Would this coop be big enough for 6 bantams?

[Riverbend Farms]

I currently have 6 bantams (4 OEGB 2 D'Uccle) They never come out of their runs to free range (I have tried it and I have had 1 fly away and a cat got it, so they stay in their run full time) and they are pretty happy and there isn't any bullying or anything, just some feather picking, so I was wondering if I should get them a new coop or if a flock block would work. I currently keep them in this coop: (not my birds pictured) it is a 6' x 3'

I was thinking of getting them this coop which is an 8' x4'

 

[Riverbend Farms]

They have lots of shavings in the run so they can dust bathe, "forage", etc and its only 2 chickens that are getting the tips of their feathers (not even the full feathers) eaten. They don't rip each others feathers out, they just kind of eat the tips of the feathers on the 2 chickens backs. I was thinking a flock block might stop this and give them something else to peck at. No one is hurt or injured and they don't get in fights or anything.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

From what I can see they need a minimum of 5sqft per bird in the run so this would work as it would be just over 5sqft per bird. However bigger is better. If you want more bantams then a bigger run is needed but if you are not expanding then this would work. I do think that trying to get them to free range would also be a good solution so they can stretch themselves out every once in a while.

 

[Riverbend Farms]

From what I can see they need a minimum of 5sqft per bird in the run so this would work as it would be just over 5sqft per bird. However bigger is better. If you want more bantams then a bigger run is needed but if you are not expanding then this would work. I do think that trying to get them to free range would also be a good solution so they can stretch themselves out every once in a while.

I am not going to get any more bantams. I am going to give a flock block (about 20 lbs) and see how that works out for them. I do have large fowl in a bigger coop (about 9 x 5) that I was considering moving into the bantam coop and moving bantams to the larger coop as the large fowl get to free range for over 12 hours every day.

 

[FrostRanger]

Neither is nowhere near big enough, you want a bare minimum of 10sqft per bird in the run and 4sqft of space per bird in the coop. Them feather picking like that is likely an early symptom of being overcrowded and is likely to get worse

I've personally haven't had a good experience with flock blocks, when I used one, it caused them to entirely ignore their regular food until I removed it. It can sometimes be good enrichment for some flocks but the real issue is they are just too cramped

 

[Riverbend Farms]

Neither is nowhere near big enough, you want a bare minimum of 10sqft per bird in the run and 4sqft of space per bird in the coop. Them feather picking like that is likely an early symptom of being overcrowded and is likely to get worse

I've personally haven't had a good experience with flock blocks, when I used one, it caused them to entirely ignore their regular food until I removed it. It can sometimes be good enrichment for some flocks but the real issue is they are just too cramped

It's been over a year at this point I have had 6 birds in that coop. If it really does get worse I'll get a small coop and move a couple birds in it. I do not have the space on my property for a 60 foot run.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

It's been over a year at this point I have had 6 birds in that coop. If it really does get worse I'll get a small coop and move a couple birds in it. I do not have the space on my property for a 60 foot run.

The thing is that you are already seeing signs of over-crowdedness. If you don't want or have the space for a massive run then they need to free range to get more space.

 

[Riverbend Farms]

The thing is that you are already seeing signs of over-crowdedness. If you don't want or have the space for a massive run then they need to free range to get more space.

I am not free ranging them. They will fly off and have done it before. I 'm probably going to just build a run extension.

 

[FrostRanger]

It's been over a year at this point I have had 6 birds in that coop. If it really does get worse I'll get a small coop and move a couple birds in it. I do not have the space on my property for a 60 foot run.

60sqft would be a 6x10 run, even if you move a few birds around you would still need the same amount of space, it would just be divided among multiple setups

 

[FrostRanger]

The thing is that you are already seeing signs of over-crowdedness. If you don't want or have the space for a massive run then they need to free range to get more space.

Free ranging doesn't make up for a too small setup unfortunately