New chick mama to 3

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JenCussins

JenCussins

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5 Years
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Hi everyone, I'm new here and brand new to the land of raising chickens. We just got 3 baby chicks a week ago. They are adorable and my 3 kiddos love them. I'm looking forward to reading and learning lots.

I do have a question...we ordered a coop and after reading further, it says that it is suitable for only 3 full size chickens. Can I make this work with 3 if I create a third nesting box somehow?

Thanks!!!
 
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Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on your new flock! A great place to start is the BYC Learning Center, lots of nice articles on all aspects of poultry keeping you'll find helpful https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
Usually you only need one nest box for every 3/4 hens to lay eggs in, so two nest boxes for three hens should be plenty. The problem with most of the coop kits is that they don't have enough space in general, the rule of thumb is you want 4 square feet inside the coop (not counting nest boxes, food water etc) and 10 square feet in the run for each standard sized hen. If you live where the weather is nice and the birds will not have to spend a lot of time in the coop you can get away with less, but if you have winters where they will be stuck in the coop, you do not want them crowded in there or they start picking on each other etc. There is a really nice article in the Learning Center on helping to figure out how much space you need https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
 
Thank you, your post was very helpful. I'm so excited.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
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Good advice from Kelsie
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Kelsie has given you some great advice. If nest boxes become a problem in the future, should a broody be hogging up a box, you can always go external on the boxes. My first coop was way to tiny to add them to the inside, so I cut a hole in the outside of the coop and installed the box to hang out on the outside. This way you are not taking up any interior space.

Enjoy your new babies and this wonderful adventure you are on and welcome to our flock!
 

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