How much room do Chicks need?

[pamarino17]

The book, raising chickens for dummies says that for the first 4-5 weeks, the chicks need 6 square inches each. Well, that seemed kind of small, so I gave them each around 20-24 square inches (roughly 4x5 - 4x6). It seemed like plenty of room at first, but now they're into their third week and it seems awfully crowded. I don't want them to be living in stressful conditions. Is this enough room for another week and a half or two weeks?

 

[theFox]

You need to find a better book 1-8 weeks light chickens 1.5 square feet, heavy chickens 2.5 square feet.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Quote:
Everything I've ever read says 1/2 sq. ft for the first 4 weeks and 3/4 sq. ft after that while in the brooder. So by your calculation 6 Barred Rocks would need 15 sq. ft. of space or more than a 4 by 4 area. I'm sure that would be great, but where do you brood 25 heavy breed chicks?

 

[snowflake]

you'll need more room soon as they grow very FAST. if they start pecking each other that is a good sign they are to crowded. We had our first 25 in a box about 3'by 8' it worked fine for the first 2 or 3 weeks then we added another about the same size for another 2 weeks then another 4'x4'

 

[buckabucka]

I have the "Dummies" book also, and I think where it says 6 square inches per bird, it should have read, "six inches squared per bird" (or 36 square inches, a 6 x 6 inch square for each bird). That's just my guess.

We are getting our first chickens (26) in May, and were thinking of building a 3' x 4' brooder. With the 6x6" square theory, that should hold 48 birds, so I'm hoping it will be big enough for 26. Perhaps it should be even bigger? I have no idea how big they get in 6 weeks.

We haven't built anything yet, so I'd be interested in others' opinions.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Everything I've ever read says 1/2 sq. ft for the first 4 weeks and 3/4 sq. ft after that while in the brooder. So by your calculation 6 Barred Rocks would need 15 sq. ft. of space or more than a 4 by 4 area. I'm sure that would be great, but where do you brood 25 heavy breed chicks?

You brood heavy chickens partially in a brooding pen and then in their coop.

The only real requirement for brooding other than water, food, or space is proper temperature.

I currently have 7 heavies and 7 lights and they really need a lot space if they are confined and brooding is confined housing.

The space is needed to severely reduce the chances that a chick will be eaten by its fellow flock members, if you take a look in this forum section https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=10 and even other posts in this section you'll find all sorts of complaints about feather picking, eating, pecking, cannibalism, missing feathers, etc ... most of these post wouldn't be there if the poster had provided enough room for their birds. They grow fast and if you start off with small space you'll eventually have to increase it (there are posts on here about having to increase the size of brooders after a week or two or three .....). The way to get a handle on a lot of chicken issues is to provide the chickens plenty of room and the proper temperatures. I did my brooding in a 28 square foot circle brooder until the girls outgrew it at 3 weeks, at that point I had two choices increase the size of my circle or put the girls into their big girl coop. Since I could maintain the temperature for them in the coop I put them into it.

They have been outside since then with a few exceptions for wounded birds that have been allowed into a 32 square foot temporarily walled off section of our garage which is used as a hospital.

ETA: Last year when I was doing my research into raising chickens I talked to several people and read several books. One of the people I talked to said give them plenty of room, another said they don't need that much room.

So then the questions became about how things went while they were raising the birds, the one that said they didn't need much room had all kinds of trouble with bloody birds and birds being pecked to death.

So you can do as you wish, I wanted a nice relaxing hobby and not a front row seat at a slaughter house. My chickens get the room along with good eats and clean water. They produce eggs and follow us around always looking for a treat. They are also quite the actors.

 

[buckabucka]

Quote:
Wow! So your brooder ended out the equivalent of 8 feet by 8 feet, or the size of two sheets of plywood?? Yikes. That's 40% of our coop (11 x 13). I hope it will be big enough!

 

[pamarino17]

okay - so I guess I am way off here!!!

I thought my brooder seemed a little small now that these guys have like TRIPLED THEIR SIZE in like two and half weeks.

I guess I'll have to move them out to the coop soon since I dont think I can expand the brooder. SO..... here is my next question:

If I'm anticipating roughly 18 laying hens, is an 8'x8' coop big enough? I read three square feet per chicken in the coop.

 

[Chipper]

I also think they meant a 6"x 6" square, which is 36 square inches.

 

[theFox]

The space needed in the coop depends upon the birds being raised and weather or not they are going to spending most of their time outside or inside.

Confined housing (birds spend most of their time inside and are not caged) Bantam 5 square feet, Lights 7.5 square feet, Heavy 10 square feet. This excludes roost, waterer, feeder, and nesting space.

Open housing (birds spend almost all of their time outside) Bantam 2 square feet, Lights 3 square feet, Heavy 4 square feet. This excludes roost, waterer, feeder, and nesting space.