Hi people,
We're preparing a home for three chooks this spring, already have a coop with space inside for 4 hens so figure they'll be happy in there, but I'd like to know how much space to give them in a covered run that will attach to the front of the coop. We both work from home so they'll have the run of the garden around the house for pretty much as long as they want during the day, and the run is only for when we need to pop out during the day (which isn't often at all). I'm assuming once sun sets they should be tucked up in bed so if we go out on an evening then they'll be put to bed first anyway?
Our coop is the house-style with a slide-out galvanised sheet floor under the two perch bars for cleaning, I was thinking of raising this off the ground by a couple of feet to give them space under to run/shelter, then extend this run out to as large as needed, covered with something suitable and rainproof (clear corrugated plastic?) as a roof. I'd like to be able to move the run and coop every other week to start them on fresh grass, though as I said, they'll very rarely be in the run anyway (unless I'm wrong in thinking they want to be out in all weathers? Would they want somewhere to shelter even if they free range - we do have various overhangs/wood stores they might shelter under if not in the run).
I guess my question is, how large should a run be if it's for temporary use and not their main place of stay, how tall must it be if I'm roofing it, what should I roof it with (would plastic get hot?).
I don't intend on getting physically into the run, rather I'll just lift the lid on it and step in (I can easily step over 1m if that's a decent size). I plan on using weldmesh all round the run and a 1ft skirt of weldmesh on the ground.
Sorry for the questions but I'd like to know what's best before I build something. I've heard all sorts for run sizes, from 5 sqft per bird to 9sqft per bird, and obviously I assume the more the better, but as I said, this is just a temporary run, the majority of the time they've got the run of the garden and various hidy holes.
Thanks for any pointers