I am trying to decide between coop and run sizes. I live in New England and I have several acres of free ranging available to the birds, with a 2 acre field surrounded by woods on all sides. I typically let my birds out of their run 3-5 times a week, in the afternoons for a few hours, mostly supervised. This winter was not typical and we had snow coverage from November up until yesterday, so the birds never left their covered runs unfortunately. Snow is lava to them apparently.
I currently have 5 hens and a rooster, all mid sized birds with 1 hen being a bantam. And I plan to expand up to 10-12 birds this year, with the potential of having 15-16 birds tops, in the future.
I am debating between a walk-in 5x8' coop or a 5x12' coop, and run options are either 4x8, 4x10, 4x12 or 6x8, 6x10, 6x12, all runs are walk-in at 6.5' tall. All runs are covered with clear, sloped roofing, so birds will have protection from rain and snow, plus the coop itself is raised 2' for more run space below.
Here is a picture of the smallest option I am considering - 5x8' coop with 8x4' run - builder/seller says this is good for 10-15 birds:
The coop itself will have 2 roost bars running the full interior length, so either 16' or 24' of total roost space, and the brood boxes will be bump-outs. Plenty of ventilation up high along the full length of the ceiling, plus windows. Here is a picture of what the interiors will look like:
I will have an auto door set to open every day at 7am and close 1 hour after dark each night. The run will be fully secured with hardware cloth and skirts so really I could just leave the pop door open all of the time but I decided to get an auto door anyways, mostly just to seal up for cold winter nights.
I know the standard rules of 4sqf inside and 10sqf run per bird rule seems to apply mostly to folks that keep their birds confined but I feel like my situation should allow for a smaller coop and covered run. Anyone in a similar situation as I am that can provide their feedback? Right now I am leaning towards the 5x8' coop with either 4x10' run or 6x10' run. Again, planning on ~12 medium birds with a few being bantams, and a maximum of 15-16 birds.
I currently have 5 hens and a rooster, all mid sized birds with 1 hen being a bantam. And I plan to expand up to 10-12 birds this year, with the potential of having 15-16 birds tops, in the future.
I am debating between a walk-in 5x8' coop or a 5x12' coop, and run options are either 4x8, 4x10, 4x12 or 6x8, 6x10, 6x12, all runs are walk-in at 6.5' tall. All runs are covered with clear, sloped roofing, so birds will have protection from rain and snow, plus the coop itself is raised 2' for more run space below.
Here is a picture of the smallest option I am considering - 5x8' coop with 8x4' run - builder/seller says this is good for 10-15 birds:
The coop itself will have 2 roost bars running the full interior length, so either 16' or 24' of total roost space, and the brood boxes will be bump-outs. Plenty of ventilation up high along the full length of the ceiling, plus windows. Here is a picture of what the interiors will look like:
I will have an auto door set to open every day at 7am and close 1 hour after dark each night. The run will be fully secured with hardware cloth and skirts so really I could just leave the pop door open all of the time but I decided to get an auto door anyways, mostly just to seal up for cold winter nights.
I know the standard rules of 4sqf inside and 10sqf run per bird rule seems to apply mostly to folks that keep their birds confined but I feel like my situation should allow for a smaller coop and covered run. Anyone in a similar situation as I am that can provide their feedback? Right now I am leaning towards the 5x8' coop with either 4x10' run or 6x10' run. Again, planning on ~12 medium birds with a few being bantams, and a maximum of 15-16 birds.
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