Switching to deep litter

[lazy gardener]

Agreed that the standard is a minimum of 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run per bird. While it is possible to cram more birds into a tighter space, such crowding can result in increased stress, (resulting in increased disease and parasite loads) behavioral issues including aggression, feather picking, blood shed and cannibalism. Most folks keep back yard flocks so they can provide humane care which moves away from the factory farm mentality, where a chicken has approximately 1 s.f. of space in which to live.

OP lives in PNW, where increased humidity is going to be problematic. Cold weather is not going to be your enemy as much as moisture will be. In such a tiny coop (18 s.f.) with that many birds, they will put out more moisture in a single night than any amount of ventilation in such a small coop can handle. The general recommendation for venting is 1 s.f./bird or 10% of floor space.

 

[Hensatpadden]

So happy to hear the replies as I wasn’t sure I entered my info correctly. Thank you all!
I hope my photos loaded properly.
Yesterday morning I awoke to the heavy snow hanging on all the netting etc. (first photo)
I have the two refurbished hen houses and various plastic covered sheltered areas.
Looks junky, I know, but we don’t have neighbors close by to complain.
Several small fenced yards. And I usually let them free range in the open yard late afternoon.
I gave them some warm mash today and hung some corn cobs for them to play with.
Looks like from the advice you all have given me the gray coop is too small for all ten hens.
The second house has very low perches so maybe I need to move them up higher.
I was cleaning the poop mats daily.
Please give send me your thoughts on my set up.

Thank you!

 

[N F C]

Sorry but the photos didn't show up. As for space, I'd error on the side of caution and give them as much room as you can.

Best wishes to you!

 

[Hensatpadden]

Welcome, I wouldn't worry so much about them being warm, chickens keep themselves warm. I would worry more about locking too many birds in a small coop. You could end up with pecking because of the crowding and pneumonia from the moisture build up. Chickens require good ventilation year round to remain healthy.

Pictures of your set ups can help people see what you are describing. I think you need a bigger coop or to let them go in separate coops. As your young ones mature more there could be more aggression, especially under the boredom of winter confinement.

 

[Hensatpadden]

Oh darn I put all my photos in the Gallery section.
You can see both hen houses and the make do system I have for the time being.
Sorry it may take me awhile to get the hang of this.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Oh darn I put all my photos in the Gallery section.
You can see both hen houses and the make do system I have for the time being.
Sorry it may take me awhile to get the hang of this.

They look like they have lots of protection from the elements. I wouldn't lock them up. They will choose to sleep where it's most comfortable. My chickens are in a 40x40 shed. They are definitely not keeping each other warm except for sitting close and they do fine here in our harsh winters.

Just make sure you have good air exchange in your coop area and that moisture isn't building up on the plastic. Things need to be dry, not necessarily warm.

 

[Hensatpadden]

Thank you for your advice!
Last night I left the hens to their own devices and only one, an australorp, joined the older hens. So I will do that again until I see a pattern. I wish I didn’t have to lock the pop doors up at night. It would be easier to leave both coops pop doors open into their screened spaces. The screened areas are mostly quarter inch or half inch hardware cloth. But I worry there is an opening a weasel could wiggle through ( we have what are called least weasels- small) And we have Eagles, hawks, coyote, bobcat, raccoon, skunk, rats, etc etc. when I first got the 5 older hens a bald eagle was sitting above in a large fir tree watching. So I immediately scrambled around stringing deer netting over all the fenced in rooms. Whew ! I didn’t know I was going to have THAT MUCH interest so soon!

 

[RodNTN]

Hello there! And It is wonderful to have you here with us, best wishes!

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC, and good luck with the deep litter system. It has worked well for me.

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Hensatpadden Welcome!

Sorry, living in Aus, keeping chickens warm is not an issue so I am not going to be of much assistance.

However, I did just want to say that I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

Personally, I have found the Topic of the Week articles a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out