Metric chicken maths - help!!!

[jingles]

Hi all,

I have been reading threads on coop sizes with a calculator coverting feet to meters, and my head is officially spinning!!

I currently have 3 girls (2x Sussex and 1x Australorp). They are big at 7 months, and getting bigger.

My girls live in a penthouse coop

http://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/chook-pens/the-penthouse/

They have an automatic door opener so are let out at dawn and locked in after dusk. Their food and water is in a 12.5m x 12.5m fenced area. They only use the coop to sleep & lay eggs. The coop is only around 1.2m x 1m tops, with an external nesting box. They (& I) like their setup. My only issue is that I can't get them to roost as I think there is not enough space to get up and down. They sit on the bars in the run, so I think they might like to if they could. Regardless, there is no fighting or stress issues that I can see.


The problem is that I want 4 more heavy breed birds and the chicken maths on this forum means I need a new coop! From my calculations, my coop (which is meant to be for 10 birds) would fit around 4, and my run 52 (if only my husband would agree ). I cannot find any coop that would fit the 4sqft per bird rule, so would need to go to a shed . By my calculations I need a 1.8x1.8m indoor area (let's allow 9 total in case there are some super cute breeds going).

My main questions are:

a) does 4sqft per bird apply to my super charged heavy ladies?
B) do I really need that amount of space if they only sleep and lay there?- the food and water is outside and if the weather is bad they sit under a tree and never shelter in the coop.

As an aside - I am most perturbed that coops that are up for 10 birds fit 4 - something is not right somewhere - not happy

I am so confused - please help!!

Cheers,

Julia

 

[Ridgerunner]

Julia, you might follow the link in my signature to get some of my thoughts on room for chickens. I don’t give you hard and fast rules, more of things to think about. I do not believe in magic numbers for chickens in room or really anything else. We keep them in so many different unique situations that no one number can be right for all of us.

I am an advocate for providing more space rather than shoehorning them into the least amount of space possible. I find I have fewer behavioral problems, have to work less hard, and have more flexibility dealing with issues that come up if I have more room rather than less. It makes my life easier. It’s not that they go from life if great and no problems exist at 4 square feet per chicken but life is a total disaster at 3.9999 square feet per chicken. These numbers are not magic.

I do hope you will follow that link but some of the things I think pertinent to you:

Don’t put blinders on and think of coop space in isolation. Coops and runs are not chicken concepts, they are human concepts. Chickens don’t care if space is in a coop by itself, a coop plus run, or if they sleep in trees and totally free range. What chickens care about is that they have the space they require when they need it, wherever it is. Chickens are flock animals and really enjoy being together. But they also have a pecking order and flock dominance issues. Once the flock has stabilized and the pecking order has been established they usually get along fine, but occasionally there is conflict, especially with differences in maturity and when the pecking order gets upset. One way chickens have learned to live together in a flock situation is that when there is conflict the weaker runs away from the stronger. They need room to run away and to avoid the stronger to start with. If that pop door is open when they are awake and the weaker can run outside if it needs to, life is much better than if it is trapped in a tight space with a bully. Or if the bully is outside the weaker can go inside to avoid them. Part of that is that you have the weather conditions so they can go outside.

Practically all the coops you buy greatly overstate the amount of chickens they will hold. The numbers might work if you use industrial methods, trim their beaks so they can’t eat each other and micromanage their daily lives controlling light, feed, and everything about them. Most of us are not into keeping their chickens like that. We hold ourselves to a different standard. A shed is probably a very good way to go. They are generally fairly easy to convert to a coop, just add roosts and a pop door, and handle nests. You can use the human door instead of the pop door but a smaller pop door generally lets in a lot less rain and helps keep the coop dry.

If you integrate, and it sounds like you will, you need more space (whether inside or out). They will rearrange the pecking order. There will be conflict. They will need space. If you get immature chickens there will be other issues that require extra space. I would not toss that old coop, especially if you are going to integrate. I’d arrange the two coops so they share the run but partition the run so either coop can have its own portion of run. That will help tremendously in integration plus allow you to isolate chickens if the need arises. I do like that extra flexibility a second coop and run give you.

Good luck!

 

[jingles]

Thanks heaps,

I have already read your article, which prompted me to ask the questions of how much space is really required. At the end of the day, as you said the best think is to provide as much space as I can to reduce stress. We live on a small farm, so have no excuses to scrimp on space, so I guess a shed it is! I was just being lazy & impatient wanting a pre-fab coop, as I can't wait to increase my flock .

Thanks again for the advice,

Julia

 

[Snafumonkey79]

I have seen it that heavy breeds(I'm thinking Jersey giants) need 5sqft, medium 3-4sqft, and bantam 2sqft. However I'm more inclined to think that vertical space has to count in there somewhere. The more roost space I think would allow for less floor space. I'm currently using a lean-to shed for a coop and building a more traditional one for my bantams so that my girlfriend won't yell at me for getting more chickens.