New Coop! Upping My Game!

[Cryss]

80 chickens on less than 1/2 acre, am I understanding that correct?
How big will the run be for 80 chickens?
That's one cool coop!!

Right! A run will need to be 800sqft. That’s like 20ftX40ft. Add a coop of 320sqft, put it at the 20ft end of the run, now you have an area of 20ftX56ft which is 1120sqft. That’s a darn good chunk of occupied land. Of course it won’t have grass in it, but 80 birds allowed to free range will be spilling over into neighbors yards. If you somehow fence them in successfully to keep them off neighbors yards your 1/2 acre will be stripped of all vegetation.

 

[Manhen]

Interesting on the wire size and manure falling through. I was thinking about this a little bit today.

What do you think of putting collapsed cardboard boxes on the floor under the roost to "catch" the droppings, and then replace and compost the cardboard as needed?

Boo. You will regret that sorry

 

[Cryss]

Boo. You will regret that sorry

Exactly why I recommended poop boards.

 

[Manhen]

Exactly why I recommended poop boards.

A roof under the roost?

 

[Manhen]

If you somehow fence them in successfully to keep them off neighbors yards

I saw that 4 ft fence only encouraged the chickens to stay in, I have a 6 foot welded wire fence with birds in it now (Jan 15ish) that were hatched at the end of June, July, and August. None have flown over yet, or will I think. This summer some of the young might...

EDIT: If you put one up in a neighborhood, be sure to paint the t-posts and fence multicolored BEFORE you install it, it will be much easier. To get away with.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Boo. You will regret that sorry

Exactly why I recommended poop boards.

So, no on the cardboard? What's the reasoning....no questioning it, just want to get a better idea.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Right! A run will need to be 800sqft. That’s like 20ftX40ft. Add a coop of 320sqft, put it at the 20ft end of the run, now you have an area of 20ftX56ft which is 1120sqft. That’s a darn good chunk of occupied land. Of course it won’t have grass in it, but 80 birds allowed to free range will be spilling over into neighbors yards. If you somehow fence them in successfully to keep them off neighbors yards your 1/2 acre will be stripped of all vegetation.

The run is a not perfect rectangle, so I need to re-measure to get the exact dimensions, but the "long side" is 100 plus feet, so I think I'll be in a good place.

The yard is already fenced, and there's an existing run that contains the chickens well. It'll get expanded, and there's a few spots where I may swap out the existing fence with a bit taller one (the existing fence is a bit beaten up in one spot).

I expect the run won't have any vegetation, as most runs don't....but hope to use wood chips to keep it neat and tidy (yes, it'll be a LOT of wood chips...gotta work on sourcing!)

Again, still planning the exact logistics!

 

[aart]

So, no on the cardboard? What's the reasoning....no questioning it, just want to get a better idea.

Gonna be hard to manage the poop from 80 chickens.
That would be a lot of cardboard to change out every day or three(I imagine the odor would get yah after that long).
I love my poop boards, sifted daily poop goes to a friends compost, but I only keep 15-20 birds and would not want to manage boards with more than that.

 

[Cryss]

Gonna be hard to manage the poop from 80 chickens.
That would be a lot of cardboard to change out every day or three(I imagine the odor would get yah after that long).
I love my poop boards, sifted daily poop goes to a friends compost, but I only keep 15-20 birds and would not want to manage boards with more than that.

I was thinking of 80 chickens in a coop meant for 40 tops pooping on the cardboard. My 8 hens fill a 5 gallon bucket in less than a week, probably a bucket and a half in a full week. That’s 15 five gallon buckets a week, or over 2 five gallon buckets a day. That’s some messy cardboard to be handling. Much easier to scoop into a container to carry away. Much smaller volume of matter without the added cardboard. Then there’s the chickens eating the cardboard. Nope. Wouldn’t recommend it.

 

[Cryss]

The run is a not perfect rectangle, so I need to re-measure to get the exact dimensions, but the "long side" is 100 plus feet, so I think I'll be in a good place.

The yard is already fenced, and there's an existing run that contains the chickens well. It'll get expanded, and there's a few spots where I may swap out the existing fence with a bit taller one (the existing fence is a bit beaten up in one spot).

I expect the run won't have any vegetation, as most runs don't....but hope to use wood chips to keep it neat and tidy (yes, it'll be a LOT of wood chips...gotta work on sourcing!)

Again, still planning the exact logistics!

Sure, my measurements were more to give a mental picture of it’s size. Obviously I don’t know your perimeter shape. My own 1 acre property is a long triangle.

Chickens don’t generally fly but they can jump and glide. I don’t trust fences with chickens but that’s me. I also don’t trust fences with critters. Nope. Many climb, many tunnel, many can jump and clear fences, and a few can knock them down.

Wood chips are a treasure! Good choice. They are so good for so many things. Garden mulch, chicken run, walk way, tree mulch, dirt driveway, fence line, oh so much just use your imagination.

HAPPY PLANNING!