How much outside space for chickens (covered and uncovered)?

[CanyonCoopKeeper]

Hello everyone! I see a lot of 10 sq ft per bird for outside space, but haven't been able to get a solid answer as to whether this is covered run space, uncovered fenced yard space, or a combination of both. Can anyone weigh in? This is for chickens who will not be free ranging and who will be staying in the fenced in yard 100% of the time (unless it becomes necessary to look into supervised free ranging).

 

[rosemarythyme]

10 sq ft per is outside space that they get to have access to the entire day, no matter weather conditions or your presence (i.e. they'll still have access if you're on vacation). If your fenced yard fits that level of access then you can consider the yard your usable outside space.

Since you're in S. Dakota I imagine snow might be an issue, so you need to consider the fact that they may have reduced usable space during the winter, so that might reduce how many birds can comfortably "fit" during winter.

 

[Snowbelt]

I think this guideline is for a combination of covered and uncovered space. However, it makes sense to cover as much of the space as you reasonably can, especially if you have flighty birds. I have two interconnected, uncovered runs (24 x 26 feet and 13 x 18 feet) for 11 hens. They are fenced with 5 foot and 6 foot cedar fencing. The Orpingtons and Brahmas are perfectly content within those boundaries, but the Wyandottes fly out every morning to free range and go back and forth at will. I will be covering both areas with poultry netting to prevent this.

The other issue I've had is that very little of the run is covered. That's not a problem for most of the year, but when the snow is 4 inches of more in depth, and in other inclement weather, the hens stay in the coop. I will be covering an area or at least 6 x 15 feet so they have snow-free areas to use during winter.

 

[AinaWGSD]

It can be either or a combination of both. Run space is any fenced area outside of the coop.

My farm chickens have a big enough run that covering it would be cost prohibitive. But my in town flock has a 20x20 completely covered run.