@jolenesdad I know you weren’t asking me but about what time you let them out in the morning, I am opening the pop door and feeding them as soon as I see daylight. “Up with the chickens” as they say.
Well, not today. Slept till almost 8am!! Poor babies! An hour and a half of missed daylight and a late breakfast!
I just saw your coop post, I’m in looooooove!!!! Something to be proud of for sure.
And that thread seems to be so full of insightful information. I’m bookmarking it!
I don’t let my flock out first thing mostly because of my own schedule with a toddler and I have most of the morning duties with him. I used to let them out first thing but not so much anymore, it’s usually 9:30.
I kind of like it because they e scratched through the entire coops by 9:30, and I don’t ever have accumulations of poop. And it’s also drastically cut down eggs out of the nests. Even afternoon layers have to lay sometimes in the morning, and it seems to force them to get used to the boxes.
because of that, I usually plan my coops this style as a coop/run, even though I allow access to range most of the day. That helps me be able to confine for as long as necessary when there’s predator pressure, and so I usually plan for 7-10 sf per bird, about 15-20 birds per coop the size of the OP.
Since I’m elaborating anyway... I asked about rehoming also because I’ve had it get crowded and had fights in those situations with 10 birds if one is a bully, and made it work with a little over 20 with a very docile flock. In that way, the space per bird issue is always very personal to the flock and your personal goals/management.
