need those heat lamps right now. Your weather just isn't that cold. I can't tell how much ventilation you have, especially up high. If you have decent ventilation you don't need heat at all. At least right now turn those lights off and see if that helps your feather picking problem.

So what can you do? Providing more space immediately could prove really challenging, Isolating the instigators could change their behavior and reduce your chicken density. Turn those lights off. I'm sure this is pretty unpopular with you but get rid of a few chickens to reduce the chicken density.