Like humans, chickens rank themselves socially and it’s important to keep this in mind when building a chicken coop or looking at chicken coop plans. A defined pecking order reduces stress on the chickens and keeps fighting to a minimum.
You can help your chickens maintain a stable, stress free environment by considering the following when looking at chicken coop designs
- Ensuring you have plenty of waterers and feeders for your chickens. This will ensure all your birds get fed and watered without the higher ranking chickens chasing the lower ranked ones away.
- Make sure your chicken run is big enough for all your chickens to roam. The smaller, lower ranked chickens may need to run away from the bossier chickens!
- Make sure the chickens have somewhere to hide if they need to. Even having dim lighting can reduce stress.
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