i have 23 3 weeks old chicks

[AmyTx101]

and so far they have been in a brooder which they are outgrowing. talking with the guy at the feed store that owns 300 free range chickens. He told me that chickens need 1 foot per chicken of a chicken coop or pen or they will cannabalize each other..is this true or was he trying to get me to drop big money on there coops..heck i would have to buy 3 coops to make sure my flock is safe.. I have 3 5 month old rhose island reds who have more than enough room but they wont allow my 8 weeker back there yet..currently there all in a huge cage and my 8 weeker has his/her own but does get to play with the babies daily.. im thinking i need to do something fast there getting so big now..any advice on how big there coop run needs to be

 

[CAjerseychick]

Check out the coop,run design and maintenance section of the Forum-- theres great info in there-- its reccomended to have 4 ft per bird in coop 10ft in run! (I feel your pain, I have to leave the run door open so they can "free range" all day in the fenced back yard to meet their space requirements... Good luck...)

 

[Mrs. K]

if I have the count right, you will have 27 head at various ages and sizes, but by Christmas all should be full size. That will take a big coup/ run. It will cost quite a bit in feed over the winter, but all should be laying well. But full size chickens take up considerable more room.

You do need a lot of space for healthy chickens, and you will find that your flock is stressed if crowded too close together, they get crabby and fight a lot. They do often pick at a lowly one often until death if there is no place for the bird to get away.

You either have to build a bigger coup/run or reduce the size of your flock.

MrsK

 

[donrae]

At 1 square foot per bird you're going to be posting on here a lot with illness, pecking, cannibalism, egg eating, etc. Would you want to live that close to someone else?

In a coop with a run attached, rule of thumb is 4 square feet per bird in the coop and 10 in the run. Those can shift some, if you have a huge run the birds always have access to you can have a smaller coop. But that many birds are going to need over 100 square feet enclosed run, and a big, BIG run. At least 300 feet space. That's a lot of investment if you're starting from scratch. And at 3 weeks I'm thinking your birds are going to need bigger quarters ASAP.