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how many chicks do you have and what size is your coop

brookwoodpat

Songster
11 Years
May 11, 2008
115
0
129
I'm trying to get an idea of what people have and what I should have.

Presently I have 3 7 week old Red Star chicks and 7 six week old RIR. These free range all day, and were being kept in the house at night. Last night they spent their first night in a chick-n-barn, crowding themselves into two nestboxes.

I also have 5 week old chicks -- 2 americana, 2 black star, and 1 buff orp.

The chick-n-barn is fine for now, but I know it isn't a permanent solution. I haven't found anything prefab that will hold 15 chickens. I really wasn't planning on keeping all fifteen, thinking I'd sell 3 or 4 of the RIR, and have a dozen, but it is hard to let any go.
 
We have an 8x6 coop and the run will be approx 10x6

we have 4 chicks coming the end of this week.. and will probably be adding another 2 the end of the month
 
I have 2 hens (originally 3) in a 28+10=38 sq ft tractor. In the wintertime, they're in a 66 sq ft indoor pen.

I also have 15 5-week-old chicks in a 7x20=140 sq ft pen. When they mature I will probably not have more than 10 or so, max, in that pen and by then I will have built a run that will add something like 80-100 sq ft more space outdoors.

It bugs me to look at chickens and not feel they can get away from each other if they want, or stroll around and Be Different Places.

<shrug>

Pat
 
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I am planning on putting 14 standard size in my 7x10 coop... that allows 5 sq ft pre bird. With a 10X15 run allowing for 10sq ft per bird outside.. I think these are the standard mim. measurements per bird.
 
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Mine have the run of an acre yard during the day. OBviously in the winter that will change somewhat, though in MD, we don't generally have very cold winters. So they have plenty of room to get away from each other during the day. Five of them are only a week old, so they are in a storage bin with a heat lamp. The other ten are about 6-7 weeks and have been free ranging at least half the day for 2-3 weeks.This last week they've been free ranging all day. Though they spend a lot of time hanging around my porch. What I need is something to keep them secure at night, and in the winter when it is very cold and -- eventually -- a more secure run when the leaves fall, and there isn't such good cover as there is now. Now, they have great cover, so it seems sort of ridiculous to keep them penned up. But I'd like to get a coop and a run built, I just can't find anything suitable.
 
Since you have all standards - you should allow at least 4 sq. ft. per chicken for your inside coop. And, 10 sq. ft. per chicken for your outside run area.

Obviously letting them free range is great but you are right to want a secure place for them at night. And, if you ever do have bad weather (or really cold) where they have to be locked up for a day or two or... they really do need that space so they don't end up pecking at each other.
 
Our coops are 8 by 16 and we have 10 Red Stars in one and 4 RIR in the other one. We also have a chicken barn with smaller stalls that are currently housing some RIR chickens that are about 5 months old now . We have a smaller coop in the back that we use to put the younger ones in when they are about 2 months old or so , in the winter , with a light and it is about a 3 by 8 in size. Hope this helps
 

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