hello chicken people! I am new to the whole paddock system for chickies and have a few questions in constructing the set-up for my soon-to-be flock. I will have 6 hens, and we have a pretty cold winter climate 4 months out of the year. My idea was to orignially have a stationary LARGE coop and LARGE run for the girls, with occasional free-range under supervision. LARGE because I am assuming they won't care much to go outside when its 20 to -20. It seems to me that all coops aimed towards flocks of 4-8 are TINY little shoe boxes and it just seems inhumane to me. Is there a real reason for this? My questions are these: How large is the "minimum" size my coop can be if I allow paddock access everyday all year during daylight? How large are YOUR coops? ( I like to be generous with walking room...) How large should each paddock pasture be? Does my coop NEED to be mobile or could I just simply set a temporary "free-form" shaped paddock up then rotate as needed? Does anyone have experience with a temporary fenced paddock that they take down and re-assemble in the new location? Materials used with success? *I like the idea of temporary, becuase it is budget friendly for start-up* maybe we can grown into a permanent structure once we get the feel for this whole system*** THANKYOU!!!
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]One chicken needs approximately 3-4 square feet of space in the hen house. This means, if you plan on raising 5 chickens, your chicken coop should be 15-20 square feet.[/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]PLUS, your chickens need room outside for some fresh air and room to roam (safely). Each chicken needs approximately 4 square feet of room in the chicken run. So, if you're still planning on those 5 chickens, you will need an additional 20 square feet of fenced area for them to be in.[/COLOR][/FONT]
