too much room for new chicks?

[mckendall]

So I have a how much room question. We build a coop which is raised off the ground which is 5' by 6'. The ramp runs down to an enclosure which is about 6' by 14'. I have an automatic pop door which opens in the morning and the hens leave the coop and enclosure to free range in about 3 to 5 acres of pasture which has a few manzanitas on it. I have 12 hens and one rooster. I would like to get 2 or 3 more hens. Do I have enough room in the coop? They only spend the hours of darkness inside the coop itself however wander in and out of the enclosure during the day to lay eggs and hit the feeder. Any thoughts on this would be great.

 

[donrae]

So I have a how much room question. We build a coop which is raised off the ground which is 5' by 6'. The ramp runs down to an enclosure which is about 6' by 14'. I have an automatic pop door which opens in the morning and the hens leave the coop and enclosure to free range in about 3 to 5 acres of pasture which has a few manzanitas on it. I have 12 hens and one rooster. I would like to get 2 or 3 more hens. Do I have enough room in the coop? They only spend the hours of darkness inside the coop itself however wander in and out of the enclosure during the day to lay eggs and hit the feeder. Any thoughts on this would be great.

Your big issue is going to be sleeping/roosting space. How much of that do you have in your coop? Have you looked at your birds while they're roosting? does it look like there's enough room for that many more birds? Do you have space/ability to add more roosting space?

Other than the roosting, I think you should be good. Unless you have to go on lockdown for predator issue or something like that, then space will get tight. But weather wise, you should be okay.

 

[mckendall]

I have two roosting poles each are 6' long and are set at different heights the girlies usually roost with 8 on one pole and 3 to 4 on the other. Our silkie wants to sleep in the nesting box most of the time she is a bit of an odd ball. I think I have about 26 sq feet in the roosting area however I could add about another 8 sq feet this summer with a little bit of work

 

[donrae]

If possible, add more roosts.

Roosting and the bedtime jockying for position are big times for drama in a flock, especially so when you bring in new birds. I don't know what it is about bedtime that makes all birds like cranky toddlers, but they can sure carry on and fuss with each other. When you add different birds, that issue can go through the roof. So, more roost space if possible, to make life easier on the new ladies. Other than that, I think you should be good

 

[drumstick diva]

Your silkie isn't an oddball. She is a silkie. Generally their big crests and beards obscure their vision. Their silkied feathers on wings do not lend themselves to being good flyers.

They can jump high if they feel like it. If you had a few silkies you would probably find them sleeping in a corner of the coop all piled together. Sleeping in a nest box is bad because it can mean eggs get pooed on.

 

[mckendall]

Ok well she is a sweet little gal and she gets on the lower roost when she feels like it. But she marches to the beat of her own drum for sure. I am going to re configure my roosts and see if the use them more efficiently. Thank you all for the knowledge I appreciate it. MK

 

[mckendall]

Ok so I spoke with my wife about getting a few more chickens, she said we don't have room the the coop which I took as a challenge. Therefore when she left for the day I hit my scrap wood pile and began constructing a second coop at the opposite end of the run!!! Has anyone used two coops on opposite ends of the run? I was hoping it would be used by my new birds and am hoping it may ease the process of introducing them to the old hands on the ranch. Any thoughts on this?

 

[lazy gardener]

So I have a how much room question. We build a coop which is raised off the ground which is 5' by 6'. The ramp runs down to an enclosure which is about 6' by 14'. I have an automatic pop door which opens in the morning and the hens leave the coop and enclosure to free range in about 3 to 5 acres of pasture which has a few manzanitas on it. I have 12 hens and one rooster. I would like to get 2 or 3 more hens. Do I have enough room in the coop? They only spend the hours of darkness inside the coop itself however wander in and out of the enclosure during the day to lay eggs and hit the feeder. Any thoughts on this would be great.

Ok so I spoke with my wife about getting a few more chickens, she said we don't have room the the coop which I took as a challenge. Therefore when she left for the day I hit my scrap wood pile and began constructing a second coop at the opposite end of the run!!! Has anyone used two coops on opposite ends of the run? I was hoping it would be used by my new birds and am hoping it may ease the process of introducing them to the old hands on the ranch. Any thoughts on this?

The minimum recommendation of coop space for a back yard flock is 4 s.f./bird. Minimum run space is 10 s.f./bird. Your current set up is big enough for 7 birds in the coop, and 10 birds in the run. People can and do run their flocks tighter than that. And we see posts on BYC all the time that go like this: I have X # of birds. They got along well, and were one happy family. But, now the alpha hen is picking on the bottom pecking order gal. She beats her up and tears out feathers, and has bloodied her comb. Now, the rest of the flock is doing the same. The bottom rung gal is hiding in the nest box, or won't come down to eat. What do I do. You might get away with tight spacing for a while. But, sooner or later, it will bite you with either behavior issues, or disease caused by the stress of overcrowding.

 

[mckendall]

Ok now I'm confused. My chickens are in a coop with a run the coop is 24 sq feet with a run which is 6' by 14' I'm putting a second coop at the opposite end of the run it will be 15 sq feet. The chickens are not lock in the coop however there's is an automatic door which opens the run every morning and lets the hens out. The door is open all day and then hens free range on 3 acres of pasture and trees. The girls come in and out to hit the feeder and lay eggs however rarely are there more than 3 hens inside the enclosure at a time. When the sun starts to dip over the hill all of the girls come in and wander up the ladder to the coop and the door shuts at dark. All of the hens hit the roost and its game over, except the silkie hen she often sleeps in a nesting box. The second coop is going to have 3 nesting boxes and I have 3 nesting boxes in the original coop. So with a total of 39 feet and 6 laying boxes how many chickens will fit.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think every situation is different. The typical recommendation is 4 sq ft per bird in the coop and 10 sq ft outside as was said BUT since yours free range all day on quite a large area and they are automatically let out as opposed to waiting on you to open the door, I think they are fine in your coop. Although I am not sure I would add more. Or if possible, can you add to the original coop? What will likely happen is they will all pile into one coop.

The space recommendations are important but I think they apply more to confined birds. Your birds have quite a large area.

My birds on the other hand are confined so I follow the space suggestions.

Right now they're just in a 3x3 (and that includes nest boxes) coop kit from TSC and a 6x12 dog kennel run. It is way too small for 8 but worked as chicks.

But we are working on, and now have almost finished, a new 4x8 foot coop for the girls and the run will be much larger. I think they will be a lot happier in their new accommodations.

I will also be trying to free range more though.

Yours free range all day so as long as you see no behavior issues, I think they'll be fine

But again I would try to make one larger coop than two coops.

Also one rule you def should follow is one linear foot of roost space per bird.

In winter they may huddle together but in summer they need to be able to spread out