Rhode Island Reds who to pair with them?

[cdillsworth]

Hi there! I'm just going to jump right into it. We currently have 2 RIRs and 4 Americaunas. Well the Americaunas are jerks and gang up on one of the RIR. We've run through the isolation motion and nothing is working our RIR is so stressed she rather be in a dog cage by herself (which who doesn't love alone time but it's sad). Anyways we have decided to re-home our Americaunas and find 3-4 new chickens. What breeds mesh the best with RIR?

Ours are coop/run kept due to a resident Hawk and owl and we are in central Florida if that makes any difference. My husband likes the RIR for their eggs and I just want something docile so my toddler won't get chased down by a chicken (no matter how funny that would be to watch)

 

[nuthatched]

It really doesn't matter, it's a pecking order thing. But "calmer" breeds would probably be ok.

 

[aart]

We currently have 2 RIRs and 4 Americaunas. Well the Americaunas are jerks and gang up on one of the RIR.

How old are these birds and how long have they lived together?

How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help immensely here.

Swapping out one breed for another may not solve your problems.

 

[cdillsworth]

How old are these birds and how long have they lived together?

How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help immensely here.

Swapping out one breed for another may not solve your problems.

They had been together since April we happened to get the RIR at the same time we moved the Americaunas out to the coop (raised from chicks). Our run is 3.5ft by 6ft our coop i believe is 3.5 by 3ft with three nesting boxes and 2 long perches (but they all used to sleep in a pile)

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That's not enough space. Anything you do, there will be resource competition. and likely behavioral issues.

The usual "thumb rules" are 4 sq ft of hen house AND 10 sq ft of run space per bird. 6 birds, 60 sq ft of run. You have 20, based on your estimates - like sticking three couples in a one bedroom apartment.

 

[cdillsworth]

That's not enough space. Anything you do, there will be resource competition. and likely behavioral issues.

The usual "thumb rules" are 4 sq ft of hen house AND 10 sq ft of run space per bird. 6 birds, 60 sq ft of run. You have 20, based on your estimates - like sticking three couples in a one bedroom apartment.

Good to know! It was advertised as being able to house 10 chickens we thought we were playing it save with 6. We do plan on extending the run just need lumber to go down a tad lol. And we are thinking of only getting 2 instead of 4 more we don't need that many eggs anyways.

 

[Vacman]

Good to know! It was advertised as being able to house 10 chickens we thought we were playing it save with 6. We do plan on extending the run just need lumber to go down a tad lol. And we are thinking of only getting 2 instead of 4 more we don't need that many eggs anyways.

I'm convinced that the number of chickens a coop can house only refers to how many can crowd on the roosting bars. All of the numbers are exaggerated. My coop is smaller than the ideal size for the number of hens I have, but the coop door automatically opens as daylight approaches and they have an entire small orchard to roam around in which is protected with an electric net fence.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

It is not at all uncommon for manufacturers to oversell how many birds can comfortably fit in one premade coop. There are threads and threads and threads and threads of new chicken owners here on BYC with too many birds for the space available who relied on the Mfg's suggestions. Those designs often lack sufficient airflow, as well.

Some of those premade coop/run designs can pretty easily be converted into a larger coop, then the whole thing located within a 10' x 10' chain link dog cage (reinforced w/ hardware cloth at the bottom to keep predators out), inside cattle panel hoop coop/chicken runs, etc.

Put up some photos, or link to the products. Lots of helpful posters here, and while none of us have seen "it all", collectively, we have seen "a lot". WIll offer what suggestions we can.

 

[cdillsworth]

I'm convinced that the number of chickens a coop can house only refers to how many can crowd on the roosting bars. All of the numbers are exaggerated. My coop is smaller than the ideal size for the number of hens I have, but the coop door automatically opens as daylight approaches and they have an entire small orchard to roam around in which is protected with an electric net fence.

We are still getting our prey driven dogs used to the chickens.... They are getting there slowly but not to where I'm comfortable letting them have run of the back yard yet.... Then we have our lovely hawk and owl to worry about lol. We've been letting our hurt RIR roam a bit just because she's in a dog cage right now but we stay right next to her the whole time.

 

[aart]

That's not enough space.

Ditto Dat....that's why you are having aggression issues.
Might think about just getting rid of 3 of the "Americaunas"(which are probably Easter Eggers)....or make more space both in coop and in run.