how long chickens need to be out side the coop

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dogkennelcoop

dogkennelcoop

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Hello new to BYC i had 4 chickens which were murdered by a pit bull and were building a bullet proff coop now out of a 10x10x6 dog kennel i want to know if i can just not let them out and keep them safe want to have about 14 hens one rooster any suggestions or ideas let me know thanks!
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dogkennelcoop said:
Hello new to BYC i had 4 chickens which were murdered by a pit bull and were building a bullet proff coop now out of a 10x10x6 dog kennel i want to know if i can just not let them out and keep them safe want to have about 14 hens one rooster any suggestions or ideas let me know thanks!
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Welcome to BYC. Sorry to hear about your losses. It sounds like the 10x10x6 portion is actually your "run" - which is the fenced pen area - rather than your coop, which is the actual "house" the birds have to go into to sleep, etc. It is entirely possible to maintain healthy birds that are enclosed at all times - but a 10x10 area will not be large enough for the number of birds you are wanting to keep. What breed(s) are you planning to keep? Are you planning to house bantams or large fowl birds? What is your general location - which can help in advising how much space might be best as different climates come with different amounts of time birds might be kept inside the coop and issues from that can become more of an issue? What is your goal in having a rooster?
 
Well actually im in closing the dog kennel With tin sidding and putting a roof on it And doing a raised floor i actually need some help on the chickens i want dont know what kind yet but i live in Georgia and i thought at 4 square feet per bird i be good?
 
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dogkennelcoop said:
Well actually im in closing the dog kennel With tin sidding and putting a roof on it And doing a raised floor i actually need some help on the chickens i want dont know what kind yet but i live in Georgia and i thought at 4 square feet per bird i be good?
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The "4 square feet per bird" rule of thumb is for coop space - are you planning to also have a run attached to this structure? The 4 square feet is coupled with 10 square feet of run space per bird - so that is actually a total of 14 square feet per bird and those numbers are used as minimum amounts of space so more is always better.
 
Wasn't really i thought i would just let them out when i could watch them if i just had them in a coop most of the time what is a good number of chickens i can have?
 
dogkennelcoop said:
Wasn't really i thought i would just let them out when i could watch them if i just had them in a coop most of the time what is a good number of chickens i can have?
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This is where you would start to run into issues. The first concern is that you state you intend to enclose the entire run with solid siding, correct? So during the hours of confinement, the birds would or would not have access to sunlight and fresh air? If the total space allowed the birds for most of each day (how much time are you going to have to let them out and watch them on a regular basis?) is the 10x10 area, *I* would feel comfortable even thinking of housing would be 7 and that would be all females as I would not want to enclose only 6 hens in a small enclosed area with a randy rooster.
 
Meant to add - the biggest issue with cooping them up and considering numbers that could be overcrowded is that being overcrowded leads to an increased risk of issues such as aggression, bullying, feather picking, overbreeding(if a roo is in the mix), health issues, etc.
 
If the kennel run serves as a coop instead you could have about 20-25 large fowl in there. The problem with free ranging even with supervision, is predators are lightning fast and can come from tree, ground, or air attacks. They may even come as a pack. People usually don't react fast enough and you can't keep on eye on all of them every minute they are loose. Maybe other posters coming on soon will have more advice for you. Welcome to Backyard chickens.
 
No not fully still have plenty of vent room only the back wall would have tin to the roof thats were the nesting boxs will go every where else is wide open but about 3 feet from the floor up all the wal around on the other 3 walls to protect them
 

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