Help! My coop cant house all the hens!

TOWSHE

In the Brooder
Joined
Feb 2, 2015
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
22
I have a coop that is really nice. I added another roost for them to perch on at night but only 7 of them can fit. 2 are now forced to sleep on the ground (i have recently gotten a few new chickens and am expecting baby chooks soon if a hen gets broody) What do I do to fix this? Please help
 
Get a bigger coop, ofcourse you could rehome some hens but that's just madness!!
They say 4 sqfoot per hen of coop space more being better
 
Get a bigger coop, ofcourse you could rehome some hens but that's just madness!!
They say 4 sqfoot per hen of coop space more being better
Agreed or stop getting more for a while. Still need a bigger coop for the ones you have.
 
Does it matter if some are able to perch at night and others sleep on the floor? Theres plenty of floor space thats why
 
Does it matter if some are able to perch at night and others sleep on the floor? Theres plenty of floor space thats why
I dont think that matters. All my silkies sleep on the floor. But is there any way you could put up another roost?
 
How big is your coop and how many chickens do you plan to have in there?
 
My coop is about 1.2m by .8m with 2 roosts for them to perch.
 
Hi

I think it would be helpful if you give us the dimensions of your coup and how many chickens you have and a photo of your set up would be good so that we could perhaps advise what modifications could be made to generate more space.

Space in the coup is not just about having room to stand or perch, it's about having personal (chickenal) space. If they feel cramped they can start to pick each others feathers out, eat eggs and other bad habits, you really don't want to develop as they are very hard to break.

What looks fine when they are chicks soon gets crowded as they reach adulthood and sometimes, because you see them every day, you don't realise that things are becoming cramped. Also, many coups are sold as being suitable for more chickens than they actually are. Things are fine until one day they have a falling out and you have bloody, injured chickens and don't think hens can't be as bad as cockerels when it comes to fighting, especially if they have limited space to avoid each other.

"Chicken maths" or addictive flock expansion is a serious condition and to indulge it, you need to make sure you have the facilities to cope, as it can rapidly get out of hand and result in a lot of stress for you and your chickens..... I am speaking from experience here. I had 10 home reared juvenile roosters with raging hormones running around in my mixed free range flock at one stage terrorising my hens. I had to create a batchelor pad pronto to prevent serious injury to two of my favourite hens, who were taking the brunt of their attention.

Good luck with sorting your problem and if we can help with advice/suggestions when we see your coup, I'm sure we will.

Best wishes

Barbara
 
I see you have updated this thread whilst I have been typing.

So you have 9 hens and a coup that is 1.2mx0.8m or roughly 4ft x 2.5ft.... so approx. 10 square feet......... You are SERIOUSLY overcrowded!!
Do the hens free range during the day or are they confined to a run and how old are they? If they are all hatch mates, they will tolerate things being cramped for longer, but you definitely need to give them more space..... like 3 TIMES more space, before you even think of getting more chickens.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom