Problem Chicken

[sweetT167]

That's enough for 2-3 birds.

I thought it was supposed to be 2 sq feet per chicken? So it’s 10 1/2 sq feet so that would be at least 5 right? And then if we have a elevated roosting bar in the upper part that would be enough? Or no?

 

[tlcmurphy]

I thought it was supposed to be 2 sq feet per chicken? So it’s 10 1/2 sq feet so that would be at least 5 right? And then if we have an elevated roosting bar in the upper part that would be enough? Or no?

Generally folks aim for 4 sqft per bird or more, your older bird is likely bullying because she feels crowded in there. It will get worse as the little ones grow bigger.

 

[aart]

I thought it was supposed to be 2 sq feet per chicken?

Those are commercial chicken farming req's.
Most backyard chicken keepers strive to improve that so commonly suggest twice that number. Which many have found to be a bare minimum, especially when integrating new birds into a flock.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I will try putting her in the smaller coop

If the "big" coop is 3x3 1/2, how big is the small coop? Can we get pictures of your setup please?

 

[sweetT167]

Generally folks aim for 4 sqft per bird or more, your older bird is likely bullying because she feels crowded in there. It will get worse as the little ones grow bigger.

Okay thank you

 

[AinaWGSD]

Yeah, that coop is way too small for 6 chickens. Especially 6 chickens that haven't been raised together since hatch. It would be like having to share a bedroom with your entire family, naturally conflict is bound to occur. Providing more space should help with the bullying and should be the first step. If you're still having problems with the older hen harassing others with more space then you would need to look at ways to disrupt the pecking order such as putting the bully in chicken jail.

Generally the recommended minimums are 4sq ft per bird in the coop, 1 foot of linear roost space per bird, and 10sq ft per bird in the run. If you can provide more that's even better.

 

[FrostRanger]

Generally for integration purposes, it's best to go over the bare minimum 'cause it'll give the newcomers more room to get away from the existing birds. It's hard to have too much room but all too easy to have too little