The Welsummer Thread!!!!

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the feed back but to many coyotes and bobcats to let my chickens free range ring the dinner bell. As far as my run/coop approx 15 x 30 and I plan on around 14 birds so should be big enough, going to give it a try.

Chime in someone -- I was told 4 sq ft per bird floor space inside a coop and a minimum 10 sq ft per bird for foraging/pen/run area. I use these same figures even for bantam Silkies since they can't fly and need the extra room to jump and flap around just as much as the large fowl.

 

[aart]

Quote: Bare minimum IMO....especially for birds confined 24/7.

 

[Sylvester017]

Bare minimum IMO....especially for birds confined 24/7.

Because of an owner's predator region where birds need to be confined 24/7 they would definitely need more than the minimum. I use the 4 sq ft/10 sq ft minimum because my girls are free-range all day.

The manufacturer of my Barn Coop said up to 16 birds could be housed in their 4x4 Barn Coop. Manufacturers always over-state the number of birds for their coops. Maybe 16 birds would fit inside our 4x4 Barn Coop if we installed all 5 perches that came with it, but what an unhealthy ammonia mess that would be overnight from 16 pooping birds! Plus the two air vents are grossly inadequate for 4 hens so how they figured 16 birds could be healthy in such housing is beyond me! It's good I researched space and ventilation requirements per bird before taking a manufacturer's suggestion. I ordered to MY specifications rather than the manufacturer's. We like our Barn Coop but we knew better that 16 birds would not be a healthy number!

 

[markeddings]

I am just in my first year and a half of chicken ownership. I have a total of 13 hens, and my coop is 4'x12' feet. I have read what most others have that 3-4 feet interior space is needed per bird inside. However, I have noticed that this seems to be more than adequate for my flock of buffs, RIR's, Easter Eggers, and Australorp. Living in north central Arkansas, our winters are not generally too tough, and our birds never stay inside after daylight, regardless of temperature. Outside in the protected run, they have 23 square feet per bird. This is over two times the recommended allowance, and together with the coop, seems to satisfy the hens need for space as the coop is elevated (room underneath for protected activity), and there is top and side weather protection on the entire run space. Things might be different with regard to coop space if I had not protected the entire run. I also have a less secure chicken wire run that adds an additional 650 square feet connected to the run for days I want them to get out but do not have the time to supervise sufficiently to have full run of the yard. I should add that on most days we turn them loose to roam our 2 acres of lawn and woods for several hours a day when we can keep an eye on them. Things have gone so well with their health and seeming contentment, I am looking to up my total this fall to 18 birds. I will likely add a few square feet to the coop, but they already only use 3 of the 5 roost poles, even in the hot summers.

 

[SeattleSelkie]

I have tons of predators. When I went out this morning to let my birds out, there was our resident coyote sniffing around outside the fence. But in the three years he has been around, he has been unable to get inside our electric poultry netting. No doubt he has touched it, and now respects it quite well. My method is mobile coops that I close at night, electric poultry netting with a solar charger that is easily moved and which my birds free-range inside, and at times a field fence around all that (when the birds are in my orchard....I have a 6 foot high field fence to keep out the deer). I have the following predators and have had no predator loses over the past 4 years......coyote, cougar, occasional bear, mink, weasel, raccoon, hawks, owls, bald eagles, neighborhood dogs.

That is just what works for me. I am a very big advocate for giving birds as much space as possible, in order to minimize stress and behavioral issues. In a 15x30 foot permanent pen I personally would keep no more than 6-8 hens who were all raised together and got along well....but that is just me.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have tons of predators. When I went out this morning to let my birds out, there was our resident coyote sniffing around outside the fence. But in the three years he has been around, he has been unable to get inside our electric poultry netting. No doubt he has touched it, and now respects it quite well. My method is mobile coops that I close at night, electric poultry netting with a solar charger that is easily moved and which my birds free-range inside, and at times a field fence around all that (when the birds are in my orchard....I have a 6 foot high field fence to keep out the deer). I have the following predators and have had no predator loses over the past 4 years......coyote, cougar, occasional bear, mink, weasel, raccoon, hawks, owls, bald eagles, neighborhood dogs.

That is just what works for me. I am a very big advocate for giving birds as much space as possible, in order to minimize stress and behavioral issues. In a 15x30 foot permanent pen I personally would keep no more than 6-8 hens who were all raised together and got along well....but that is just me.

I agree with you on that. To our dismay chickens are not nice to each other so the more space they have the better. Another issue that owners miss about coops is the ventilation required at all times per each bird. It was suggested 1 sq ft coop ventilation per roosting bird. My coop's manufacturer suggested 16 birds would fit our 4x4 Barn Coop but the ventilation built on the coop was only two small vents at the top of two walls only. We get very humid summers and knew that would not be enough ventilation for our 4 to sometimes 5 hens so we ordered an additional optional wire kennel floor for summer for added ventilation. The solid floor tray goes back inside in winter. The optional windows that came with the coop are stationary and don't open -- strange, but that's how this manufacturer builds their coops.

 

[SidChick]

Some of you may remember I posted pictures of my two injured cockerels a while back. Their combs and waddles were cut and bloody. The vet thinks a raccoon reached through. After they were injured, this guy's bloody waddles got frostbite. As you can see, he lost some length on the right waddle, but he's doing well. He took his antibiotic injections without trouble. That waddle was hot and swollen, and painful. My daughter is happy he's well, and enjoying a nice day, after the recent ice storm. Our town's trees are demolished.

 

[simplify]

Hey all,
Here is my wellsummer experience since i got the chicks in spring of 2016.
I have 6 wellie girls that are bout 9 mos and 1 roo that is 10 mos. The girls came from ideal poultry and the roo from a local farm that got her starts from whitmore farms few yrs ago. 1 girl started laying bout 5 mos and the rest have slowly came on. A few times recently 5 eggs on the same day, usually its anywhere from 1to 4 a day. Of the 6 hens i have one that is a loner and seems to linger in the coop more than the others. I have clipped all of the girls wings as they enjoyed flying each week so i shut that down. They are friendly only to come looking for a snack...no touching thank you. The eggs are still small to med and beautiful colors and markings, they do catch your eye to look at them. The roo is absoluetly fabulous. He is at least 2 feet tall or more, he is more, he is so big he looks intimidating when he gets close enough to me where i could touch him but i dont. I hope nature will take its course and expand my flock. This is def my favorite breed. ( i have3 BO hens and slw w roo for breeding.

Looking forward to reading all your post.

 

[ronnhill7]

Hello from Woodbury, Georgia and welcome!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hey all,
Here is my wellsummer experience since i got the chicks in spring of 2016.
I have 6 wellie girls that are bout 9 mos and 1 roo that is 10 mos. The girls came from ideal poultry and the roo from a local farm that got her starts from whitmore farms few yrs ago. 1 girl started laying bout 5 mos and the rest have slowly came on. A few times recently 5 eggs on the same day, usually its anywhere from 1to 4 a day. Of the 6 hens i have one that is a loner and seems to linger in the coop more than the others. I have clipped all of the girls wings as they enjoyed flying each week so i shut that down. They are friendly only to come looking for a snack...no touching thank you. The eggs are still small to med and beautiful colors and markings, they do catch your eye to look at them. The roo is absoluetly fabulous. He is at least 2 feet tall or more, he is more, he is so big he looks intimidating when he gets close enough to me where i could touch him but i dont. I hope nature will take its course and expand my flock. This is def my favorite breed. ( i have3 BO hens and slw w roo for breeding.

Looking forward to reading all your post.

If you have a camera or iphone we'd like to see pics.