Coop & Run - Where do I start - HELP

[crazy chook]

Ok, so i have a paddock which will eventually house all my chickens.

It is about 40 meters x 30 meters and I was going to build a 5m x 5m coop in the middle then divide it all into 4 separate coops with runs so each will ens up as a 20m x 15m run with a 2.5m x 2.5 m coop. hope that makes sense?

They will house 1) 16 bantam pekins, 2) 20 bantam frizzles & crosses 3) 8-12 large layers 4) empty for now but will house the 8 - 16 week olds that will be either for sale or growing out.

My main question is will they eat down all the grass or will there be enough room in each run for that not to happen?

OR

Should I make smaller runs all on one side that all open up to a larger paddock so that they can free range only every 4th day?

Does anyone have some photos they could post or send me of some good setups? email: [email protected]

 

[Judy]

Yes, they will eat down all the grass. About 20 or 25 wiped out the grass in my chicken yard in a couple of months. Let's see, the yard would be maybe 20 meters x 30 meters. Yours is a larger but with more chickens. It won't take them long.

I assume that if you let some out to the larger area every 4 days, the rest would have to stay in their coop for 3 days? I wouldn't do that, personally. I'd let them out to a smaller area every day. I'd probably set it up so I could let them all be together at selected times.

Except maybe the ducks. I've never kept ducks, mostly because I read here how messy they are.

 

[spiritdance]

Chicken Landscaping 101: 50 chickens (or thereabouts) + 1 month = a space roughly the size of Rhode Island defoliated. Seriously, though, unless you have lots of space for them to free range, you'll want to think of some alternative ways of providing greenery, because their "yards" will be dusty, moon-like landscapes in short order. I "borrowed" an idea from here on the boards and made up some "grass flats." Basically, they're just 1x6 frames with screen bottoms and 2x4 wire tacked over top. You fill them with good soil about 3 inches deep and throw in some grass seed (I actually used a wild bird seed mix with canary grass, wheat seed, etc.) Once the seeds sprout, let the grass grow up past the wire tops and put the flats into the yards. Your birds can graze the tops but not disrupt the roots too much. If you rotate these regularly - I change them twice a week - you can set the ones not in use in your greenhouse, along a fence, etc., to regenerate. Periodically throw in a little more seed to replace anything the birds do manage to pull up, and you can keep fresh growing greenery for them no matter how brutally they strip mine their yards. Add a few crickets (an old piece of carpet turned upside down in the shade is a great cricket magnet), and you can give your birds at least some of the benefits of free ranging right in their own yards. I use grass flats for any birds I have to keep penned for more than a few days, and I also use them in winter when the grass outside dies back. I have a greenhouse, so it's easy for me, but even if you don't have a greenhouse you can use some clear plastic to create domes over the frames and put them in a sheltered location. The growth rate slows down but it's still some greenery for them. My friend just leans a few full length 2x4s against the house and staples plastic to them to create her greenhouse for her grass flats and anything else she wants to winter over. Anyway, sorry to ramble on, but maybe you can "borrow" this idea too. It really does work quite well.