- Jul 13, 2012
- 52
- 3
- 33
Hey --
New to this, bought 6 hens for eggs in April. One turned out to be a roo, which is fine as we live on a 100 acre farm. This is our set up: We bought a coop at Tractor Supply that is supposed to house 2 to 4 chickens. All 6 use this as a roost just for sleeping at night, and they are not crowded in there at all. When Tractor Supply says the coop is for 2-4 chickens, do they mean living in there full time? The coop is in a large dog run, which has been well fortified against crtiiters on the top and bottom, plus we have a dog that likes the Angry Birds and watches out for them. My husband just built a large unit of 8 nesting boxes, also inside the run. Their food and water is inside the run,also. Even with all of this in the run, there is still plenty of room for them to run around BUT they free range all day, anyway. The only situation where they would spend any amount of time in the run is if we are on vacation.
My question is this -- since they are free ranging and really only use the coop to roost at night, do we have room for 2 more chickens? I would like to add to the flock (having researched this already and know what's involved in introducing them if I do get more). I feel there is plenty of room, but since I am new to this I want to make sure I am not over crowding them. I could always add another little coop for them to roost in at night.
TIA!!
New to this, bought 6 hens for eggs in April. One turned out to be a roo, which is fine as we live on a 100 acre farm. This is our set up: We bought a coop at Tractor Supply that is supposed to house 2 to 4 chickens. All 6 use this as a roost just for sleeping at night, and they are not crowded in there at all. When Tractor Supply says the coop is for 2-4 chickens, do they mean living in there full time? The coop is in a large dog run, which has been well fortified against crtiiters on the top and bottom, plus we have a dog that likes the Angry Birds and watches out for them. My husband just built a large unit of 8 nesting boxes, also inside the run. Their food and water is inside the run,also. Even with all of this in the run, there is still plenty of room for them to run around BUT they free range all day, anyway. The only situation where they would spend any amount of time in the run is if we are on vacation.
My question is this -- since they are free ranging and really only use the coop to roost at night, do we have room for 2 more chickens? I would like to add to the flock (having researched this already and know what's involved in introducing them if I do get more). I feel there is plenty of room, but since I am new to this I want to make sure I am not over crowding them. I could always add another little coop for them to roost in at night.
TIA!!