is this hoop house large enough?

[patandchickens]

If they will be let out at the crack of dawn and not shut in til they've put themselves onto the roost and dozed off, all you need is something big enough to contain the linear feet of roost required (tho I would recommend being a little generous and giving them at least 1 linear foot of roost per chicken, e.g. two 16' roosts or four 8' roosts for your 35 birds). Depending on how squished you want to be *yourself* when you're working in there, that needn't be an especially large structure.

If they will realistically be locked into the house for longer than that sometimes, you'd want more room.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[lisamarie]

hi pat,

okay, i am feeling more optimistic. my husband leaves the house at the crack of dawn and w/ our last chickens, we didn't close up the coop until they all put themselves in at night, so maybe it will work! i hope so, but we can always build another hoop house if need be.

thanks,
lisa

 

[lisamarie]

just found this from plamondon site:

Stocking Density Inside the House

Pastured or range broilers are usually stocked at a density of about 1¼ square feet per bird for all kinds of housing. This corresponds to about 5 pounds live weight per square foot. Using this latter number allows you to calculate the amount of space needed for broilers of any size.

For hens, the density varies:

* Roosting houses (no feed or nest boxes inside): 1¼ square feet per hen.
* Range houses (feed and nest boxes inside): 2 square feet per hen.
* Winter housing (where ranging is prevented much of the time): 2-3 square feet per hen if there is enough insulation and ventilation to eliminate condensation, or 4-8 square feet per hen otherwise.

Giving more space than the minimum amount recommended almost always makes management easier, but is less profitable because there are fewer birds.