Bondinho Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi all, quick question on walk in runs.... I've always thought that a walk in run of like 9ftx6ftx6ft would be able to accomodate a lot of chickens, for example I would have thought about 10 large hybrids would fit in there no problem. But recently I've been reading up on it and most people seem to say that this is only enough space for 4 or 5 chooks??? I know the Cube specifies 6 large fowl in standard run, and that is too many in my eyes but I would have thought 10 in a run as big as one mentioned would be fine? I'm just asking out of curiosity really. As when I move house I will be looking to buy somewhere with a huge garden so I can get another 10 bantams/light breeds to either move in with my current 5 or to live in a separate area. And at the moment I am torn between a 50m electric netting setup and a walk in run of like 15ftx9ftx6ft or something similar. So for example, if I did decide to put them all in together, how big a walk in run would you need for 15 bantams (inc 2 medium sized silkies!)? Thanks, Ed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hello Ed I am absolutely no expert in these matters but those who are suggest that each hen needs about 1sq metre space. Therefore a run 3 x 2 m should accommodate no more than 6 medium hens. Don't know how bantams fit in to the equation. Hope this helps and that my maths is ok. Allison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 dont know if this helps : we have 50m of elec fence, so an area of 12.5sqm. in that we have 3 'big' birds - 2 sussex and a bluebell, 2 medium - leghorn and copperblack maran, and 3 silkie bantams. I think I could add 2 more big or medium, or praps 3 more bantams without compromising anything... but unless I get my rescue girls (must contact BHWT) I probably wont do anything until/if/when we lose anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Mine is 9' x 18' with 14 hens in it at the mo......and there is heaps of room. I reckon I could put another 10 in and have room to spare. (I won't be doing that though!) If you put a few stout branches for them to perch on too, it increases the space available in a way. My advice to anyone thinking of keeping hens in a walk in run would be to go for the biggest you can, based on space and money constraints, quality, the size of flock you intend to keep. No point in having a 9'x 24' run for 4 hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokbokbok Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 Mine is about 10' by 9' and when we had 6 in it I thought we could have a couple more - when we had 8 it was just *too much* and now we have 7 it is *just right*. . . When I worked it out our size of run should have about 5.5 hens in it so you could add one or two more to the *official* number I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 My run is 6x9 and just over 5 feet tall. I have 4 hens in it, with lots of perches, & they get to free range most days. I think I would be happy with another 2 hens in there, or possibly 3, making 6 or 7 in total. That would be plenty of hens for the room they have, & more than enough eggs! I ummed & arred about the cube run for ages, I even had it on order with my cube with a 1m extension, then I decided it wouldn't be quite big enough for me. My run size was dicated by my garden size here it is when it was first built, without the perches added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
