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Okay. So the coop is nice (I think). It has 2 roosting bars, 6 nesting boxes, sleeping space and 3 vents. The run area is 8ft because it goes underneath the coop also.
That should be good right?
That should be good right?
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How big is the coop? It's maneuvering room that is important. Your girls will be large birds. They can take up a sq foot, just standing still. They can have a wing span of 3 to 4 feet. Those are big birds! They need room to move around, get up and down, and turn around with all of them inside. For 6 birds, you'll need 6 linear feet of roosting space. You only need 2 or 3 nest boxes. And they sleep on the roosts. For your girls, to prevent overcrowding stress, you need to have at least 5 sq ft of coop space and at least 10 sq ft per bird. Over crowding stress is serious. They can get so stressed out from living in close quarters that they will peck each other to death.Okay. So the coop is nice (I think). It has 2 roosting bars, 6 nesting boxes, sleeping space and 3 vents. The run area is 8ft because it goes underneath the coop also.
That should be good right?
The coop/run looks nice. And with wheels, it looks like it can be easily moved to fresh ground as needed. Lazy Gardener had some solid suggestions, no need for me to repeat...I'll say plus 1 on his post.Hi. Thank you very much for your information & suggestions. Boy, I am really surprised at the quick & great responses that I received! We built the coop at 6x8 but we haven't made a 'run' yet. I am pretty much going about this chicken raising thing one day at a time and learning as I go. I am not sure yet as to how long and high it should be for the amount of chickens I have. I will try to post a picture of what we built. I tried your light in the coop idea and it worked! thank you
We have actually talked with the local hatchery and farm, garden & feed store and they all agreed that the coop we built was pretty big and that the chickens, according to the specific breed information they gave us, will have a good & comfortable amount of coop & run space. They all said the same thing, that the chickens the suggested for us will need 2 sq. ft. of space each The farm & garden feed store always has their chickens & such running around so we were able to get a good idea of the coop & run we wanted to build (half the price of a store bought one that's for sure and much larger too!) along with an idea of how big the chickens that we have will get. The ones at the hatchery & farm, garden & feed store were all around the same size at 3 yrs. old, average I thought. We will be building the run when it stops raining, which will extend another 5ft. from the 8 ft. that we already have built onto the coop & 4ft. tall.
"Rain rain go away & come again some other day" right!
Those stores lie!!!We have actually talked with the local hatchery and farm, garden & feed store and they all agreed that the coop we built was pretty big and that the chickens, according to the specific breed information they gave us, will have a good & comfortable amount of coop & run space. They all said the same thing, that the chickens the suggested for us will need 2 sq. ft. of space each The farm & garden feed store always has their chickens & such running around so we were able to get a good idea of the coop & run we wanted to build (half the price of a store bought one that's for sure and much larger too!) along with an idea of how big the chickens that we have will get. The ones at the hatchery & farm, garden & feed store were all around the same size at 3 yrs. old, average I thought. We will be building the run when it stops raining, which will extend another 5ft. from the 8 ft. that we already have built onto the coop & 4ft. tall.
"Rain rain go away & come again some other day" right!
The 2 sq ft coop thing is based on commercial chicken farm regulations. It does not translate to a happy, healthy backyard flock. Feed store employees rarely know what they are talking about.We have actually talked with the local hatchery and farm, garden & feed store and they all agreed that the coop we built was pretty big and that the chickens, according to the specific breed information they gave us, will have a good & comfortable amount of coop & run space. They all said the same thing, that the chickens the suggested for us will need 2 sq. ft. of space each The farm & garden feed store always has their chickens & such running around so we were able to get a good idea of the coop & run we wanted to build (half the price of a store bought one that's for sure and much larger too!) along with an idea of how big the chickens that we have will get. The ones at the hatchery & farm, garden & feed store were all around the same size at 3 yrs. old, average I thought. We will be building the run when it stops raining, which will extend another 5ft. from the 8 ft. that we already have built onto the coop & 4ft. tall.
"Rain rain go away & come again some other day" right!
Treats should only be 10% of their daily diet.Hi. Thank you very much for your information & suggestions. It has been raining quite a bit here lately but it's suppose to clear up by Thursday so
I will try putting the two in together in an outside pen on that day. The 'timid' one of the bunch so far has been the Australorp. The Buff seems to be the 'boss'
which is confusing because I heard that they are suppose to be good mothers but her and one of the 3 RIR's are the aggressive ones towards the little Ameracauna chick.
The only 'chickie treats' that I have learned about are hanging a piece of cabbage
or peeled & cored apples. I have been giving them mealworms also. They love those! How many times & how often should I give them treats?