Looking for advice please, thank you.

[BuddyT]

Hello,
I have a few questions about chickens/duck coops. I have not yet gotten any chicks or ducklings but i am hoping to with n the next 3-6 months. I was told that duck and chicken requirements are quite similar.
I intend to start with ducks and intend to get chickens when my Girl Friend recovers from the first shock.
So my questions are:
How many ducks can i get with an 8x8 coop?
How large of a run should i make with that many ducks?
How would you change the first two questions for chicken?
I intend to make my coop tall enough for me to stand comfortably inside to preform candeling and have shelves to store supplies higher up, What problems do you see with this?
How much space would the above number of chickens require for roosting?
How many nest boxes for both ducks and chickens?


If I accidentally confused some one i apologize

I am NOT planning to put ducks and chickens in the same coop/run.

I am planning on Rhode Island reds for chickens and Khaki Campbells for ducks

If you can answer even one of my questions I would appreciate it, also any advice would be GREAT Thanks!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Hi and welcome to BYC!

You'll find a lot of information by going up to "Search" in the blue bar and putting in the key words. Most of these questions have been answered many times over so it's probably why you haven't received immediate responses.

When I decided to build my coop I looked at all the coop designs (top of the page) and picked out what I like most about each coop.

I don't know anything about keeping ducks. The rule for keeping standard chickens is 4 sq. ft. per bird in the coop, 10 in the run. I believe more is better...you'll have fewer problems. Give a foot per bird for roosting and a nest box for every 4 chickens. I have a service area where I have access to my nest boxes. There's never enough space!! I highly recommend having a coop that you can stand up in.

Enjoy the process. Here's a pic of my service area....it's packed now!

 

[BuddyT]

Thank you! Sorry for the repeat questions. I didn't even think of the search bar (I am kinda new to using forums)

 

[7L Farm]

Being able to walk into your coop is definitely the way to go.Having a storage area in the coop like knock kneed would be a big plus. You then have all the necessity to raise your flock real convenient. If the weather goes south your feed is right there so it doesn't get wet .In other words everything you need is in one building.

 

[CarolynF]

I have only one number that's different than what knock kneed mentioned. Quite often I've seen 3 sq. ft. per hen as the "rule" inside the coop, but agree that the more the better.

The only time I've seen my hens go inside the coop is to lay an egg or roost at night so for me the 3sf works just fine. I have to say though, that I haven't been through a winter with them yet. They may go inside more then, we'll see.

Have fun!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Always better to go bigger because you WILL have more than you originally anticipated!

I have to laugh because when I started coming on BYC I was in the same boat as you are. I've learned soooo much on here.

Just remember that there are 100 ways to keep chickens. Start with the basics and then figure what works best for you. I
like a clean coop AND I like to spend time with my chickens so I like fewer birds to be able to handle the upkeep. I have a human
door on the run side of my coop so that I can leave it open on hot days. It actually stays cooler in my insulated coop than outside
so the chickens use the coop and run all day long. I let them out for a few hours each day when I'm home to give them foraging
opportunities, which helps alleviate boredom so they pick on each other less.

I love pics, so here are a couple more of my coop & run (I haven't gotten a coop page done yet...I'm not very techy)
This is when it was first built, nest boxes not even in yet . . . it's not THIS clean now!~:

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Oh, forgot to mention, we LOVE pictures! Once you made a certain # of comments you'll be able to post pics.

While you're building it's a good idea to post pics because people will see things that you don't. It's a lot easier to
fix while you're in the process of building then when you're all done.