Keeping My Chickens Safe but Stimulated?

[Tyranno-Chicken Rex]

Hello!
Recently there has been a breakout of bird flu very close to where I live, and as you might know, bird flu pretty fatal for chickens and spreads through entire coops very easily. To keep my chickens safe, I was advised against taking them outside, where they might be exposed to bird flu from the feces of Canadian geese or raptors. So far they seem safe this way, but the way the outbreak is projected, the risk might be there for a few more months. My question is if it is ok to keep my chickens in their run for 2 or 3 months until the geese fly back to Canada, or more importantly, how to keep them stimulated and healthy while cooped up for that long? I’m pretty new to owning chickens but I haven’t found any solutions to this in my research and I’m uncomfortable with just letting them outside and hoping they don’t catch the flu. If anyone has suggestions it would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My question is if it is ok to keep my chickens in their run for 2 or 3 months until the geese fly back to Canada, or more importantly, how to keep them stimulated and healthy while cooped up for that long?

How many chickens? How big is the run? How big is the coop?

I know you read a lot about stimulating them on this forum but I find the most important thing is giving them enough space. So, how much room do they have?

 

[Mrs. K]

If you are short of space, you might need to reduce the flock, in order to give the remaining birds more space. Often times, what seems like more than enough space for chicks, rapidly becomes not enough space for full size birds. At that point, a lot of people think that they can cheat, by opening the run to the yard and 'free range'.

The thing is, chickens are really not BFF. Overcrowding causes a LOT OF PROBLEMS. The easiest and cheapest way to reduce overcrowding is to reduce the number in your flock. The other is to make the run and coop bigger, but that takes time and money. And chickens do not understand waiting for things to be better weeks from now.

This is a case, where reducing the number of birds in your flock, might very well keep the remaining birds much healthier.

Mrs K

 

[Tyranno-Chicken Rex]

How many chickens? How big is the run? How big is the coop?

I know you read a lot about stimulating them on this forum but I find the most important thing is giving them enough space. So, how much room do they have?

Hi, sorry for the late reply, I have 5 chickens and they have ~38 square feet of run space and ~18 square feet of coop space.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, sorry for the late reply, I have 5 chickens and they have ~38 square feet of run space and ~18 square feet of coop space.

So roughly a 6 x 6 run and a 3x6 coop. That is tight according to certain "standards" on this forum for ideal conditions but many chickens are kept in closer quarters. To me it is not a case of stimulating them but to reduce the chances of hurting each other due to being so close together all of the time. Which means to give them as much room as possible. Do you consider your run to be predator safe? My first option would be to leave the pop door open as much as possible. If your run is predator safe that may be permanently open. If not, then open it as soon as you reasonable can in the morning and do not close it until they are all ready for the night, probably on the roosts.

A concept that can improve the quality of your space is clutter. That means things they can hide under or behind, or get up above. That might be an old satellite dish or whatever up on cinder blocks, a sheet of plywood leaning against a fence, or a table or perch high enough the others cannot peck their feet from the ground. If there is conflict they need to be able to run away and stay out of sight. Don't fix something where they can be trapped though. Give them an escape route.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd advise that you should consider expanding the run at the very least. The minimums you often see quoted on here are too tight for many flocks and may also require more upkeep due to more poop, smaller space. Personally I'd recommend a minimum run size of 100 sq ft no matter how small the flock, both for space for clutter and enrichment items, and to give you enough room to maneuver around with those items in place as well.

Avoiding behavioral issues in advance is often easier than trying to fix them after the fact.