What should a good breeding pen look like?

[Gigachad poultry]

Hello, Im thinking about possibly building a barn with a larger non breeding coop attached to the very back. It will be for my smaller birds as they are getting picked on by the other bigger chickens.

However I do also want to build some breeding cages to put in the other empty parts of the barn, but I do plan on somehow adding goat stalls. The dimension for the larger part is 4 meters long and 3 meters wide. How do you think breeding pend would fit? I was thinking about cutting out a part of the wall and attaching it to the wall. I do plan on breeding a few different types of breeds like, Polish, Cochin bantams, Seramas, or other smaller breeds.

I was thinking about something attached on the side that is 2m wide & 3m long but can I make something smaller? Or maybe a shelf setup. I will put ideas below.

I'm thinking this is a 1m by 2m or maybe 3m setup. I would be attaching the door to the wall so it doesn't take up a lot of space. I would use clear plastic sheets for the top so light can still get in.

This is kinda what I'd imagine a shelf setup would look like.

 

[NatJ]

I was thinking about something attached on the side that is 2m wide & 3m long but can I make something smaller? Or maybe a shelf setup. I will put ideas below.

For size, consider how much space each breeding group needs to live comfortably. Count the number of chickens, look at what size they are, and apply whatever your usual guidelines are (I don't know a handy guidelines for bantams in square meters.) Remember to allow for whether there is a separate run, or whether they will spend all their time in the breeding pen.

Sorry I don't have ideas on how it should look or how it would fit into the space you have. Both of the example photos look nice to me

 

[Ted Brown]

The breeder I use for Chantecler stock has a series of cages that he uses for both breeding and bachelor segregation:

• each cage is 4' wide, 8' deep and 6' high;
• located under a lean to style roof off the side of a barn;
• in side by side rows with four cages, three rows;
• accommodates a rooster and 4-5 hens for breeding, similar totals for bachelors.

He has additional larger cages for laying stock:

• some under the lean to roof;
• others outside, pole shed style with roof and a side wall for winter shelter;
• sizes vary but 10' by 20'.

Also, inside the barn:

• individual isolation cages;
• heated brooder boxes for newly hatched chicks.

He is a serious but small breeder, has approximately 200 White Chanteclers and 20+ cages in total. Breeds once per year, June hatches, hatched some 200 birds in 2023.