Is anyone able to give me advice - New Coop & paddock runs

[crazy chook]

Hi all,

I would love some guidance for my new coops and runs. At the moment i have fences and chickens with little runs ect everywhere, LOL

So I have a roughly 40meter x 40 meter paddock (probably more) that will eventually house all my chickens.

I am planning on building a 5 meter x 5 meter coop in the center and dividing it into 4 with 4 separate runs / areas. So each lot of chooks will have a 2.5 meter x 2.5 meter coop and 20 meter x 20 meter area to roam.

They are let out every morning and locked up in the evening every day with out fail and have plenty of shelter from the rain and sun.

1) I have a group of large layer chickens (9) but I would like to expand. How many would nicely fit in this setup?

2) I also have a group of bantam cochins (pekins). Again how many would be good in the setup.

3) My mixed bantams consisting of pekins frizzles silkies and some friendly crossbreeds

4) This last pen will be used as more of a grow out pen and could have anywhere between 10 and 30 young birds aged between 8 weeks and 16 weeks. I do have coop boxes that I can add to this paddock if there are too many birds for the big coop and again my question is how many would this set up suit.

Thank in advance for all your help.

 

[crazy chook]

Is anyone able to give me advice ??

 

[WingingIt]

I'll give it a shot and we'll see if my translating of measurements holds up.

If you end up with a coop space of 2.5 m x 2.5 m that should come out to roughly 64 sq ft. The general rule for standard chickens is 4 sq ft per bird in the coop. That guideline would give you room for 16 chickens. More room per chicken (ie less chickens than 16) would help them from being crowded and picking on each other if they were to be confined in there for quite a while due to weather or you being gone, etc. You'll have PLENTY of run room for them in each section because the 'rule' there is a minimum of 10 sq. ft. per bird and you'll have WAY more than that in each section.

Smaller birds means you can put more in the same space. I don't have any bantams, so I'm not sure how many more you'd want to increase that guideline by, but you could probably (I'm totally guessing here) put 20 in the same space, I'd think. Hopefully someone with bantams will come along and help you with that part.

As for the grow out pen, it sort of depends on how long they'll be in there, what breeds they are (how big they'll get and how fast) and what your plans are for them. If you are going to grow some in there and then split them up to fill up the other three sections, then, yes, it should hold 30 chicks while they are small. Will it hold 30 full sized chicks until they are full size? I don't think so. If they are only going to be in there until they are fully feathered and then be split up to join other chickens in the other pens then you can work with the space confinements by moving the ones that are ready to be moved once they get too crowded.

 

[ekemily]

If my math is correct, that makes the square footage of your 2.5 x 2.5 meter coop 68 square feet. That would allow 17 chickens, using 4 square feet per bird. However, you have to subtract for some square footage of your nests boxes and anything else that takes up floor space. So, maybe your coop can house more like 13 or 15 birds. Your run is 20 x 20 meters, which is approximately 4356 square feet. Many think that 10 square feet per bird in the run is sufficient. Your run is plenty big and could accomodate many more birds. So, about 13 to 15 chickens per 2.5 meter x 2.5 meter coop. Hope this helps!

 

[crazy chook]

Thanks for your reply.

What about bantam chickens - does the same apply of 4ft per bird?

Their coops are only for seeping in - they are never left in them - They are let out first thing in the morning and locked up at night.

 

[Keri78]

I'm thinking of doing a Backyard Chicken Makeover too!!!

I've been checking out the electrical Poultry Fencing b/c it's relatively inexpensive and it seems to be great in detering predators! I'm thinking of fencing off a small pasture area 20ft. wide by 65ft. long..just one big rectangle that will be done in electric poultry fencing and then within that space I will seperate 3-4 sections for each breed. I kind of like the idea of making my partitions temporary and easily removable so when the fall/winter months hit I can make it one open area and only have to deal with one feed and water bucket!

I'd suggest building your "pasture and then add your chickens that you already have and you'll be able to get a better feel for how comfortable they are in the area and how many you could add to each section. Just b/c you "can" have a certain amount of chickens in one area doesn't mean you neccesarily want to MAX it out. I'd LOVE to see pics! Thanks for including us in on your project!

 

[crazy chook]

Quote:
MY BANTAM PEKINS (COCHINS) These crazy chickens are my favorite, There are 14 of them and at the moment they all huddle into a 2ft x 4 ft coop

NO NEED as they have a larger coop (exactly the same but bigger) in there too and I spend my time moving half of them out of the small en and putting them in the big one but every night off they go into the little pen.

It will be great when they have a really big pen that all of them fit in.

The grow out pen is mainly for chicks that I will sell at 8-12 weeks and some will be added to the other pens - just depends, I am always trying to breed better birds. And I am always hatching out purchased fertile eggs.

I use another area for my broodies and their chicks and they stay there till they are 8 weeks. I also keep the incubated chicks in this area too. It is about 40 meters x 15 meters (130' x 50') with 5 boxes which hold mummy and babies. I will try to take some photos and post them.

 

[crazy chook]

This is a pic of my backyard where the mums and babies are. Once the chicks are 2-3 weeks old they are allowed anywhere in the backyard to roam

These photos are of the paddock which will eventually be the chook yard.

These are of my pekins and the higelty pigelty old setup