Coop and run SQ Feet Per chicken

[SC_Hugh]

8'x8' = 64 sq feet for 12 chickens = 5.33 sq feet per chicken...sounds great to me. Your 300+ sq feet per chicken run sounds fantastic, that might be large enough not to require clean-up maintenance, except the small area next to the coop

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My 4 chickens are enjoying 7 sq feet per chicken in their coop and seem very content. It rarely gets down to freezing around here, but their current space seems ideal as the nesting boxes and roosts also takes up a little floor space.

I wish I had built a larger attached run, so I bought more lumber today to double their run from 32 sq. feet to 64 sq. feet. They also have a detached 4'x6' chicken tractor for day tripping.

4 sq. feet per chicken inside the coop seems adequate, but I think the estimate of 10 sq. feet per chicken in the run needs to be larger

--Hughster

 

[fred123]

we are going to have a completely enclosed run which is 6 feet high with an enclosed top and bottom. The wire will have 1" square openings.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, one thing you can do is give them feed with a higher % protein

Just because what's labelled 'layer' at the farm store is like 16-17% doesn't mean that's what you have to use. It is perfectly fine to feed a higher %protein feed (grower, or some people even use high-protein gamebird/turkey feed for conditioning breeders) as long as you provide an additional free-choice source of calcium (free-choice crushed oystershell or dried crushed eggshells).

Higher %protein feeds are a bit more expensive, though.

You can add something in addition to commercial layer feed, but it will only act as a protein supplement if it contains MORE THAN 16-17% PROTEIN ITSELF.

The easiest and most direct way to supplement protein is to feed your chickens [cooked] meat scraps when they seem to need more protein, such as when they're molting. Some people get weirded out about that, either philosophically (although chickens are NOT vegetarians in nature, they eat insects and any small vertebrates they can catch) or because of remote and purely theoretical possibility-of-disease issues. But if you're not of that frame of mind, meat is the simplest thing to use.

You can do complicated things like ranching up mealworms or buying crickets but you have to do that on a massive scale to really make a meaningful impact on dietary protein on any ongoing basis.

Some people use good-quality dry catfood as a protein supplement. It can be rather high in sodium and not necessarily correctly balanced in amino acids but used only occasionally and in moderation is probalby ok.

Vegetable sources of *high* protein are pretty limited. That's why nearly all commercial chicken feeds contain soybeans, because there aren't very many other readily-available-and-cheap plant products with more than 5-15% protein. GOOD alfalfa hay can provide some degree of marginally useful protein supplementation, but you have to watch overall dietary balance of other things if you do that. Most other plants touted as 'high in protein' may be high in protein relative to other plants but still less than the 16-17% you get in typical commercial layer feed so they are not going to be doing you any good in terms of improving your chickens' protein intake.

Also, if you have any undesirable/inedible eggs (cracked while collecting, or severely pooey) or just plain have too many eggs some weeks, you can scramble and cook them and feed them back to the hens for an extremely effective protein boost.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[triplepurpose]

We've been feeding our chickens all sorts of food scraps from the kitchen and garden, including modest amounts of bread (I agree with others, too much is not good) we get from a grocery/deli I work at, in addition to their main staple of organic layer mix pellets. One handy idea I came upon in a book that I think is quite brilliant, is to put a few boards or other old pieces of wood on the ground inside the coop. Bugs will move in under them, and every so often you can flip one over for the chickens to eat the critters underneath. Works great for us, and the provides good protein for the birds, which is often hard to come by. Old log sections seem to work best, because they are full of little nooks and crannies that the bugs love to burrow into. After a short while the chickens get hip to what's going on and they all crowd around when you reach for one of the boards to flip it!

 

[Steve B]

You could hand a bug zapper over the run area to create a source of toasted protein.

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
Yum-- toasted protein...

 

[Kittymomma]

Sounds like a very roomy set up. I'd think about making the run at least 6' though. I know it's more expensive, though you could make the posts taller and add more wire as you could afford it. The reason I suggest it is because at some point you will need to get in there to catch a bird or do some maintenance and it's a real pain to do that sort of thing if you're all hunched over. If you're not planning on putting any kind of cover on it that won't be a problem, but it will be an open buffet for hawks and such.

 

[TipsyDog]

Hi Neighbor! Definately go with at least a 6' run fence as everyone has suggested. Your going to want to add a roof to your run or portion of it. You will curse yourself with a 4' run. It's no fun to walk around in there! Plus, after the summer we've had with all that rain, even my run started to turn to mud and we added a roof. My girls free range, but when it rains they run right back to their run and stay nice and dry AND I won't have to get up at 6AM and shovel snow for them

 

[gsim]

Like pat, I do not think a larger coop will be a problem with cold. You can always insulate the roof decking which will work for you winter and summer too. A simple cardboard insert can temporarily reduce height and trap extra warmth too. Simple enough to do and large cardboard pieces can be found easily enough to do a new one every winter. Might require a center post that can easily be removed to prevent sagging. Also you can reduce ventilation somewhat in really cold weather, but you cannot overdo it for fear of humidity and frostbite. I would go with a taller fence. I did 6 ft welded wire set in cement. Dirt hereabouts is quite firm so I do not fear digging preds. Sandy soil would be another matter, maybe requiring some buried chicken wire all along perimeter. Mine has a 24" tall roll of chicken wire all along perimeter inside to keep chooks from poking their heads out. Coons will lay there quietly in broad daylight and wait for that opportunity. No matter the ht of fence, I would install a fence charger too, along with 4 courses of hot wire. I did mine starting at 8" and ending at 42".

It is great that you have such a large run. I have 2,000 sq ft for 24 chooks. I can see already that grass will be a problem. I am going to make some 6 ft x 6 ft frames of salvaged deck boards. Will throw them down all around run and stretch and fasten chicken wire to them. That will insure that grass is not ripped up, but will allow chooks to eat it. Am ripping those on table saw to where I get two or three pieces from each deck board. Am using the 6 ft tall size of chicken wire to make it easy. No doubt will leave some of run natural so they can scratch around in it, etc. They will eat yours down to a nub after it quits growing in fall. Bt springtime, it will look pretty bare in there.

An alternative to my grass protectors is to cross-fence the run to keep chooks off of areas that need to recover. Not sure of number of chooks that could be done in 3500 sq ft that way. Have decided it is not workable in my case with the run being 2,000 sq ft for my 24 chooks. Takes too long for roots to develop properly before letting chooks on it.

 

[patandchickens]

Y'all know the original posts on this thread, which most seem to be replying to, are almost 2 years old, yes?

Pat