Have 9 chickens who need proper space. Looking for information

[Red-Rhode-Island- Red]

Our chicken journey has been... well.. good and bad. We purchased 6 chicks. 3 were Rhode Island reds, the others were not. 2 of them died within 36-48 hours. They seemed very wobbly from the time we got them. 1 other died within a week. The 3 Rhode Island Reds are great and in a small coop and run that's movable. We decided to get another set of 6, all Rhode Island Reds. All of them are growing beautifully with zero losses. So now we have 9.

They are getting big enough and will need space soon. First question is how much space for the run, and second space for the coop? I have read 4 sqft per bird inside the coop. Is that floor space alone? Height? I was also told about 8 sqft per bird in the run.

I wanted to ask people with more experience if that is correct. 36 sqft coop with a 72 sqft run?

I know with a forum like this and how long it's been around these questions have been asked. I ran a search and know my search terms must be off. So a link will work if you got one.

 

[FrostRanger]

Bare minimum per bird is 4sqft in the coop (floor space), 10sqft in the run, 1sqft of ventilation (2-3sqft in hot climates) and 1sqft of roost. So in your case 36sqft in the coop and 90 sqft of run space, 9sqft of ventilation and 9sqft of roost. More is better though and since RIRs are big, active, dominant birds I would provide more rather than less. Provide more than you need though 'cause chicken math is very very real

 

[FrostRanger]

Also welcome to byc! Good to have you here!

 

[DobieLover]

The bare minimum in the run is always stated as 10 sq ft per bird. But when you actually see it in action, you quickly realize that's just not enough space. I always recommend 12 to 15 sq ft per bird in the run. The 4 sq ft per bird in the coop is floor space, and does not include nest box space. It has nothing to do with vertical height. Although it's always ideal to have a walk-in coop, therefore you're going to want it tall enough so you don't smash your head on any point of the rafters.

When you're designing a coop, you want to use conventional lumber dimensions and size it for more birds than you currently have. Inevitably, you're going to end up in a situation where you want to add replacement or new birds and having your coop at the very bare minimum space per bird is going to make integration extremely difficult. It just limits you in so many ways that you can't comprehend at this point in the game.

I would build a 6x8 coop and use poop boards in a U-Shape.

 

[DobieLover]

1sqft of roost

1 linear foot of roost per bird.

 

[Red-Rhode-Island- Red]

Bare minimum per bird is 4sqft in the coop (floor space), 10sqft in the run, 1sqft of ventilation (2-3sqft in hot climates) and 1sqft of roost. So in your case 36sqft in the coop and 90 sqft of run space, 9sqft of ventilation and 9sqft of roost. More is better though and since RIRs are big, active, dominant birds I would provide more rather than less. Provide more than you need though 'cause chicken math is very very real

Wow, thanks for the fast reply!

 

[Red-Rhode-Island- Red]

The bare minimum in the run is always stated as 10 sq ft per bird. But when you actually see it in action, you quickly realize that's just not enough space. I always recommend 12 to 15 sq ft per bird in the run. The 4 sq ft per bird in the coop is floor space, and does not include nest box space. It has nothing to do with vertical height. Although it's always ideal to have a walk-in coop, therefore you're going to want it tall enough so you don't smash your head on any point of the rafters.

When you're designing a coop, you want to use conventional lumber dimensions and size it for more birds than you currently have. Inevitably, you're going to end up in a situation where you want to add replacement or new birds and having your coop at the very bare minimum space per bird is going to make integration extremely difficult. It just limits you in so many ways that you can't comprehend at this point in the game.

I would build a 6x8 coop and use poop boards in a U-Shape.

Good stuff!

We have talked about it not being a permanent build. Move them to new grass areas one a week. So now I need to find a build for this size that's movable.

Any suggestions?

 

[DobieLover]

Good stuff!

We have talked about it not being a permanent build. Move them to new grass areas one a week. So now I need to find a build for this size that's movable.

Any suggestions?

Do a stationary build and put up moveable electrified poultry netting.
Or permanently fence in a sizeable amount of space for them and don't move the netting. That is what I did. I built 2 gates. One for my normal daily access to the pen and one large enough to drive my tractor through to cut the grass in there. It works wonderfully.

I've never had a ground predator loss in their pen and only one aerial predator loss to a 10 week old pullet who tended to stray very far from the overhead protection and away from the roosters that would send up predator alerts.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Height?

This depends on your climate. If you have cold winters you'll want a taller coop so you can place the vents far above the roosts. This allows the warm, moist, ammonia-filled air to escape but not let cold drafts hit the chickens.

 

[FrostRanger]

Make the coop at least 6 inches higher than the tallest person who has to go in there if possible. That way no one bangs their head