Transitioning 6 Week Old Chicks to Coop and Run With Open Coop Door?

[Mulrich]

Hey all!

I have four 4 1/2 week old chicks that I plan on transitioning into their coop and run at six weeks old. I built an oversized 8'x10' run with a small coop we purchased inside of it. The run is a veritable fortress: 1/4 inch HC above, on the sides, and 12 inches out and 6 inches underground. I have let the girls run around in the run for about a week now for increasing amounts of time each day and they love it. I have not introduced them to the coop yet (which as I have been reading probably should have been the opposite: introducing them to the coop and the run later...)

One worry is that the brooder pen we have them in now is 40" by 30" and the outdoor coop (minus the nesting boxes) is only 22" by 26". It barely meets the 2 sq. ft. per bird requirement. So my question is do you think it would be ok to keep the coop door open at night and let them go in and out as they please so they have more room?

Rookie mistake in hindsight, but now I am trying to figure out how to get four chickens and food and water into such a small space at night. :/ Any help would be appreciated! Here are some pics of the run and coop so you can see and potentially weigh in on the call. Thanks for your help!

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[Gallinarium]

Just gotta say: Very nice run. They should probably be fine permanently moving them to that area. As for the food and water, I would put those in the run, as it's covered, and they don't strictly need easy access at night. You could put them out there, then at dusk go out and shoo any stragglers into the coop, assuming it has a roost.

 

[DobieLover]

Hey all!

I have four 4 1/2 week old chicks that I plan on transitioning into their coop and run at six weeks old. I built an oversized 8'x10' run with a small coop we purchased inside of it. The run is a veritable fortress: 1/4 inch HC above, on the sides, and 12 inches out and 6 inches underground. I have let the girls run around in the run for about a week now for increasing amounts of time each day and they love it. I have not introduced them to the coop yet (which as I have been reading probably should have been the opposite: introducing them to the coop and the run later...)

One worry is that the brooder pen we have them in now is 40" by 30" and the outdoor coop (minus the nesting boxes) is only 22" by 26". It barely meets the 2 sq. ft. per bird requirement. So my question is do you think it would be ok to keep the coop door open at night and let them go in and out as they please so they have more room?

Rookie mistake in hindsight, but now I am trying to figure out how to get four chickens and food and water into such a small space at night. :/ Any help would be appreciated! Here are some pics of the run and coop so you can see and potentially weigh in on the call. Thanks for your help!

View attachment 2119734. View attachment 2119735

The coop size requirement you are quoting is for commercial layers. Those birds have to be debeaked as chicks because they will peck each other in their tight confines. It's not enough room.
The rule of thumb for chickens is general considered to be 4 sq ft per bird minimum in the coop and 10 in the run. I feel 15 sq ft per bird in the run is far more practical.
Because you seem to have a predator proof run, I feel that 3.5 sq ft per bird in the coop is adequate because you can leave the pop door open always.
But you still don't have enough room in that pre-fab.
The fact that the brooder has more area than the coop should be setting off all sorts of alarm bells.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I 100% would not have food or water inside. You're already aware of how tight on space it is, so there's just no room for it.

The run is nice, I'd consider building a coop directly into the run itself. A 4x4 unit would be suitable for your flock. Keep the smaller coop as an isolation unit in case a bird ever needs to be separated due to illness, broodiness, etc.

 

[SavannahRose]

You could probably get away with that coop until they get larger then build an upgrade for them. Mine have been in their new coop for about a week and honestly they stay cuddled up at night anyways just about on top of one another. I have food and water in my coop as well as run but they don’t even eat/drink at night once they get in they sleep until sunrise and they are ready to be let out into their run. I read that chickens don’t eat midnight snacks like we do and I’m finding that to be true lol. Nice set up you have!

 

[TK421]

You could probably get away with that coop until they get larger then build an upgrade for them.

I agree. It’s a nice coop, just a little small for what you’ll need. It will be handy to keep though for the future.

 

[Mulrich]

Thanks for all the info everyone! Super helpful for a newb like me.

With all this in consideration, I am going to build out a larger 4x8 coop on the back so that everyone has enough space and allows for room to grow if we decide on more chicks down the road.

 

[JulieCB]

Our story is similar. We built a large-ish (16'x7'), roofed, predator-proof run and purchased a small coop to go inside. We quickly decided it was going to be too small for the long run and are almost finished building a larger coop (about 5'x5') on the back end of the run with an access door. We'll keep the smaller coop for future integration of new flock members or as a sick bay. We don't regret our decision (though our wallets are lighter).