Do Chickens Really Need a Run?

[townchicks]

Sure, we know that chickens don't NEED a run. To me, the question is really what quality of life do you want for your chickens. IMO, a better quality of life is when they can get outside, at least for a few hours, minimum.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Although I don't know of any studies I am curious what benefits from sunshine cooped birds may be missing out on.
QUOTE]
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exposure to the sun provides animals with vitamin D3. Probably the reason feeds contain D3 in case they don't have enough sun exposure

 

[Aunt Angus]

Although I don't know of any studies I am curious what benefits from sunshine cooped birds may be missing out on.

Not saying windows couldn't exist that allow sunshine into the coop.

I have south windows on my coop and on sunny days those are open letting sun directly into the coop.

Sooooooo...... Is a run necessary?
Probably not but it is cheaper to build a good sized run than a giant coop.......

My thoughts exactly! Vitamin D...

In my very, very humble opinion, they need the space. My birds have a pretty big run (113 sq ft for 4 pullets), and it still seems kinda small to me.

But they get so excited when I open the run to let them free range. They fly out, flap their wings, and run around like kindergartners at recess. Seriously - they frolic! I'm not sure that I, in good conscience, could deny them that joy unless letting them out would put them at risk, from predators or climate or other environmental factors, etc. And there are probably set ups that I can't even imagine given my limited experience that would be workable to keep birds inside 24/7.

Ya know, that's another thing I really enjoy about BYC. We are from all over the world living in all sorts of different situations and environments, and we all keep birds for myriad different reasons. What works in my little semi-rural area might be unreasonable for an urban backyard and might seem downright silly for a farm. So while I wouldn't consider keeping them in a coop 24/7 here, who knows what I'd do elsewhere?

 

[21hens-incharge]

I do have some weird birds........

The group in my 6x8 don't spend much time at all in their run.......when I open them to wander around the yard they don't spend much time doing that either. They head back into the coop after just 30 minutes or so......

They are bantam and giant cochins. I find that I am disappointed that I don't get to see them as much as I would like. Personal preference of course.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Everyone has had some great points!

Windows do remove 90% of vitiman D3 I believe. So you would need to be able to have hardware cloth for direct sun exposure inside the coop.

I feel like this may be featured

 

[21hens-incharge]

Everyone has had some great points!

Windows do remove 90% of vitiman D3 I believe. So you would need to be able to have hardware cloth for direct sun exposure inside the coop.

I feel like this may be featured

Good point about sun needing to be direct rather than filtered.

My windows are homemade awning style. Yes when open the sun shines directly through hardware cloth not through window glass.

 

[Cyprus]

Everyone has had some great points!

Windows do remove 90% of vitiman D3 I believe. So you would need to be able to have hardware cloth for direct sun exposure inside the coop.

I feel like this may be featured

HC is a really good point. Didn't consider that. Would let in light and keep out preds.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Another thing that occurred to me while letting my birds out......

My birds that stay in their coop much of the day require nail trimmings while my more active birds in the other coop don't.

 

[Acre4Me]

So humans make Vitamin D via sunlight hitting their skin. However, birds are covered with feathers, with the exception of their small faces and combs/wattles, so I'm curious if chickens manufacture Vitamin D at all, and if it is related to sunlight exposure in their systems.

Really don't know the answer, but since chickens and humans are really pretty different, beginning with feather coverage for one, and not for the other, I'm interested to know.

 

[Chick-N-Daddy]

<snip>
Sooooooo...... Is a run necessary?
Probably not but it is cheaper to build a good sized run than a giant coop.......

Easy answer here: Build the full length run enclosed with hardware cloth, then later add plywood panels or greenhouse poly to enclose 1/2 of that. Gives you a Coop, an enclosed 'fowl weather' (HAH!) run, and a fair weather run. Win, Win, Win.