I really liked your post! I have a question though. I have six hens, and a coop that is 12.8 square feet, and a run that is 40 square feet, if I was to free range these birds every other day, would they be comfortable in this space?
Thank you for those commandments. Great words of wisdom! I am doing the research now. Although I have been raising chickens since I was 2, with my Daddy, and then when my kids were growing up, I have not had poultry for many years so am starting from scratch.
Any words of wisdom you might have for me are greatly appreciated. Especially on biosecurity. I currently have a closed flock but, Lord willing, will be getting heritage birds from BYC breeders in the spring.
Just finishing the first coop and run and headed to a breeding building and run next.
I really want to keep my flock healthy and clean! I do practice biosecurity and have read much, but still feel I could learn more and would love to learn as much as I can. If you are willing, I love to read...any links you might suggest would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks again for posting this thread...I kinda feel like a newbie, being away from this for so long and so much has changed!
salt and pepper, I see you are in the same neck of the woods as I am. Hi, neighbor! Generally, the least amount of space I would personally recommend would be about 4 sf per hen interior floor space, which would be about twice as much as you have. Your outside space is a bit better, though I prefer at least 10 sf per bird, which in your case would be 60 sf. You will have to be diligent to keep the space clean and get them all the outside time they can have to keep the healthiest environment. Some would disagree, of course, but this thread is about how
I have kept a healthy flock, not how everyone must do it. Even my 2500 sf pen for my main flock is bare dirt-they are great little earth movers and vegetation destroyers. That is a humongous pen, I realize, but the flock used to be larger than it is now. Mine are up in age and a new generation has to be cultivated soon here.
Even though I free range my flocks on a rotating basis, I have quite a bit more square footage than that. At one time, I had a slight overload of of around 45 birds in about 150 sf of space- at least to my own way of thinking it was overload because it was not easy to keep the space clean and when they were unable to leave the coop, it seemed quite crowded in there.
mithious, good common sense, caution and balance will serve you as far as biosecurity goes. I have a spray bottle of mild Oxine solution that hangs on a tree with a sign for people to spray their shoes before they approach the coop areas and no one is allowed inside the coops or pens, generally. I don't buy started birds, but if I did, I would seek out breeders with good reputations for biosecurity and healthy flocks. I once casually asked someone if he'd heard of anything contagious going around our area, in checking out whether or not I wanted to get eggs or chicks from him. His telling answer was, "No, just the usual crud. I give them antibiotics for a few days and it knocks it right out." That is one person I would NEVER buy from because of that answer.
This is what I mean. Ask the questions. It's your right to know the health of the flocks you get eggs, chicks or adults from. Sure, they can lie, but there are ways to research. After you builld a flock, you can hatch from your own birds. Then, to mitigate the risk, you can buy hatching eggs from very reputable breeders of quality birds. DIsease is less likely to be transmitted through eggs than passed from a carrier bird. I realize some people are unable to hatch or keep roosters, which limits them to sexed hatchery stock or started pullets, but you can still choose your breeder wisely, through reputation.
