Jersey Giant Coop and Run Size, Please Give Advice

DogAndCat36

Crowing
Mar 12, 2020
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Northern Maine
My uncle is planning on getting dual chickens and I suggested that he should get Jersey Giants. But here is the problem, he doesn't know anything about raising chickens so I have to help him. Since Jersey Giants are bigger than normal sized chickens I don't know how much square feet each chicken needs inside the coop, run, roost, and nesting boxes. Can you please help?
 
General rule of thumb for brown-egg layers is 4 square feet per bird inside the coop, nestbox at least a foot each way, one foot of perch space per bird, 10 square feet of run space per bird.

If the chickens come from a hatchery, that amount of space might be enough.

If they're coming from a breeder that selects for large size, you might need to scale things up.

I'm guessing here, but maybe 5-6 square feet per bird in the coop, nestbox 16-18 inches each direction, 16 to 18 inches of roost length each, 15 square feet each in the run.
More space is always good. I'm sure that double the "usual" space for coop and roost would be plenty, and of course there's no real upper limit on the run--if he's got a few spare acres, they might like access to it all! But realistically, the run could probably have 10 to 20 square feet per bird and be fine.
 
A JG breeder told me, years ago, that the big birds don't handle high roosts well at all. As @NatJ mentioned, hatchery birds will likely be smaller, or at least vary in size (mine sure did!) while breeder birds may be huge. If you are getting breeder birds, ask!
Mary
 
General rule of thumb for brown-egg layers is 4 square feet per bird inside the coop, nestbox at least a foot each way, one foot of perch space per bird, 10 square feet of run space per bird.

If the chickens come from a hatchery, that amount of space might be enough.

If they're coming from a breeder that selects for large size, you might need to scale things up.

I'm guessing here, but maybe 5-6 square feet per bird in the coop, nestbox 16-18 inches each direction, 16 to 18 inches of roost length each, 15 square feet each in the run.
More space is always good. I'm sure that double the "usual" space for coop and roost would be plenty, and of course there's no real upper limit on the run--if he's got a few spare acres, they might like access to it all! But realistically, the run could probably have 10 to 20 square feet per bird and be fine.
A JG breeder told me, years ago, that the big birds don't handle high roosts well at all. As @NatJ mentioned, hatchery birds will likely be smaller, or at least vary in size (mine sure did!) while breeder birds may be huge. If you are getting breeder birds, ask!
Mary
Ok, thank you. :)
 

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