Run for 3-4 chickens

[gbeauvin]

How big a run would ~4 hens need if they don't get free-range time? Without a fence (and with wandering dogs), turning them out in the yard isn't really an option for me. I've got another thread going to see if there's a breed that deals well with confinement, so I dunno yet what flavor of chickens i'd be looking at.


-GB

 

[teach1rusl]

You'd want at least about 40 sq. feet for your run (for 4 birds of standard size...about half that for bantams).

 

[gbeauvin]

Cool, so I'm leaning toward 4x4 coop and 10 feet of run the same width as the coop for 4 bantams, and maybe up to a 4x6 for full sized hens. Does the "height" of the run or coop matter?

-GB

 

[palochknldy]

We have our 4 hens in a 4x4 1/2 coop with a 4x8 pen. They all seem very happy. They get moved around every 2 days for fresh grass and weeds. Check out my BYC page for photos. They tend to hang out together and all touch when resting. Even if they had twice the room, I think they would all stick with their buddy when relaxing.

 

[DaughterOfEve]

make it as big as you can. As you will see on the member pages most of us have added on, expanded, and then expanded again because we are sick, sick I tell you and keep getting more and more birds.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Well, it's nice if the run can be tall enough for you to enter easily, without having to stoop over (at least much). Maybe you could do the all in one type of coop run, where the housing is built inside/as part of the run, but elevated about two feet so that they can use that space...??? That way it's easy for you to reach inside the coop too without having to stoop over...
There are many examples on the small coop pages... That's great that you're trying to give your birds a little more coop space

 

[gbeauvin]

Quote:
That's the style that I think I like best, though I dunno how much more it would cost to build one like that vs. a "tractor" with attached coop down on the ground.

-GB