need help wanting to move 6 week old chicks outside

[AmyTx101]

im wanting to move my 6 week old chicks outside.. i do have a 10 week old that we moved 2 of the bigger chicks in with her and she/he loves her new roomates.. but im wanting to put them outside during the day. most have feathers now and was curious what would be the perfect size coop and run for 24 chicks? im working with a man to help me build the perfect one but when it comes to size im clueless.. i do want them to have a coop to go to at night and play in the run during the day.. but if the coop is well protected from predators do they really need a huge coop to be locked up at night in>? im in texas and hopefully soon it will get cooler.. just need ideas for size

 

[cafarmgirl]

Well it depends on what you want. If you want to go by the written "rule" that, if I recall correctly, is 2 square feet of coop space and 4 square feet of run space per bird, that is one way to figure it out. I personally don't go by that at all as I have found those rules of thumb to be much to small for my liking. I have 8 standard birds in a 5 x 13 coop with a 13 x 23 foot run. They also get out to roam my pasture most of each day.

So my birds have a little more then 8 square feet of coop floor space per bird and much more in the run. And I wouldn't want it any smaller. There's always a bossy hen in the group, sometimes squabbles occur and it's much better for them to have room to get away from each other when needed. When the weather is bad they spend a lot of time hanging out in the coop so it's nice to have it large enough for them to be comfortable in there during a storm. Some people will tell you to go ahead and cram a lot of chickens into a small space but I personally don't like seeing my birds like that nor dealing with the issues that arise from overcrowding.

So I guess what I would suggest is to figure out what your minimum requirements would be for that many birds and then build it as large as you can from there. Your chickens will thank you for the space!

 

[AmyTx101]

the one i want is 6 feet deep by 16 feet wide.. of course their would be added run to this for them to roam..




this one has more run and smaller coop but this coop on here would be bigger... just thinking really




i live in the city in texas but i live on an acre so i have half an acre to work with..