Is this acceptable in the run?

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I would definitely make the run a lot bigger because right now you only have 5sq ft of space per bird, the bare minimum is 10sq ft per bird. I personally think 15-20sq ft per chicken is a better minimum than 10 though especially if they will spend most of their time in the run. You’ll have major behavioral issues such as feather picking and other bullying behaviors with only 5sq ft like there is now. I just want to let you know so you won’t have to deal with aggression issues between your girls!

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

From the picture of the coop and run, I would have framed out the run the same length as the coop and extended out. Then you would definitely have a good amount of space for the chickens and for you should you need to do maintenance like food and water, etc.

Funny, because that’s what I originally wanted to do except idk if I could of done that with the cattle panels

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

I would definitely make the run a lot bigger because right now you only have 5sq ft of space per bird, the bare minimum is 10sq ft per bird. I personally think 15-20sq ft per chicken is a better minimum than 10 though especially if they will spend most of their time in the run. You’ll have major behavioral issues such as feather picking and other bullying behaviors with only 5sq ft like there is now. I just want to let you know so you won’t have to deal with aggression issues between your girls!

Thank you I definitely have to expand for sure lol stupid google! I can never get a legit answer

 

[rosemarythyme]

When you say maintenance in the chicken run, am I suppose to add bedding of some sort to the grass?

The grass is fine for the time being, but as the chickens scratch around they'll kill it off. At that point, in most set ups you'll need some form of litter to keep the area from turning into a mud pit. I think you mentioned deep litter? That should work well in most climates, provided that the drainage is added, or existing drainage in the run area is good.

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

The grass is fine for the time being, but as the chickens scratch around they'll kill it off. At that point, in most set ups you'll need some form of litter to keep the area from turning into a mud pit. I think you mentioned deep litter? That should work well in most climates, provided that the drainage is added, or existing drainage in the run area is good.

Ooo okay so pine shavings on the run floor works the same as in the coop?

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

The grass is fine for the time being, but as the chickens scratch around they'll kill it off. At that point, in most set ups you'll need some form of litter to keep the area from turning into a mud pit. I think you mentioned deep litter? That should work well in most climates, provided that the drainage is added, or existing drainage in the run area is good.

I was thinking maybe sand for the outside but will that burn their feet in the summer if I don’t have a shade clothe ?

 

[FunClucks]

Ooo okay so pine shavings on the run floor works the same as in the coop?

Look into wood chips from a tree service or the city dump (where the tree service dumps their mulched wood). My sister used the site below and had them within the same day. Minimum/no cost.

https://getchipdrop.com/

Also PLEASE give your chickens a minimum of 15 square feet per chicken outside if you possibly can, especially if you want to keep a rooster. You will avoid so many bad behaviors starting that way. Once some of them start, they're nearly impossible to get rid of, and your chickens will be miserable. Miserable chickens lay smaller eggs. No joke, I relocated two of my lowest hens to my new coop and all of a sudden those two plus many of the remaining lower pecking order hens in the original coop started laying larger eggs. They were so much less stressed!

 

[FunClucks]

I was thinking maybe sand for the outside but will that burn their feet in the summer if I don’t have a shade clothe ?

You'll need to provide plenty of shade, for sure. If you lived in the desert sand would make more sense, but in your climate maybe not. Sand has to be kept dry all the time pretty much in order to work well is my understanding. Great for covered runs, not so great unless it's your native soil in an uncovered run. Never used it myself, we get too much wet weather where I'm at and wood chips are cheaper.

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

I'm not exactly sure how high our windows are. We have two windows, in the same location on each side of the door. We use poop boards with a roost. The poop board is about 24" off ground, then the roost is about 12" above that. The girls can look out the window while on the roost.

That looks awesome!! That’s pretty much the design I intend on doing and with the extra bottom part in case of sick or broody hens

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

Look into wood chips from a tree service or the city dump (where the tree service dumps their mulched wood). My sister used the site below and had them within the same day. Minimum/no cost.

https://getchipdrop.com/

Also PLEASE give your chickens a minimum of 15 square feet per chicken outside if you possibly can, especially if you want to keep a rooster. You will avoid so many bad behaviors starting that way. Once some of them start, they're nearly impossible to get rid of, and your chickens will be miserable. Miserable chickens lay smaller eggs. No joke, I relocated two of my lowest hens to my new coop and all of a sudden those two plus many of the remaining lower pecking order hens in the original coop started laying larger eggs. They were so much less stressed!

I am so upset at not going with my gut instinct and building the same sized run outside. However, it’s an easy fix I’ll just add another two 10ft boards and make another door

I want them to be happy chickens for sure . Thank you so much I appreciate all the advice