Help for Denver -- quick coop survey for urban chicken owners!

[Sundari]

I am working on a new (and improved) ordinance for chicken keeping in Denver, which is close to passing. I'm participating in a community forum on Wednesday night, and the emphasis of the forum will be on what "reasonable" requirements for chicken shelters should be. I'm all for responsible care that results in healthy, happy chickens. However, I believe that what is written into law should be only what is mandatory for the health and safety of the chickens -- I don't want the law to represent some rigid view of what chickens "must" have in order to be healthy (according to one person's view) which removes the flexibility and independence of urban chicken owners to design a setup that works for their birds.

So, I'm looking for information from other urban chicken owners regarding their setups. If you could take a moment to answer the questions below, that would be terrific. If you were also able to send me a picture (or pictures) of your setup, that would also be great! Send photos to [email protected] -- I'll need them by Wednesday morning. Thank you for your help!

Questions

How many chickens do you have? (include whether they're full-size or bantam)

How many square feet is your nighttime, predator-proof enclosure? [note: I'm looking for just the coop here, not the coop + the run]

Do you provide 2 shelters for your chickens (one for nighttime sleeping and one for daytime shelter), or just one?

If you have a separate daytime shelter, how many square feet is it?

How many square feet of permeable space do your chickens have access to during the day?

Is the permeable space an enclosed run, or an open-air barnyard?

 

[Gardengirl 2011]

How many chickens do you have? (include whether they're full-size or bantam) I have 3 full size (well, right now they're only about 3 months old)

How many square feet is your nighttime, predator-proof enclosure? 115 sf which includes the chicken run AND the coop.

Do you provide 2 shelters for your chickens (one for nighttime sleeping and one for daytime shelter), or just one? The coop is IN the run, so they have full use all day/night.

If you have a separate daytime shelter, how many square feet is it?

How many square feet of permeable space do your chickens have access to during the day? 115
Is the permeable space an enclosed run, or an open-air barnyard?

Sorry, I'm having computer issues, so can't upload pictures at this time.

 

[Sundari]

Thanks so much for your quick reply! Can you tell me how many square feet your actual coop is?

 

[jenn-E]

I'll reply, because I think I have less coop space than many people on here, although Albuquerque is more temperate than Denver, so my chickens are really only in there to sleep. If they were confined there more often or full-time, I'm not sure what I think would be an acceptable number, but I know it would be less. My chickens are happy & healthy with no pecking or feather-plucking.

I have 14 LF

My coop is 4 x 6 (24 square feet). It is in a 8 x 10 enclosed run which is predator proof. They are enclosed in the run at night, with free access between the coop and run.

I don't provide specific day-time shelter, but we have lots of trees & bushes & a couple of car-port type porches on our garage.

Day-time they have access to the entire fenced back yard. Our property is an acre, the back is over 1/2.

Albuquerque allows up to 15 chickens. Here's a link to a proposed amendment (I'm not sure if it passed) to the Animal Ordinance that would apply to chicken shelter.
http://bernco.gov/upload/images/animal_care/ordinance_amending.pdf

Here's a pic of my coop/pen: