Newbie Chicken Questions.

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Maxamus

Maxamus

Chirping
5 Years
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Oct 16, 2014
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Hello, I purchased 3 hens about 4 days ago. I have a fully built coop and am very proud of it! :). The only thing is, when I try and let my hens into the run below, it seems like they enjoy it, but they never go down there by themselves.And today, I helped them get down, they stayed for about an hour then went right back up. I thought chickens loved the run. Please some advide would be great! Thanks Max
 
Welcome to BYC, Max. Glad you decided to join our flock. Just be patient with your chickens. They will spend more time in the run as they become more comfortable with it. If you need to, you can even entice them into the run with some treats (not too many treats though as too many can be unhealthy for them). How many square feet is the ground space in your run? Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. What kind of hens do you have?
 
Welcome and congrats on your new hens, just give them time to setlle in and get used to their new home it won't take long then they should start investigating their surroundings and feel more secure you can always use treats as a way to get them out give them something like a cabbage to peck at or some scratch thrown about for them to kept them amused for a while
dont worry too much they will settle in soon xx
 
It's a stacked coop with a fenced in bottom and a fenced in Bigger run outside.The bottom run is 5x3. I have 3 chickens and they are all Amercanas.
 
Maxamus said:
It's a stacked coop with a fenced in bottom and a fenced in Bigger run outside.The bottom run is 5x3. I have 3 chickens and they are all Amercanas.
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Your run is too small for three chickens. You have 15 sq. ft. of run space. The recommended floor space is 4 sq. ft. per bird for the coop and 10 sq. ft. per bird for the run. More is better as overcrowding can quickly lead to aggression, fights, biting and feather plucking, and even cannibalism. With 3 birds you need a minimum of 30 square feet of floor space in the run (again more is better).
 
We have a run outside the coop fenced in that about 25x25, Is that ok or do we need the run under the coop larger? (The 3x5)
 
It would be better if you could extend but you won't get any fighting with just 3 birds I wouldn't recommend keeping any less than 3 in a flock, as long as they get enough time in the bigger run I wouldn't think you will have any issue's, you will probably witness some hen pecking to start with as they establish the pecking order x
 
Maxamus said:
We have a run outside the coop fenced in that about 25x25, Is that ok or do we need the run under the coop larger? (The 3x5)
Click to expand...

I didn't realize that you had an extended 625 sq. ft. run on the coop. That's plenty of space for 3 chickens. :o)
 
I had the opposite problem. My chickens wanted to stay in the run. I had to go out and lock them in the coop 4 nights in a row. They finally got the hang of it.
 

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