- Sep 20, 2012
- 19
- 3
- 24
Okay, below is our current chicken set up. We are fairly new to having chickens. We tried before with chicks and it was devastating! They got sick somehow and died suddenly. Our neighbor have us the caged in run area. It is covered all around with chicken wire and staked to the ground. The coop is one we had gotten at Orcheln's. The door to it is NEVER shut, so our girls are free to come and go as they please. They can get up in the morning and go straight into the run and move around. In the evenings, we will let them range in the fenced in backyard (I need to secure a few places in our fence first so they don't get out). We haven't had them very long, but so far they seem happy and content.
The white one in the pic is full grown.. she should start laying soon. The other 5 are pullets but they should roughly be the same size as our Snowball. I was told the coop would hold 6 hens, but my neighbor said it is only big enough for 4. I've been reading and reading about space in the coop. They only go in there at night to sleep. There are two roosting bars in there and the nexting boxes. Last night, two of them cuddled up in the nexting box, 3 of them slept on the roosting bars, and the largest literally slept in the doorway of the coop, blocking the entrance. I think she is currently the dominate chicken in the group.
There seems to be ample room in there for them now.. but do I need to get another small coop for wintertime? I know my pullets have some growing to do still. They will never be fully shut indoors, even in the winter time they will have the freedom to move within the run area anytime they want. I just don't want them to feel too smooshed up when it gets cold and they get older.
For reference, I have 2 Black Copper Marans, a Barred Rock, a White Rock, a Rhode Island Red, and an Easter Egger.
The white one in the pic is full grown.. she should start laying soon. The other 5 are pullets but they should roughly be the same size as our Snowball. I was told the coop would hold 6 hens, but my neighbor said it is only big enough for 4. I've been reading and reading about space in the coop. They only go in there at night to sleep. There are two roosting bars in there and the nexting boxes. Last night, two of them cuddled up in the nexting box, 3 of them slept on the roosting bars, and the largest literally slept in the doorway of the coop, blocking the entrance. I think she is currently the dominate chicken in the group.
There seems to be ample room in there for them now.. but do I need to get another small coop for wintertime? I know my pullets have some growing to do still. They will never be fully shut indoors, even in the winter time they will have the freedom to move within the run area anytime they want. I just don't want them to feel too smooshed up when it gets cold and they get older.
For reference, I have 2 Black Copper Marans, a Barred Rock, a White Rock, a Rhode Island Red, and an Easter Egger.
