How many chooks.

[electricbarbarella]

I have ordered an eglu cube with 2m run not coming till 11th July and i am almost bursting with excitment, it says that it is for 6 chooks but how many would you recommend would be happy in it?
I have already got people who want to buy eggs every week so hopefully will pay for there food that way. www.omlet.co.uk/products_services/products_services.php?view=Eglu%20Cube
That one, i know you all know what it is but i like doing links.
They will probably not be free ranging at all so it is the house and the run only.

I think it depends on the size of run rather than the house... I bought a cheapy wooden house with integral run and there is no way I could leave my 3 in it all the time.

I think you need at absolute minimum metre square of run floor per chicken, and they'll still look a bit squashed and you'll end up building an additional run! Might be worth getting the cube run extension to avoid this!

Of course, they can cope with little run area, but especially if they aren't allowed out at all I promise you they'll look at you with sad beady eyes and you'll start feeling guilty, and end up turning your garden into a giant chicken run.....!

3 chickens barely covers needs of my 4 person family, but 6 should give you excess to sell. I generally get an egg/day/chicken, but to be sure I would work on basis that you'll get on average 5 eggs/chicken/week - will this give you enough?

I will only sell excess, not really too bothered just like the idea of them paying for there own feed so we become slightly self sufficient. Although that is kind of negated by buying a ridiculosly priced coop.

My maths is crap, would a 2m run be 4m squared so enough for 4 chooks?

In theory yes! But they'll get you with those sad eyes.......!

I am prepared for that tbh, i have cats though so not sure I would be able to let them out.

It may be worth asking on the omlet forum what other peoples experience has been - I seem to recall seeing pictures of cubes in an assortment of larger home-made runs and fear there is a reason for this!

i have the cube with the run extension, and have 6 in there. but mine are out roaming wherever they please all day.
agree with dilbertina, its the size of run that counts. any way you can give them more room?
(in terms of feed costs, mine cost less to feed coz they are foraging for free all day)

Generally cats and chickens will be fine, it's the foxes and mink etc you need to worry about.

I have a dog and he is absolutely fine with them, although he gets a bit excited if I pick one up - I think he thinks I'm going to throw it for him...!

i personally wouldnt feel happy about keeping them in that run all day - even extended its pretty small for 6 chooks. or even 1 imo! im not into having my own battery farm

But don't they lay more eggs that way
If you let them roam in the day do they completly wreck the garden?

lol

well... ive heard that they wreck gardens, but im lucky and live out in the sticks on an old farm with loads of space and no, i havnt seen any wrecking go on.
the bit of grass under wherever the run/cube currently sits gets a bit scrathed up, but when i move the run, the old patch recovers in a week or two.

like i say, im well lucky having all this space, so its a no brainer here that i let them out... i do think id still have em if i moved somehwere smaller, but i dont know if id want them if i had to keep them in that run all day every day. even just a space double that size would be much nicer i reckon (which is why other cube owners have their own runs attached i guess)

ummm, in all honesty a bit yes! Depends on size of garden, what you have in it, and how garden proud you are!
The most annoying thing mine do is scratch out all the edges of the borders and spread soil liberally over lawn, they are good at clearing weeds but sometimes mistake other things for weeds....(ok often do!)

Have you thought about using a poultry net fence? More expense I know but I use a 25m one to control which bits of the garden they are in, would solve the cat concern too! You would only need to elecrify it if you are concerned about foxes.

We have ours in the run most of the time because we have SO many foxes, and they are REALLY brazen - they come and sunbathe in next doors garden in the afternoon! So our chickens would be a tasty snack quicker than you could say 'Kentucky Fried...'

Generally speaking I would say get the largest run you can, and get fewer chickens than you think. You can always add to them!

We have 4, and ALWAYS have an excess of eggs - we are a family of 5 - and we end up giving loads away. When we get our next flock (hopefully not for a while though ) then I am going to build a bigger run - like the one I showed you - and I'd like to get 6 hens, but I wouldn't get hybrids this time, so they would lay fewer eggs per week, but we would have more hens iyswim!

Hmm, I've just looked at your link, and with that size run I think you should go for 3 hens to start with. I confidently predict that a couple of months after you get it, you will abandon the omlet run, and build your own run! The benefits to that are that you can really fit it into your garden, and the house looks really nice in home made runs!

My garden is not that big (it is too me as it is my first ever garden). I am not garden proud as such but i do like it to be nice for playing in IYSWIM. dd's do the digging the borders and spreading over the lawn thing.

If you let them out all the time then they will scratch up the grass, eat any seedlings, and poo everywhere! The poo is the biggest problem imo if you have little ones playing in the garden.

Why not go for 3 chickens for now, and then if you want to add to them, build a more integral run like the ones on the omlet site. 3 is a really good number and if you get modern hybrids like the Warren/goldline you should be getting 15-20 eggs a week.

I think a poultry net is your answer - you could move them about but keep kiddy areas chicken poo free (although chicken poo is not too revolting), and protect any veggies/young plants etc.

15 - 20 eggs would be plenty as we eat 6 - 12 although i am sure we will eat more once we have the chooks.
I literally can't wait. How can I make the next month pass now.

What space would be classed as free range. In my opinion it should be the whole garden but I know there is a guidleine somewhere and i don't know ehere to look.

My eglu is due on the 16th June, I am starting to waver and think should I get a cube? Should I go for the bigger one as in the long run it will save me money as I am sure I will want to upgrade sooner or later and add more chickens as I become more used to them!

one of the ones for 2 chooks? I think they look lovely, are you going to let them free range at all?

I believe the "rules" on free-range are still pretty low area/chicken (I think this is where I got the metre square/bird). I think most people having own chickens would see free-range as much larger area. Word of warning - if you want to know 'cos you are selling eggs you need to be careful as I don't think you can refer to them as free-range officially without registering and god knows what else. You are allowed to sell excess eggs "from the farm gate" (farm obviously very loosely applied!) but cannot be doing it "commercially" without registering.

Oh no that is not why, I just want to make sure that i do the best for them as I have no experience and want them to be happy chooks, If I do sell eggs it will be to a friend and my mum so definantley not commercial. And I doubt very much that i will be able to part with the heavenl;y tasting things anyway.
I am just so excited and since I have a bit of time I want to make sure I get it all right.

In that case the more space they have the happier they'll be!

..and the more chickens you can have

I think I may be trying to cover up broodiness.