How big does it need to be?

[Honeysucklefeathers]

An Amish friend of mine, strung old cd's across the top of her coop. Our main problem here is hawks and the flickering and movement of the cds has worked well for her

Just a thought.

 

[Arkantex]

I have seen people do that before and never knew why... I will probably give that a try if I start having a problem with hawks. Thanks

 

[TDM]

Arkantex, two square feet per bird is the international standard. American tend to think bigger is better, as evident by our McMansion homes and SUVs. Real LGDs work great for hawk deterrents.

Here is a two square feet per bird operation. Also shown is the Great Pyrenees LGD lying with the birds on pasture.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
If you are going to use a commercial standard, go all the way. Debeak them, put in automatic climate control and poop handling equipment, restrict their feed, control their light, use extreme biosecurity measures. Do the things required to allow them to live in that space.

Or if you can pasture them 365 days a year where they have a very large amount of outside room from wake up until bedtime and the coop is just used for laying and sleeping, it can work very well. Under those conditions, they don't need the extra space. Several people on this forum manage their chickens this way quite well. Especially if they are only handling them this way during the good weather months. A movable electric fence for predator control is a great asset for this type management.

There are a lot of different factors that go into how much space chickens need. You can't just pick one thing and ignore all the other things that go into it. Maintaining commercial conditions or allowing unlimited free range 365 days a year are just not practical for a lot of people on this forum.

 

[TDM]

Quote:
I clearly said international standard, and not commercial.

 

[Ridgerunner]

And I said there are conditions where two feet per chicken can work. But many people on this forum do not have those conditions. If you blindly use one condition and ignore the rest that make it work, you are probably headed for a real problem.

 

[Arkantex]

TDM, Your mobile coop is freaking awesome! If I ever get all my land fenced in, I want to do something like that. I have a boxer, but he stays inside most of the time. I am really suprised that I haven't seen more hawks out at our place than I have because we have about 15-20 wild rabbits that live around our house. I think we should be ok...

 

[TDM]

Quote:
Thanks. We use electric poultry netting from Premier and rotate on a weekly basis. This way you don't have to fence in all your land at once. Currently we use five 15 watt amorphous solar panels and a large marine battery to power the fence charger. This also allows us the ability to maintain 16 hours plus of light in the coop when the days get shorter.

The netting itself is no guarantee. One predator got it's head stuck in the netting, thrashed around, and knocked the fence down. There were reports of a large wolf in the area, even during the daytime. I found several Cornish Cross missing, and a half eaten carcass. As a result the LGD had to go out there to deter any future occurrences.

A side benefit to using chicken coops built on old hay wagons is that the Cornish Cross meat birds stay under the wagon for rest and protection from the elements.

The chickens will move from one coop to another, but not for an even distribution. They will fill up one coop, even denser than two square feet per bird, and the remainder will settle in another, and so on. They seem to like the safety of a large group, especially at night. Afterall, you don't have to outrun a bear; You just have to outrun the other guy.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If you are going to use a commercial standard, go all the way. Debeak them, put in automatic climate control and poop handling equipment, restrict their feed, control their light, use extreme biosecurity measures. Do the things required to allow them to live in that space.

Or if you can pasture them 365 days a year where they have a very large amount of outside room from wake up until bedtime and the coop is just used for laying and sleeping, it can work very well. Under those conditions, they don't need the extra space. Several people on this forum manage their chickens this way quite well. Especially if they are only handling them this way during the good weather months. A movable electric fence for predator control is a great asset for this type management.

There are a lot of different factors that go into how much space chickens need. You can't just pick one thing and ignore all the other things that go into it. Maintaining commercial conditions or allowing unlimited free range 365 days a year are just not practical for a lot of people on this forum.

Agreed. I'm one of those crazy Americans that believes more is better - but only where my chickens are concerned. I'm a minimalist living in a very small house driving a small vehicle.

I have two coops - one is 8 X 8 (64 sq. ft) housing 11 hens. The other is 12 X 14 housing (168 sq. ft.) housing 18 pullets/hens and one young cockerel. There will be a few more added to that coop since I have a broody setting, but not many.

My chickens free range all day, every day and are only locked in at night or in the event of an emergency that's going to keep me away from home past dusk (roost time). I could get away with more chickens or less space but I won't. I like knowing that should something happen and the chickens have to stay locked up all day they will be comfortable and not overcrowed. Overcrowded conditions can lead to nasty habits like feather picking, egg eating, and other issues. Irritated chickens strike out and they do get irritable. It's why the commercial growers keep the lights in the chicken houses dim. I also have way more waterers and feeders than the "experts" say I need.

Over several years of chickenkeeping I have learned what works best for me and my chickens. What works for us in SW Arkansas, where summers are very hot, winters get downright chilly and we have predators galore (especially nighttime ones) is large coops with lots of air flow, a way to batten down the hatches in wintertime and room for the birds to move around and be comfortable. I've yet to have a feather picker, an egg eater or a bird injured in a fight with another bird. I figure I must be doing something right.

It's like Ridge said, you have to find the method out of all the different methods suggested that works best for you, your birds and your enviroment.

 

[gritsar]

And btw, my chickens do wander from coop to coop at times. For some reason my youngest layers have decided they like the nestboxes in the smaller coop better than the nestboxes in their own coop. The nestboxes are identical in make and color, just in a different location. I don't care as long as they are using the nestboxes. I hate easter egg hunts.

By the same token, some of my older hens (housed in the smaller coop) will sometimes take a notion to visit the young birds coop. They like the food better in that coop, though it is the same food in the same make of feeder, just in a different location. Again, I don't care as long as everyone is getting their fair share of food.