What would be the benefits of building a larger run?

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I personally don't think that size is overkill at all. I’m always going to agree that the bigger the run you can do the better! There’s such thing as too small but no such thing as too big! The chickens will be happier, healthier, and it’ll be cleaner as well. Integration is a million times easier and you have the room to create a see no touch introduction area. I originally built a 25’x25’ run and am now extending it out another 33’ to create a run that totals 25’x58’ (1,450sqft) I currently have 12 chickens in the space but will be adding 8 more in late spring so the chickens will have 72.5 sq ft each after the extension which they absolutely won’t complain about! That’s another thing about a larger run is that you have room for chicken math lol. I started out wanting 3 chickens then moved to 5 acres and will now be up to 20 by May.

Here’s some pictures of my set up and the additional space I’m adding!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

You never build a bigger run to give the chickens more room, somehow the thought of, NOW I CAN GET MORE CHICKENS!!! sneaks in. We have a 200 sq ft coop, 320 sq ft run and will have a total of 9 birds and I already am thinking, I think I would like to get a "few"........

 

[Jennykins75]

A larger chicken run means you will be able to keep it cleaner, longer. You will be able to provide more enrichment props -- stacks of straw for climbing and day roosting, cabbage strung from the top for them to play with, various food sources like planters or worm beds. And with a larger run you won't feel do compelled to race home to let them out for a bit -- if you do great, if not then you ate at least assured that they are safe and happy.

 

[Suzz]

If you have the space to do a larger run absolutely! Bigger is always better in my opinion!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Why are you still here? Get out there and get to building!

 

[Brizi]

Why are you still here? Get out there and get to building!

We decided to go ahead and do the 30x10! I've got all the kennel panels and hardware cloth ordered. I'm going to attach the hardware cloth to all the kennel panels this week, then we're going to build the run over the next couple of weekends. We're doing corrugated roofing too! I'm excited!

Also, yes, chicken math... We initially were going to limit ourselves to 6 hens, but we may end up with a limit of 10 hens instead. We're trying to keep to our own rule of 30 sq ft per chicken!

 

[Brizi]

If you scrimp on materials and security (hawk-proof but not dog-proof or rat-poof) then you should be able to put up a net enclosure for three or four bucks per square foot.. The larger the run is, the smaller the price per square foot will be.

Well, with our main issue being dogs, we definitely don't want to take any chances. We've also got coyotes and foxes around here, and those guys will 100% jump on a roof. I priced it out to be around $500-$600 for a corrugated roof. It's certainly not cheap, but I'm thinking it'll be worth it.

 

[SourRoses]

Yay!

 

[3KillerBs]

I priced it out to be around $500-$600 for a corrugated roof.

Metal, I hope.

In the brutal heat of the southern US even partially-transluscent "plastic" (I always lose track of exactly which compound is which when it comes to these roof panels so I use the generic term), will create a fair amount of greenhouse effect.

 

[NatJ]

They say a 10x10 would be fine. Personally, I think that 20x10 is a great size, but I'd love to go with an even larger 30x10! They think I'm crazy but, thankfully, my fiancé and I are on the same page.

What would be the benefits of building a larger run? Or, for a small flock of 4 to 8 chickens, are there not going to be any real benefits?

You can usually double or triple the space without doubling or tripling the cost. (The cost goes up, but not as fast as the space does.)

So if the subject comes up again with the disapproving people, you may be able to distract them by talking about how much cheaper it is per square foot.