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hendi_alex
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Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

Roaming room for chickens

Our chicken don't free range as such, but we are continually increasing the size of the runs. Right now we have two roosting boxes, each inside a very secure enclosure. The primary enclosure is 10 feet by 24 feet and the secondary enclosure is 12 feet by 12 feet. On most days the chickens are released into the run areas. Currently there are two runs each of which is about 24 feet by 36 feet. We have plans to add one more run that will be about 25 feet by 50 feet. I would like to eventually have adequate run space such that forage can be grown and the chickens can rotate from one area to another, without killing everything down to bare earth.

When considering chickens, I read suggested minimum coop sizes for six birds. Seems that the space was given as approximately 8 feet by 10 feet. That is so ridiculous! I feel guilty when I can't let our, now four birds, out of the what I thought was a very generous 10 foot by 24 foot enclosure. As for our two run areas. I had visions of lush cover crops for the birds to forage. The winter crops lasted about two weeks, and currently the space looks like a nuclear bomb wiped out all signs of life. I'm now wondering how much space it might take, such that the birds have actual forage material to scratch their way through. To make matters worse, we now have six new chicks. It is mind boggling how much dirt ten of these very active birds will scratch their way through.
Last edited by hendi_alex on Tue Apr 15, 2014 1:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Can you do chicken tractors (on a bigger scale, given what you said about size of run area)? I always thought that was a cool idea.
Last edited by applestar on Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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hendi_alex
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Posts: 3604
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

The yard is planted in a very complex naturalized way, so there are few large enough open spaces. Also, our yard is on top of a very dry sandy hill. The grass grows very poorly at best. The chickens are only suitable to forage on areas that are dedicated for that use.



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