New to "farming" Needing advice on chickens...

BethanyD

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Hello there. I'm sure it has already been asked. But I literally just found this site a few min ago. My husband and I live in a duplex and have a small backyard. We wanted to build a small chicken coop and house 2 chickens at least and no more than 3. We were thinking of building a 2 story coop with the bottom being the outside roaming area. We wanted to know if a 5ft W x 3ft D would be too small? Also, how big do the laying boxes need to be and the bars they sleep on, are they ok to be in the same space the laying boxes are? How much room does each chicken need? I'm sorry if I don't know correct terminology. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
 
Three chickens is probably best. The chicken is a very social bird, and they do well in groups. A pair could be a bit small without a lot of human interaction. Secondly, if you only plan on having two or three, you don't need a 5 x 3 coop. You could do 4 x 4 or 3 x 3. They'll fit in both. As for the run area, the number of birds that you gave would fit in there, but I generally like to give the birds as much room as possible in the run, about 10 sq ft per bird for mine. The number is flexible, but outdoor space is much more important than indoor space. As for roost bars, which they will use to sleep on, a 2 x 3 or 2 x 4 wiill do. Something that they can stand on without having to curl their toes too much works best, because in the winter they will lay on their feet to prevent frostbite. Nest boxes are usually in the realm of 12 x 12. One box will be enough for 2-3 birds. I wouldn't waste space on that. I also would not put the roost bar right on top of the next boxes or close to them. This could potentially cause the birds to sleep in the nesting box, and you will be out there cleaning a lot to prevent dirty eggs..

Lastly, I'm not sure what kind of birds you want, but with 2-3 birds you won't get a whole lot unless you have a production like breed. Sex links and production hens lay an egg a day. Heritage birds like Rhode Island Reds and Australorps are also very reliable layers. Other breeds that lay 3-4 eggs a week won't even give you a dozen a week.
 
5 x 3 is probably ok for the coop, the run needs to be bigger. I always tell people to build their pens as large as they can manage. You will never get into trouble with a little too much space but you can easily get into lots of trouble if birds feel crowded. You should also consider the weather where you live. In bad weather birds will want to spend more time inside during the day so a larger coop will accomodate them much more comfortabley. I live in central CA with pretty nice weather most of the year but my birds still want to stay inside when the weather is stormy/windy/rainy.

The so called minimum space requirements call for 4 square feet of coop space per bird and 10 square feet in the run. These numbers are usually sufficient to keep most people out of trouble.
 

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