More help/questions (Sorry) but if you don't ask you don't find out

[Phattaff]

I asked this in my other thread but thought i needs a thread of it's own.

Just another quick one (sorry but i really am a newby to chickens)
i'm going to set up a run that will be about 2.5m x 2.5m (fully enclosed cox of mr fox round here) and am looking to get around 4 chickens (black rock, road island red mrs pepperpot etc size birds) will this be big enough for them as their main run, what with myself and the mrs both working and it's starting to get dark by the time we get home now (will let them into the garden when we can keep an eye on them).
I have also seen a coop at a reasonable price which looks nice but it says it for upto 8 birds (large) will this be to big for them to keep warm???
Ok so it wern't such a quick one but i would like to get this right befor i start flashing the cash so to speak.
All the best Phattaff

[MaureenHall]

That size is fine, honestly, especially if you're going to let them free-range a bit when you're there to supervise (or just keep an eye on them!) No coop is ever too big (in my opinion anyway), the chooks will snuggle up together if they're feeling chilly, and besides, once you've got "the bug" you're bound to get more

Good luck!

[Nicos]

Mine free range- so can't advise on the run....but I had 6 chooks in pigsty 2mx2mx2m at night last winter ( got to -14C here)...and in the mornings they were absolutely fine- I just put down extra shavings on the floor to insulate a bit more.
Just remember- when you're hooked, you'll be getting a few more chooks anyway so the coop will allow for that!

( I'd make the run a bit bigger- and then you won't need to alter it later on- will save you loads of time in the long run!!)

[Phattaff]

Cheers all
I've been stopped at 4 by the other half (she's the sensible one) but i thought along the same lines of if i get a bigger one now i can add later when i get round her i bit more ha ha ha.

[Nicos]

She'll be wanting 4 more for her birthday!!!!

[vicky]

My hubby only 'let' me have 4 to start with - he's now buying me an incubator for chrissie!

Mine are in a massive 'coop' (wendyhouse) and are fine as far as warmth goes, they just snuggle up.

[Bramble-Poultry]

coop isn;t too big - need a bigger one then for 4 birds anyway cos you will get more!!

Run sounds fine expecially if they get a bit of freedom at the weekends and light evenings when you are there

[RedThorn]

as the others have said. Build what you can afford space and money wise. My OH also said only 4! we now have 8 and 4 chicks hatched on the weekend

[RichmondHens]

Pretty much all the hen houses on the market will have enough roosting space (it's amazing how many you can stuff in), but the most important thing is giving them enough RUN SPACE. Chickens only go inside to roost at night and to lay eggs, and occasionally to shelter from bad weather if there is nothing suitable in the run. The mistake most people make is they don't give birds enough run space. If you and your wife are out at work and will only let the birds out occasionally, then where they spend the rest of the time is of paramount importance. If you are only planning 4 birds, I would be inclined to buy a small house and get something like electric netting to create a large run, or build your own run with chicken wire and posts, so the house can freestand within it.

[Hilary B]

When we had nowhere better our chooks had a 'house' which was open on one side, had 3 walls and a roof of corrugated plastic (the sort used for letting light in through corrugated iron roofs). It was cube shaped, and each side was the size to match the width of the corrugated plastic (I think it was 3 ft, but not sure on that). There was a perch (2"x2" timber, slightly 'rounded' at top corners) across parallel to the open side, slightly nearer the back than the front and half-way up and a wooden veg-box on its side on the floor behind it for a nestbox.
I had a home-made feed hopper, a plastic drinker and they free-ranged in my garden and the one next door (neither of us grew veg at the time, and if the neighbour found eggs in her garden, she got to keep them). In the 4 years we lived there, we never got around to changing the arrangement......
Chooks aren't fussy!