would this suffice as a run?

[rosyposyosy]

in the next house i was thinking of a dog kennel for a run as i hate dealing with chicken wire. they would only be in the run when i am at work/nobody's home. i have a banty, a maran, and an EE (so you know the size of each bird) would a 6x6x4 be ok? or even less, would a 4x6x6 be ok. keep in mind, they would probably only be in there for 8 hours a day or less.

p.s. the image links i am using are from craigslist, so they might disappear once the ad is deleted.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Looks good! You could up to 6 birds in the 4x6, so plenty of room.

 

[rosyposyosy]

thats great news! so what is the minimum total square feet i could have for a run?

 

[Frozen Feathers]

It's should be 4 sq feet per bird, so 12 square feet for 3 birds. The banty could do with less, but why bother? The more room, the happier they'll be.

 

[rosyposyosy]

ok! thanks for the info! they will only be there when i'm not home, i let them free range but not when i leave the house. (i dont trust catS) thanks for your help. does anyone know a good place to get cheap dog kennels?

 

[BeckyLa]

I think the 4 sq ft per bird guideline is for the coop. Outside run space should be 10 sq ft per bird.

 

[rosyposyosy]

what if they were only going to be in there when i'm not home?

 

[MissPrissy]

It works for a couple of birds but you will still need to run hardware cloth around the lower portion (say 2ft high) because cats, racoons, weasels, rats, etc can squeeze in or at the least get a very sharp paw in to snatch one of your chickens. Small chickens can even squeeze out of the holes in chain link fence. I know this because I have seen a cat take its paw and kill a chicken almost instantly through the fence.

 

[BeckyLa]

Well, you said in your first post 8 hrs a day or less. 8 hrs a day is a long time for a chicken. I think it would be ok for the 3 birds you mentioned, but I wouldn't add any more. I would add an outdoor roost, though, once they get used to roosting in their house. And some shade for the heat of the day. Also, like MissPrissy said, a small chicken could get out. So look at the size of your banty, some are very small, and see it she can squeeze out say around the gate. And, yes, you will need the hardware cloth like she said and wire over the top to keep preditory birds out and critters, like cats, coons, etc, from climbing over and getting in.

 

[rosyposyosy]

so what is the minimum square footage for a run?