How much space when you have a couple of roos?

[aart]

We also have a fairly large outbuilding on the property where we can brood/quarantine, etc if needed but this will give us some flexibility. I need to pick up a few more dog crates-we have a couple like you pictured but we could always use a few more.

That'll be good for quarantine, if it's far enough away...
...but I like to brood right in the coop, makes integration of new chicks so much easier!
I have 4 crates and almost wish I had a couple more but not enough to shop for them, got most mine at yard sales/flea markets for less tan $20 each.

 

[lutherpug]

That'll be good for quarantine, if it's far enough away...
...but I like to brood right in the coop, makes integration of new chicks so much easier!
I have 4 crates and almost wish I had a couple more but not enough to shop for them, got most mine at yard sales/flea markets for less tan $20 each.

I hear ya....I won't go out of my way to find any more but I'll keep my eyes open when I'm doing my regular thrift store/estate sale/flea market hustle and pick them up as I see them

We had a mess of time integrating chicks the last time we did it but to your point, it would have been a much different ballgame if we had more room. We managed through it but we learned a bunch about how we wouldn't do it the next time. The outbuilding will be ideal for quarantining as necessary. It's a big jump from 6 hens to 24 hens and 2 roosters but I'm super excited about putting our previous lessons learned to good use on this next phase of the adventure.

 

[BantyChooks]

I happen to be a fan of keeping multiple males in the same flock. I have three right now, not counting chicks, and occasionally up to 12--15 before summer cull. Raising them together gives an opportunity for them to learn proper submissive behaviour, and often the subordinate rooster is a real darling with people too. That's just a generalization, though, so don't come after me with pitchforks if they're both jerks.

I think how much extra space you need changes with how many birds you have, assuming you have standard space for each. If there are 20 birds and two are roosters, you are going to need way more square footage per bird than if you have 50 and 5 are roosters. Once you have more than two they spend all their time harassing each other instead of the hens. My coop is 144 square feet and I have 30--50 birds in there depending on the time of year. They all get along well; troublemakers are culled. There needs to be enough space that the lower ranking male can get out of the personal space of the other.

As a disclaimer, I do have one fantastic alpha male that makes it possible to keep way more cockerels than otherwise feasible. He was the underling in a pair of cockerels I got as a restart to the rooster population of my flock, by the way.

 

[Shadrach]

How about splitting the hens up into three groups with a cock for each group and housing each group separately. It needn't be much more expensive to make the run and coop divided into sections. It's one way of avoiding possible problems with the cocks.

 

[True Patriot]

You have gotten a lot of good knowledgeable responses. And you really seem like you want this to work, I wish more people would do research like this before jumping in. What is the purpose behind getting so many birds? Eggs and meat are the two most common reasons people get chickens. Breeding and pets are two more reasons. (Generally not this many though) In your situation I would consider housing by purpose if there is more than one. It will make life easier to manage. The suggestions if housing as multiple flocks also have merit. The risk of negative dynamic development between groups is reduced/eliminated. And proper spacing between habitats will reduce the likely hood of disease outbreak affecting all. If multiple groups interest you @Shadrach has several threads with his observations on group dynamics that are interesting to read. Best of luck to you.

 

[BantyChooks]

How about splitting the hens up into three groups with a cock for each group and housing each group separately. It needn't be much more expensive to make the run and coop divided into sections. It's one way of avoiding possible problems with the cocks.

Warning for that---unless the fences are separated by maybe a foot, or more if possible, they will fence-fight non stop because they can't ever establish dominance. I had one almost lose an eye that way. Roosters can be pretty stupid.

You have gotten a lot of good knowledgeable responses. And you really seem like you want this to work, I wish more people would do research like this before jumping in. What is the purpose behind getting so many birds? Eggs and meat are the two most common reasons people get chickens. Breeding and pets are two more reasons. (Generally not this many though) In your situation I would consider housing by purpose if there is more than one. It will make life easier to manage. The suggestions if housing as multiple flocks also have merit. The risk of negative dynamic development between groups is reduced/eliminated. And proper spacing between habitats will reduce the likely hood of disease outbreak affecting all. If multiple groups interest you @Shadrach has several threads with his observations on group dynamics that are interesting to read. Best of luck to you.

I like your title.

 

[Shadrach]

Warning for that---unless the fences are separated by maybe a foot, or more if possible, they will fence-fight non stop because they can't ever establish dominance. I had one almost lose an eye that way. Roosters can be pretty stupid.


I like your title.

You build a solid partition.

 

[lutherpug]

I've had chickens before so this won't all be totally new to us-just the scale and the rooster part. These chickens will be for eggs and our enjoyment. The whole reason for our move to an acreage property was to be able to have a big flock and eventually add goats. Having 3 coops is just not feasible for us at this time nor is it how I would like to set things up longterm. This will either work out or it won't-I'm just trying to give it the best shot at success. If we can't have multiple roosters or if we end up with one that has to make a journey to the great crockpot in the sky, we are prepared for that. The main priority is the hens.

 

[BantyChooks]

You build a solid partition.

That works too, but I wanted to make sure that if she was going the standard wire fencing route she didn't end up with bloody birds.

I've had chickens before so this won't all be totally new to us-just the scale and the rooster part. These chickens will be for eggs and our enjoyment. The whole reason for our move to an acreage property was to be able to have a big flock and eventually add goats. Having 3 coops is just not feasible for us at this time nor is it how I would like to set things up longterm. This will either work out or it won't-I'm just trying to give it the best shot at success. If we can't have multiple roosters or if we end up with one that has to make a journey to the great crockpot in the sky, we are prepared for that. The main priority is the hens.

Sounds great

 

[Shadrach]

That works too, but I wanted to make sure that if she was going the standard wire fencing route she didn't end up with bloody birds.


Sounds great

You're right to warn about fence fighting. I had a cock lose his back toe because of it