how many is too many?

[windnleavesfarm]

A coop 8 by 12 is right for a maximum of 24 chickens, if you have 10 square feet of run space per chicken. You just said you will not allow the chickens to go into the run in the winter. That means you should not have more than 10 chickens in your coop.

You either need a larger coop or you need to allow your chickens into the run in the winter.
[/quote]



ok thank you.

 

[windnleavesfarm]

A coop 8 by 12 is right for a maximum of 24 chickens, if you have 10 square feet of run space per chicken. You just said you will not allow the chickens to go into the run in the winter. That means you should not have more than 10 chickens in your coop.

You either need a larger coop or you need to allow your chickens into the run in the winter.

okay so my next quetion is if i have 30 chickens how big should my coop be?



ok thank you.[/quote]

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

Yes. i do. In books i have read a coop this size is just fine. and we can always add on too the summer isn't over yet.

that amount of chickens would be a good ammount to have for a coop the big...but since you are going leave them locked up in the winter...get no more than 10 birds 12 at MAX if you get over that many you will no doubt have very sick and/or dead birds before winter in over.

Chickens are fine outside in the winter...there are people from alaska on here that let there chickens out in the winter. I would recomend however to get a more cold hardy breed such as the wyandotte they have a rose comb and will not get frostbit as easy.

 

[Bullitt]

okay so my next quetion is if i have 30 chickens how big should my coop be?



ok thank you.

[/QUOTE]


If you are going to keep your chickens in the coop in the winter, you need to go by the 10-square-foot rule of thumb, as was suggested earlier.

30 chickens times 10 square feet means you need a 300-square-foot coop. Your coop is 96 square feet.

I think you would be much better off just allowing your chickens out into the run in the winter. Rhode Island Reds and Barnevelders are very hardy chickens. You would only need to keep the chickens in the coop during very cold weather when it is well below freezing.

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

Quote: since you plan to keep them locked up every day in the winter months you will need at least a 300 Sq Ft. building a 14 x 22 coop would be a good size for 30 hens

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

you really need to do more reading before you get your chickens...see what other people do in the winter....I live in TN. and it gets 0 and below some days not very often but some days it does normally it is anywhere from 35 - 15 and I always have and always will let my chickens out every day unless it is raining, I have lost 1 chicken when I had let them out and it stared rainning after I let them out but that day it was about 20 degrees and the chicken i lost was a Japanese bantam pullet and they do not tollerate the cold very well and I did not know that at the time. on the days it is rainning I do make them stay in the coop and they did not have 10 Sq ft. per bird they only had a little over 2 sq ft. per bird... but it was only one day every once in a while not 3 + months straight like you want to do.

 

[JackE]

You'll be better off letting them go outside. If they are healthy chickens, they will have no problem with the cold. Your chickens probably got sick before, because they were being kept in an unhealthy environment, like a poorly ventilated coop. THAT's a quick way, in the winter to get some sick birds, not exposure to cold weather. You putting heat in the coop is not doing those birds any favors at all. Guess what happens if during a particularly cold spell, the heat goes out in that coop. You totally unacclimated chickens are really going to suffer, and that will be all on you. Give up on the heater, and let the chickens outside to be chickens.
And if you are talking 30 birds, it BETTER be a big coop, or you may see some cannibalism as well.
Jack

 

[windnleavesfarm]

you really need to do more reading before you get your chickens...see what other people do in the winter....I live in TN. and it gets 0 and below some days not very often but some days it does normally it is anywhere from 35 - 15 and I always have and always will let my chickens out every day unless it is raining, I have lost 1 chicken when I had let them out and it stared rainning after I let them out but that day it was about 20 degrees and the chicken i lost was a Japanese bantam pullet and they do not tollerate the cold very well and I did not know that at the time. on the days it is rainning I do make them stay in the coop and they did not have 10 Sq ft. per bird they only had a little over 2 sq ft. per bird... but it was only one day every once in a while not 3 + months straight like you want to do. 

thank you for sharing i just idk i don't get why it is so bad that i leave my chickens in for the winter? I know farmers up here who have done that for years and they never had a problem. i have had chickens for years and havent had one problem with them being in coop all winter. My rooster and a few hens got frost bite just being in the old coop so there is no way im going to let them out in the middle of winter. Its below zero almost everyday with strong winds. idk am i wrong for doing this?

 

[windnleavesfarm]

If you are going to keep your chickens in the coop in the winter, you need to go by the 10-square-foot rule of thumb, as was suggested earlier.

30 chickens times 10 square feet means you need a 300-square-foot coop. Your coop is 96 square feet.

I think you would be much better off just allowing your chickens out into the run in the winter. Rhode Island Reds and Barnevelders are very hardy chickens. You would only need to keep the chickens in the coop during very cold weather when it is well below freezing.

its below freezing everday tho with strong winds. :/

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

Quote: chickens along with any other animal like fresh air and sun when they can get it...I personally would not want to be locked up in a building all winter long.