Enough Room???

[foxehcam]

I have recently purchased 3, average sized hens. they live in a coop as it is not possible for them to free range. the coop is 12 foot by 4 foot. half is turfed, and half is barked with roof cladding. The barked section has a perch, feeder and drinker, tin basin filled with play sand for bathing and a small pot of grit. there are always greens available for them. I spoke to the breeder and he strongly recommends that they free range. as this is not possible, is the run okay for them to permanently live in?
any suggestions on how to keep them happy?
thanks,
Cam

 

[Casey207908]

standard is 10 square feet per bird of run and 4-square feet per bird of coop space. Since you are leaving them in the coop all the time the more space you can give them the better for sure. If you are going to leave in coop all the time i would try for atleast double the square footage of coop space. So you should be all set.

 

[Judy]

I would not keep chickens indoors 24/7. You can build a run that is secure against predators. They need the sunshine and will not be happy indoors. It is natural for them to spend hours scratching the dirt, foraging gor plants and bugs.

 

[WIchickens]

I have a similar problem. We built the coop in the garage, and the chicks spent their first 2 months only in the coop because the backyard space was not ready...aka husband distracted by building shed. Anyway, now they have been outside for over a month. The coop has a ladder for them to go down, but they don't want to go outside!! I have even put their feed down there to coax them out and they just don't want to. It is fenced and secure but only the under portion of the coop is fenced right now. We were planning on making it bigger, but they seem to have no interest!! Any thoughts???

 

[Casey207908]

try physically taking them down the ladder and puting them outside. once they figure it out they will love it.