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5 chickens in a cube

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Five chickens in a Cube is absolutely fine - it's designed to hold up to ten. I've got five sleeping happily in an Eglu in my WIR! BUT the run is the essential thing, they fold up small at night and don't move around, but during the day they will need more space.

 

I would not have five in just a standard Cube and run, I'd get at least one extension. I did have five in a Cube and extended run, and that was ok but in hindsight I would have extended it again, to give them more space, especially as mine are kept in most of the time.

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I have six in one cube with plenty of roosting room to spare.

 

I have fourteen in the other cube but they are bantams....average size is a pekin with some itty bitty Japanese.

 

As long as there is good ventilation five will be fine in the cube.

 

As Olly said it is the run that is the important factor. I would think three hybrid sized chooks would be max in the standard run.

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I cant afford the £100 expension and hubby is still hyper-ventilating over the cube :D

And we have a very small garden.

 

I think in that case, the only modification you can make is to the number of hens!

 

I'd start at three, yes lots of us have more than that eventually - once your OH has been won over by the cuteness of chickens and the delicious eggs, you can look at options! Seriously, if you can't get an extension, then I wouldn't get five, maybe save up for one and add two more hens later.

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it also depends of the amount of FR time they get too of course!

 

Additional interest/space can be added to the cube run by adding perches etc.

 

In my cube run (14 bantams and 7m of run) I have perches, a couple of kiddies plastic tables, a little ark as additional nestbox.

 

There are some good ideas in the eglu, cubes and runs section like this: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=59066

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well I suppose the way you look at it is, it can house 6 but their quality of life would not be as great as if you added the extension(s) which omlet sell for the purpose of making the run bigger for more hens. You would also not be meeting the required 1 square metre per hen requirement to have 6 hens in the basic cube run. I have always gone by this and found it to be a good guide.

 

Its like many people living in only a few rooms, not ideal

:)

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yup, thats what I read and believed! But there will be 5 of them.

I'm guessing they will be ok for a while as I save up. Once spring hits they wont get to FR as thats when I plant my veg and also when the local foxes come round in the daytime!

Now I'm wishing I'd used that money to get a WIR. I reckon I could have got agood one for 600 quid!

Never mind, you live n learn!

I'll spring the WIR on DH next year :lol: (cost per egg about £100 :D )

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it does say UP TO which is why we are giving riven advice as it's just not big enough for 5 without the run :)

It also mentions run extensions which I believe is good. People on ebay sell houses suitable for chickens all the time and they are not suitable for as many as they state :? we are just helping riven to make sure the girls will be as happy as they can be. :)

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Sorry, didn't realise the chickens were already in residence! How big is their current run - or do they free-range quite a bit?

 

It's very much a matter of opinion. If you look at the area a battery hen is allowed - roughly a sheet of A4 paper - then the Omlet run is palatial. I don't think you'd be breaching animal welfare guidelines by having six in there, but those of us who've had a Cube and run tend to feel that more space is needed. You might get pecking problems or stress.

 

Is there any way that you could attach their existing run to the front of the Cube or something like that, to give them a safe bit of extra space?

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