Most people don’t think about space requirements and usually err on the side of having too large a flock for their needs and space. Access Be sure to use our coop size calculator at the top of the page before you plan or buy a coop. Another option is to use a chicken tractor. Many people raise meat … I'm about to begin constructing my brooder(s) and I need to know how much space per chick I should plan on. Whether that space in in your coop, coop and run, or they sleep in trees and totally free range doesn’t matter. CC need a ton of protein—remember, they are a meat bird—so their free ranging success depends on what you have available for them to eat on your property. One meat chicken will eat about 15 pounds of food in the course of their life (about 12 weeks), so hopefully that will help you plan ahead as you estimate how much chicken feed you’ll need. In our experience, CC still require a ration of a meat bird feed because of their protein needs. They will get angry and could attack each other. However, when flocks have too much space inside, it can be hard for them to stay warm on cold nights. Chickens do not like being crammed in a coop. Hi, all: I'm brand new to this: I've ordered 15 Buff Orpington pullets and 6 Rouen ducklings which should be arriving in the next few weeks. You will need a coop for your chickens, just like for your laying hens.Coops for meat birds are often larger so that you can raise 50, 100, or more birds at a time. If all you use your coop for is to provide a safe place for them to sleep and you commit to getting up when they do 365 days a year so you can open the pop door, you really don’t need much space in the coop itself. The space and square footage you can devote to a chicken coop is going to tell you how many chickens you can have in your flock.
Broiler chickens are a weird thing. #3: Not all “Space” is Equal (or, “When in Rome, Use the DLM”) Since chickens will just poop anywhere and everywhere they go, a big part of maintaining your chicken zone will always involve seeing that the ground (or floor) can handle the poop that falls on it without becoming a smelly, unhealthy place. ... states that the minimum space is one-half square foot per bird, ... they do forage, their legs do not need to be weak and useless. What is important is how much space is available when they need it. Because we choose to raise our meat chickens GMO, soy, & corn-free, we purchase our feed from Blue Sky Organics, through my local co-op here in Phoenix.