What is the appropriate size for a grow-out pen...

[rockotman]

...for about a dozen Silkies?

My wife and I are new to this...

We will be ordering eggs here within the next few weeks.

After much research, we settled on a Hovabator and egg turner; they have been received, and we are testing them to make sure everything works well prior to ordering eggs.

I have figured out the supplies I need to build the coop and run my wife wants, and figure I have until about early June to get it built.

But between the hatching and when the birds will be ready for life in the coop, we will need a brooder and a grow-out pen. I perused the brooder pics thread for ideas, and have an idea for building a mobile brooder that can also be converted to a grow-out pen as the birds get bigger.

Initially, we will use a plastic tub for the brooder, but I want to build something a bit sturdier, with a section that can serve as a brooder, and a larger section that will serve as a grow-out pen.

The one bit of information that we can't seem to find is what would be an appropriate size for a grow-out pen that can accommodate a dozen Silkies until they are old enough to go in the coop.

One other thing; considering that these birds will be the first occupants of the coop, will we even need a grow-out pen this year?

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

My grow out pen/brooder is 4x6 with a 2.5x2.5 jut out on it for 18 chicks

 

[ChocolateMouse]

5x5 would probably be great until 8 weeks old. 4sqft per adult bird in a coop. Silkies are small and they won't be fully grown, they will be about half size, so 2sqft per bird should be fine. Two times 12 is 24, 5x5 is 25sqft.
4x5 (20 sqft, about 1.6sqft per bird) would be tolerable but tight, 3x5 (15sqft, little over 1sqft per bird) you will be almost guaranteed to see behavior and cleanliness problems pretty rapidly.
1sqft per chick in their first week or two is normal but their needs grow rapidly.

 

[Alaskan]

One other thing; considering that these birds will be the first occupants of the coop, will we even need a grow-out pen this year?

Nope... you don't need one.

Put then directly in the coop with no access to outside until they are big enough to reliably get in and out of the coop.

Or... I usually use a tractor for chicks and the grow out space.

 

[speedy2020]

I used the large cardboard box as brooder for about 3-4 weeks and then move to the coop with heat source light to keep the temperature 70F+. Once the temperature warm enough, I open coop door.

 

[aart]

and figure I have until about early June to get it built.

Build faster

 

[Ridgerunner]

One other thing; considering that these birds will be the first occupants of the coop, will we even need a grow-out pen this year?

As far as I'm concerned you probably don't even need a brooder if you have electricity in the coop so you can provide heat. My brooder is in the main coop, I put chicks in there straight out of the incubator or from the post office, even when the outside temperature is below freezing. Of course you'd have to follow Aart's advise.

 

[aart]

As far as I'm concerned you probably don't even need a brooder if you have electricity in the coop so you can provide heat. My brooder is in the main coop, I put chicks in there straight out of the incubator or from the post office, even when the outside temperature is below freezing. Of course you'd have to follow Aart's advise.

Yes, and when you are building think of next year or the year after when you want to add more chicks, build in a space to do that.

 

[CindyinSD]

I got my first chicks last fall. They stayed in the garage for 4 days, then I put them outside in my 4 x 8 coop. I put up a temporary divider up that cut the size in half until they got bigger.

It was in the low 30s at night. I was nervous but DH’s doctor insisted and it wasn’t worth risking it. (Immunosuppressants post-transplant.) I was using an infrared heat panel for warmth, which I think helped a lot. A heating pad (search mama hen heating pad here) can also be used. Just be sure to get one that has an “always on” option. The babies did famously. I think they’re a lot tougher than we give them credit for.

There were/are 17 of them. That’s important, because they keep one another warm. You’ll be hatching shipped eggs, it sounds like, so it’s hard to say how many you’ll end up with.

I should mention what ought to have been a no-brainer to me... that coop is fine for summer, but NOT fine when they have to stay inside for, say, nearly a whole month now of dangerously cold weather. They got moved to the tool shed and are very happy there though it lacks the “cute factor” of my pretty (but way too small) hand-built coop. LOL That will be my growout pen this year. The meat birds will get a tractor.

Have fun raising chickens! Everyone should have them.