Dangerous to coop up pullets for 5 days

[cafarmgirl]

Oh my goodness, that is a tiny, tiny space! I have that exact hutch for my son's rabbit, I can't imagine having 4 hens in there for 5 days without getting out. Is there any other way, at all, to confine them while your gone? Do you have a garage or other building in which you could set up a temporary pen for them? There are also exercise pens that are made to attach to the front of those rabbit hutches, that's what we have for the buns. It's still not optimal for chickens but it would be much better then the hutch alone.

 

[FenikT]

Your math is off.

The link you provided equates to a coop size of 24 sq ft. Given 5 sq ft per bird, and you are @ 83% of max capacity for four birds. They won't be running around stretching their wings much, but its a livable short-term confinement option.

For example, my coop is 4 ft long, 3 ft wide, and 5 ft tall. 3x4x5 = 60sq ft inside. I have five hens, so I'm around 42% of max capacity w/ 5 sq ft per bird. They spent 10 solid days in there when I first got them while I was "reinforcing their new home location" (they all came from other flocks) and finishing their attached run area. They didn't like it but had a tube feeder, plenty of water, and plenty of clean pine shavings to toss around and dirty up.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

We routinely keep our birds cooped up for a week to 10 days every summer when it's time to teach the new pullets where their home is. We have not had a problem yet.

Based on FenikT's post above, you're not at full capacity and your birds will be just fine for five days. It would be best to have someone come check them every day. We have neighbors on both sides who vie for the job of collecting eggs while we're on vacation, since we let them keep every egg they collect. I don't know if you're in a rural area or not, but you might also find a 4-H club member who keeps chickens and you could pay them to stop by every day and check on the hens.

You might hang a few treats, like cabbages, from strings to help combat boredom. I've never had to do that, though.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Lets not confuse cubic feet versus square feet. The coop in the link contains just under 12 square feet of floor space counting both the upper and lower levels. And you need to minus a little bit of that because the opening upstairs where the ramp goes down actually takes up a fair share along the back wall of the upper level.

 

[donrae]

Lets not confuse cubic feet versus square feet. The coop in the link contains just under 12 square feet of floor space counting both the upper and lower levels. And you need to minus a little bit of that because the opening upstairs where the ramp goes down actually takes up a fair share along the back wall of the upper level.

Exactly what I was thinking. Air space isn't usable to the birds. Roosts can be placed to expand the space, but you really can't count it. I think the OP's birds will be fine. Fenik's coop is really too small, but if they have access to a large run all the time it should be okay.

 

[FenikT]

I disagree w/ your interpretation of what the "3-5ft per bird" rule in a coop entails.

I should have defined my posting above in terms of cubic rather than sq footage because my interpretation of the 3-5 rule talks about collective volume. .

Based on your presumption of only applying sq footage to the actual ground floor dimensions would mean 99% of folks on this forum would have coops deemed to small by your standards. Also, saying roosts don't count toward "usable" space is rather preposterous. Roosts many times serve as a whole other "floor" per se for birds. In my "too small coop" (4x3x5), the top 1/3 of the coop is roosting area which equates to roughly the same amount of sq footage as the coop floor itself.

I guarantee you there would be a lot of unhappy birds in a long-term coop set-up w/ adequate ground floor space but no usable air space above.

To each their own, but your interpretation of the rule seems off IMO.

 

[Brandi Leigh]

Im sure they will be fine, our chickens choose not to leave the coop for most of the winter and don't seem to mind. just leave them some flock block or something and that the coop is well ventilated.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

While not the original poster of the cubic vs square foot argument, I think it makes sense that COUP A at 2' wide by 4' long by 8' tall coop (64 cubic feet) does not have twice the usable space of COUP B with 2' wide by 4' long by 4' tall coop (32 cubic feet) the extra height doesn't mean you can somehow stuff twice the number of birds in there and keep them happy. However, COUP C at 4' wide by 4'long by 4' tall coop (also 64 cubic feet) would house more birds than coup A even though they have the same cubic feet, because the square footage of the floor is twice the size.

Yes, having roosts that make use of the vertical height can make a difference and reduce crowding, as well as probably improve air quality, which is why most folks post a square foot per bird number as a general rule of thumb rather than something carved in stone But I still belive square feet of floor space is a better general measurement of coup capacity than cubic feet.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Your math is off.

The link you provided equates to a coop size of 24 sq ft. Given 5 sq ft per bird, and you are @ 83% of max capacity for four birds. They won't be running around stretching their wings much, but its a livable short-term confinement option.

For example, my coop is 4 ft long, 3 ft wide, and 5 ft tall. 3x4x5 = 60sq ft inside. I have five hens, so I'm around 42% of max capacity w/ 5 sq ft per bird. They spent 10 solid days in there when I first got them while I was "reinforcing their new home location" (they all came from other flocks) and finishing their attached run area. They didn't like it but had a tube feeder, plenty of water, and plenty of clean pine shavings to toss around and dirty up.

I've always been taught that figuring FLOOR space per bird was the guide line because they spend most of their time sitting/roosting. I don't disagree that having muliple roosts can help keep them happy but for long term (which isn't what we're discussing right now) living. So, based on the dimensions of the rabbit hutch/coop, I rounded 45.4 inches up to 48 and 24.75 down to 24, so 4 ft by 2 ft of floor space, 8 square feet and there's 2 levels. So, for 4 birds unless one's really not nice, for a week, they should be fine. My birds have a 8 X 10 ft coop, so 80 sq ft, but it's also 9 feet tall and I've put in mulitple roosts for their sleeping comfort. Guess what? They sleep all cuddled together on 2 roosts and don't touch the other 5. So we can argue size and space all day long, and in the long run, they'll decide how they want to use the space. Mine also have an 8 X 16 ft run that they almost never use, unless they're just waiting for me to upen the door so they can go free range. I still like to have it for days when the local hawk is cruising. I have 29 birds, so they have roughly 7 sq ft of floor space per bird, I still don't like to shut them in for a long time. The 7 sq. ft. is including the space in the run which is roofed and has a solid back wal to protect from prevailing winds.

 

[CKNNWBEE]

I agree very tight quarters. They survived, but somehow the latch that opens up the top to bottom failed and they had NO access to water. How long? I don't know. Big crops, so that is concerning.