I understand 4 feet per bird, for the entire coop, but I am working on the house design and want to make sure I allow enough room for it. If I put 10 birds in a tractor how large does the roosting area need to be? How many nest boxes?
i have read that hens share nesting boxes and that 1box per 3 or 4 birds is good(we have 10hens and 4 boxes)....4ft per bird is floor space the roosts dont count in that equation as they are normally elevated off the floor but 2 6ft roosts work for our birds (coop is 6by10 with 10by12run)...hope that helps some
Quote:It is a matter of personal conscience. If you want to push your luck and see how much you can get away with without overt catastrophes like cannibalism, then go for it. Factory-farmed chickens live with like 1-2 sq ft per chicken; you need at least 8" of linear roost space per chicken; and it usually works well to have 1 nestbox per 3-4 chickens. If you wnat the chickens to have really good quality of life, you can't really *build* a tractor for 10 chickens unless you have a (real!) tractor to PULL it with or unless the tractor is just a nighttime roosting-box and they're free ranging all day every day. Or wherever in between you feel okay with. Good luck, have fun, Pat
