Hello fellow bird-lovers. I am currently in the process of designing a new chicken coop + run. However, I am a bit uncertain of the size of it. I am designing it for 1.6 sussex, and 0.3 Brahma, plus whatever chickens that may come from this. I am thinking of a size of 0,5 m2 per. animal (approx. 5,4 squarefoot) for the coop. For the run I am thinking around 2 m2 per animal (21,5 squarefoot). Additionally I will probably be freeranging them once in a while. Luckily the most dangerous predators in Denmark (at least where I live) is dogs and foxes Thus the coop will be 2,5 x 2 meters (6,7 x 8,2 foot) And the run will be 4 x 5 meters (13 x 16,4 foot). The idea is that the coop will be raised about 0,7 m (2,3 foot) above ground, thus exploiting the space in my garden even better. How does this sound?
Four square feet per bird in the coop and 10 square feet per bird in the run are two number to keep in mind when designing a coop. Not sure how you can keep 1.6 Sussex, and 0.3 Brahma. When you round that off to the nearest whole number does it mean you are going to have 3 birds in the coop???
Oh, I thought this way of writing gender was well known. 1.6 sussex means 1 cock and 6 hens (1 male 6 female), thus 0.3 brahma means (0 male, 3 female). So 10 birds in total. And guess what 1.9.10 means? Yep, that's right 1 male, 9 females and 10 babies/animals of which the gender can not be determined. How do you denote gender composition in a flock? Then I guess my estimate souds fair with 5.4 sqfeet/animal in the coop, and 21,5 sqfeet/animal in the run. Part of the run (will be directly located below the coop), and the rest of the run will probably also have a roof
Hmm I've never seen that notation for populations before, makes sense once you understand it tho. Spacing sounds pretty good for 10 birds, thanks for converting.....but you might want to go bigger if possible for future flock additions/integrations. I built a partitioned area in my coop using a temporary wall with a separate run and it was a big plus when I had an extra and nasty rooster and when I added new birds in the spring.
Thanks for the reply. That notation is standard here in Denmark, or at least Scandinavia. How do you note the gender composition? For future knowledge? Yeah, I have considered creating a smaller coop + run for chickens. My idea is to have 10 birds for eggs + breeding purposes. Then the offspring is meant for eating. You would recommend either a bigger coop+run for raising the offspring? I think/hope I won't have more than 10 chickens at a time (how many can 1 hen take care of?)