Needing Advice on Space Requirements

[Caroline1510]

Hi all
After years of wanting to have chickens I have finally decided to get some! The Chicken coup I have found is 120cm by 120cm plus a nest box either side. It says it can house up to 12 chickens, however I think this would be too many plus I was thinking of about 6 or 8. I plan to build a run (well my husband is) roughly 4 meters by 4 meters around the coup and have the coup raised so the area underneath is not wasted. My first question is how many chickens do you think I could have in this space and also the ground can get quite damp so should I put something down on the ground of the run? I live in a rural area although on a street with lots of houses but I have seen foxes round here myself so will need to be careful. I was thinking of burying the mesh deep all the way round and have the sides 6ft high, would I need to cover the top in mesh too? sorry for all the questions, I'm new to keeping chickens other than a few we had when I was a little girl! Just want to make sure I am fully prepared before I go and get them.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks Caroline

 

[foxy]

An average chook needs 1 foot sq living space, so your house being a shade under 4x4 foot could technically accommodate 14/15 medium sized birds but probably around 9 or 10 would be more comfortable, as long as there is plenty of ventilation.

Run size is a bit more critical as this is their daytime space. A good guideline is 2m square per bird, this is to ensure that their is enough space to minimise health and behavioural issues.

Digging mesh into the ground is a very good idea, as most predators including rats will dig. Foxes however, will not be deterred by a rigid 6 foot fence and will climb this sort of fence without too much difficulty.

Welcome to the forum btw Caroline! 99 99

 

[Caroline1510]

Thanks very much for the advice. I will defiantly make sure the roof is covered in the mesh too. As I said I just want to make sure I do this right. At first I was looking at coops with runs attached but they seem so small and low down too, want one where me and the kids can walk into easily. Felling very excited now just have to word the husband up about building the run!
Thanks again
Caroline
PS reading all the other posts on here has given me invaluable advice, so glad I find this site!

 

[Stapfam]

Roof of the run and I would think about covering it in Corrugated perspex for weather protection. 6ft tall and you can get in and work on the run in comfort. Entry door and it should be a bit smaller at 4ft and I have just seen a neighbour who keeps Pheasants. 6ft tall on run- 4 ft high door except the door is 2ft above the soil level. Thought about it and my problem is stopping the birds escaping whenever I open the door. May be modifieing my door shortly.

 

[Marigold]

Another thing to think about is the size of the mesh. If you use 1/2'' square mesh, it's very strong because more is filled in that would be holes in larger mesh, and also it completely excludes rats. It's more effective against foxes also as they cant get their teeth in between the small mesh and bite their way through. A roof is definitely a good idea as it excludes foxes and also wild birds, which can potentially bring parasites such as redmite into the run, also they can pollute the food and water if they have access. And it makes the whole thing much more rigid and gives it extra strength. In our run, it wasn't practical to dig in the mesh along the sides, so we just lined the base with mesh and fastened it to the sides, so nothing can dig in under it. It really is lovely to know nothing can get in to my girls, I leave the pophole open all the time and they are safe and can get up when they like, and I can leave the feeder out at night knowing nothing will get to it.

You plan a lovely big run, which could take up to 8 birds at 2 square metres of space each. But do remember that this is the minimum space for them if you're going to keep them in there all the time, in which case 6 might be more sensible. Also, although it may seem a long way away when you're dying to get lots of lovely new hens, you might consider what will happen in a year or two, if you stock up to your maximum now. How many eggs do your family need? In her first, most productive season, an egglaying hybrid will give you 6 large eggs a week, ie 3 dozen from 6 hens. In the second year, maybe less, and after that, she will drop off and lay fewer, maybe 2 or 3 a week if you are lucky. By this time, if you start off with as many hens as you have space for, you'll have a flock of elderly hens that you are very fond of, who aren't really coming up with the eggs you need. Whereas if you start with 4 hens, you'll get 2 dozen eggs a week in their first year or two, and can then add younger ones to revitalise your flock and spread out the ages so from then on you always have some young and vigorous ones, and some that are older but still doing their bit as best they can. Also, in a sense you can learn on your first group of hens, and by the time you want to add to them, you might know better what sort you would prefer for your next batch, remembering of course that you must introduce at least two at a time as trying to integrate just one is often very difficult.

 

[Chuck]

You will need a roof on the run if you want to make it fox proof. It will be very expensive, even if home made so might be worth checking out some of the mesh ready made ones and it might give you some ideas.
The floor of the run gives problems to a lot of us and if you have a slope where water can run off, so much the better. Clay soil is particulrly difficult as it either cakes or is a slippery mud bath. Vegetation will not last long in a fixed run. Building from scratch is a great feeling and if you get advice along the way, you should end up with a pen that suits you and the hens.

 

[Marigold]

My run has mainly a mesh roof, with one end covered with corrugated green Onduline so the girls have a dry sheltered area for their feeder and dust bath, also some perches for hanging out in wet and windy weather or when they need shade. This end has the sides enclosed with white plastic tarpaulin fixed to the run uprights with battens. This gives shelter from the wind and rain - when the roof first went on I found the rain just ran off and blew in sideways so the actual dry area was very small. Some of this was made from scrap materials, especially the wood needed. We used 3x3ins. X2metre Timber for the run uprights, concreted in, and 2x2 ins for the frame at the top and the door. The bigger bits we needed to support the slope of the roof came out of a skip.

 

[Caroline1510]

Thanks everyone

Just one more question, sorry total novice, if I was to get the larger coup as described, but only have 4 chickens, would they get cold in it at winter? After having another look outside I reckon I can give them another 2 meters of length in the run making it 24 square meters in all. Then maybe I could start at 4 or 6 and build up to maybe 10. I just know that once I start i'll want to add to the girls and try different breeds, infact having a few different breeds is something I defiantly want to try. Just debating whether to use one whole half of my garden for chickens. Basically we're just in the process of doing up the garden and one side is very shady, nothing grows much and husband hates mowing! We don't really use it and if we used half of that for chickens we would be left with a useless bit of garden at the end that we never use, so my thinking is why not give them all of that side. Would be about 4 meters by 10 meters then, just got to convince the other half!

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Caroline. They won't get cold in a bigger coop. When integrating new hens it would be best to separate them for two weeks. So I would suggest making the run smaller to start and then extending it when the new birds arrive. But put new birds in a temporary coop in the extended section of run and after two weeks remove the dividing wire. There will be no space pressures then, which is a source of friction. Two feeders and drinkers will also remove conflict areas

 

[Chuck]

You could consider dividing the pen in half with a connecting gate so you can use it as one run or two by leaving the gate open. The divider doesn't have to cost much as you can use bigger wire or wire at the bottom and plastic at the top. It would definately help with integrating new birds and the worst thing you can do is get one from here and one from there due to disease risk and the risk of fighting. You could then have a smaller coop at both ends. No need to worry about cold, they are designed to withstand it. Best to get your head round what you want now of course as it is often more difficult to re-arrange afterwards.

 

[Marigold]

Thanks everyone

Just one more question, sorry total novice, if I was to get the larger coup as described, but only have 4 chickens, would they get cold in it at winter? After having another look outside I reckon I can give them another 2 meters of length in the run making it 24 square meters in all. Then maybe I could start at 4 or 6 and build up to maybe 10. I just know that once I start i'll want to add to the girls and try different breeds, infact having a few different breeds is something I defiantly want to try. Just debating whether to use one whole half of my garden for chickens. Basically we're just in the process of doing up the garden and one side is very shady, nothing grows much and husband hates mowing! We don't really use it and if we used half of that for chickens we would be left with a useless bit of garden at the end that we never use, so my thinking is why not give them all of that side. Would be about 4 meters by 10 meters then, just got to convince the other half!

Yes this would be brilliant if you could persuade him. The world is full of back garden chicken keepers who want a bigger run, but there are very few indeed who wish their run was smaller!

 

[Chuck]

When that overwhelming urge to dig comes over you or OH, just get in the pen and turn it over for woms for the hens !