newbie...coop is finished...chicks in the garage, but...?????????

[pastrymama]

obviously, i don't know what the heck i am doing. the finished coop is 6'x4' with an attatched run that's 6'x4'. when they are big enough they can also free range in the yard that we have fenced off for them. it's approx 350-400 square feet. my plan is to let them out into the rest of the backyard when they are grown since we have almost a half acre, but we also have a very naughty beagle boy.

my main question is, how many chickens can my coop handle? right now they are 3 1/2 weeks old and i have 6 of them and am hoping to get 2 more as i think luck would have it, there are a few roos in the group. the roosting pole currently is 6 feet long. how many birds can that handle? we are going to add one more but just don't know how much space these gals will need. also, i have seen people use 2x4 for their roosting poles. some put it 2" up and some 4" up. what is the difference?

noel
twin girls(6) little boy(4) husband that puts up with ALOT, beagle, cattledog/pitbull, 2RIR, 2EE, 1BO, 1BR

 

[skyblues22]

I can tell you on the roosting part, you should have the 4inch up, so they have more space to place there feet on to keep warm in cold weather.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Ibelieve the BYC suggested minimum square foot per chicken is 4 sq feet for standard, 3 for bantam. If your coop is 6x4, you have 24 square feet. Divide that by 4 (per bird sq foot), and you have 6...You have room for 6 standard birds in your coop. Your run is seriously undersized for that many though, as they recommend 10 square feet per chicken, so you would need 60 square feet for your run as a minimum for 6 chickens....any possibility you could extend it? Good luck!

 

[CityChook]

If you live where it gets cold and snows, don't add any more. Some chickens will venture out in the snow -- mine will not. They spend November through March/April indoors. They need as much space as possible inside because of this.

Your run is a little on the small side. I know you plan on free ranging them, but maybe wait to see if that's going to work out for you. My chickens get into trouble (in the flower gardens) when they range, so they are limited to weekends when I'm already outside gardening.

Put the roost 4" side up. This is for comfort of their feet (they don't grip the roost like other birds) as well as keeping their toes warm in cold weather. They like to sit flat on the roost and put their downy feathers over their feet to stay warm.

Enjoy!

 

[CityChook]

ETA: deleted. duplicate post.

 

[pastrymama]

I think there may be a little misunderstanding... The coop is 24 square feet, with a 6 foot long roosting pole. There is an attached screened-in run that is another 24 square feet that has another 2 foot roosting pole. I plan to lock the girls up in the coop/run at night (48 square feet) so nobody gets snatched by the big bad wolf. The coop/run is in a fenced off portion of our yard that is 350-400 square feet. Our entire yard is about 1/2 acre that I hope to one day let them free range in. We are in Phoenix, AZ, so hopefully cold won't be a problem.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Here are a couple of pics taken while standing in the doorway.

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[pastrymama]

bump