Ok, here's my story in a nutshell...

[Charles07]

No pun intended, of course.

A neighbor of mine, I live in the middle of nowhere, gave me 11 chickens. 1 rooster (cockerel?) and 10 hens (pullets?)

So, this is what I did (my 6 and 7 year olds helped tremendously):

Along with purchasing these guys:

I enclosed them in the coop for 24 hours and then released them into the run (a half dozen eggs later! Yummy!) while treating them to a head of iceberg:

I have lurked here for several months, and recommended this site to many, without actually registering.

Nice to meet you all.

P.S.

They seem to like penne pasta, my 2 and 4 year olds entertained themselves for about 5 minutes, the 8 month old watched in fascination:

(And no, no zebra cake for the chickens, although she tried to feed it to them.)

 

[yotetrapper]

Welcome. Looking good. Sure the kids'll love em!

 

[Intheswamp]

Glad to see you got your flock going. It's really good for kids, too. At the age of those two they'll soak it all in quickly and be chicken experts before you know it.

One thing concerns me a bit, though. The coop looks like it's about a 6x?...maybe a 6x6??? If it's a 6x6 the most chickens I would try keeping in it would be 8-12, with my preference being 8 or maybe even 6 or 7. Overcrowding can lead to all kinds of problems plus a lot of work keeping things running smoothly and cleanly. The number of adult chickens looks about right but that pile of fluffy chicks might tip the scales too much. ????

I really think the chickens were trying to con your daughter out of her cake.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Charles07]

Quote:
It's an 8X8, how does that figure in your calculations?

And thank you so much! Good advice has been rare for me.

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
It's an 8X8, how does that figure in your calculations?

And thank you so much! Good advice has been rare for me.

There's a (I really hate to use the word) "rule" that says large fowl chickens require 4 square feet as a *minimum* inside the coop. Run space is figured at 10 square feet per large fowl chicken. Now, these are not written in concrete rules but somewhat of a guide to go by. Actually 5-6 square feet would be a lot better, especially if you're in an area where the chickens might have to stay inside the coop for several days (or weeks) such as up north where snow 0-degree temperatures force many chickens to stay in their coops for extended periods of time. For those situations the chickens need all the room they can get. For someone in the deep south where the chickens basically just sleep and lay eggs in the coop and have plenty of room during the day then a smaller square footage per chicken my work. Remember that the stated 4 sq ft and10 sq ft are MINIMUM suggestions.

With your 64 square feet the maximum number of birds figuring 4 sq ft would be 16 chickens. Now, imagine a chicken standing in each 4 sq ft block of coop space...that's an area 2'x2'. Kinda crowded, eh? At that population level I think there would be mass riots if the chickens had to stay in there for a week or two without coming out.

12 chickens would probably be a nice fit for your 8x8 coop. Don't forget the run, though, 12 chickens require a minimum of 120 sq ft of run space (12'x10').

More is always better...the more room you give your chickens the easier your work will be and the happier and healthier your chickens will be. With a lighter population load your chicken keeping will be much more enjoyable...and productive.

Ed

 

[Charles07]

Thanks for the information.

Ok, so as it is the numbers are fine, 11 birds for the coop/run as it is.

12 chicks, hopefully they were sexed right and we have mostly hens, maybe 2-3 males.

What I had planned for the chicks was to eat about half, including all but 1 of the males.

Introduce a small few (4-5 max) into the coop when they are big enough, which is what 5-6 weeks? More?

1-2 of the chicks will be going to another neighbor, as compensation for letting me borrow his "chick" equipment.

To organize my rambling:

Eat half of 12, leaving 6, give 2 to the neighbor, leaving 4 - which will be 1 male 3 females or 4 females, depending on the biological lottery.

6-8 weeks to eat them, no more than what...14-16 weeks? More or less?

This will round out the final bird count at 15, and I may lose 1-2 if not all 4 of them when introduced? Won't the residents try and kill them off?

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined.

 

[b.hromada]

Great pics!

and

from S. Florida! Its great to have you here with us!

Nice job, enjoy!!!

 

[Ehigh57]

Hello from GA!

 

[rainnotebook]

Welcome from AZ

Hope you have as much fun as I do here!