need help! how much pen room do 6 silkie chickens need? plz answer!

[8silkies]

okay, i have 6 silkie chickens on the way and i am trying to build a pen. but i am soooo confused about the size. i know you are supposed to have 8 to 10 sqft of pen space per chicken, right? isn't it less for silkies?

and when you say (i.e.) 10 sqft feet is that 10 sqft total (3.1622776 x 3.1622776)? or is it really 100 sqft (10 x 10)? please let me know, cause i am sooo confused.

oh and, its actually going to be 2 pens b/c i need one pen for 2 white silkie hens and a white silkie rooster; and another pen for 2 splash silkie hens and a splash silkie rooster. is that a good ratio for silkies, 2:1 (hen to
rooster) ????

please answer if you know! thanks!

 

[willowcol]

My coop for silkies I only do 3 ft per bird. But thats not counting the run area.
Guess I could have added more info. I have 4 white silkies together, thier coop is only 4X3, bigger breeds need 4 ft per bird I believe.

 

[HennysMom]

1 sq ft = 12 inches by 12 inches ; multiply by 10

I believe silkies need 4 sq ft per bird and standards are 10 sq ft per bird, but dont quote me on it.

Why are you separating your birds? are you worried about cross breeding or something? Are they going to be show birds?

 

[8silkies]

well i am going to sell some of the eggs and chicks, and some people don't like when different colors are in the same pen.

 

[8silkies]

so if i was going to put 3 SILKIES in a pen would the pen need to be 15 feet by 15 feet? (if i did 5 sq ft per silkie)? that seems like ALOT of room for 3 small chickens, dont you think?

 

[willowcol]

no for 3 silkies even doing 4 ft per bird it would only have to be 3ftX4ft. lol

 

[8silkies]

wait i know that is wrong.

would i do my pen 4 ft by 4 ft? that would = 16 sqft. so would that be enough room for 3 silkies?

PLZ ANSWER!!! thnx! i think what i put above is right but i am not sure.

 

[willowcol]

easier way to figure it out, say you go buy 1 floor tile that is 12 inches X12inches that is 1 square ft. you would need 4 tiles to be 4. square foot 15 to be 15 square ft. so 3 ft x 5 ft equals 15 square ft. or 3 rows of tiles X 5 rows of tiles.

 

[8silkies]

okay that helps a little...lets say i do an 8 ft by 8 ft pen, that would be 64 sqft feet, so how many sqft is that per chicken ( if i have 3 silkies in the pen?? (this is were i get confused! ugh!

 

[willowcol]

Just divide it by the number of birds so 64 divided by 3 silkies is around 21 sq ft per bird.