Hey All,
I'm completely new to chickens (keeping, raising, care, etc.) but I've always wanted to have my own. I just purchased a new home and thought I could place a coop somewhere in this space.
1) Is that space applicable, or are the trees an issue? There's probably about 10ft from the grass to the fence (maybe more).
2) Where would one begin? I'm looking for any/all beginner advice.
-buy or build a coop? I'm relatively good with building and construction, so it wouldn't be something I'd be intimated by, just not sure if it's worth the hassle.
-must have materials for feed, what to cover ground with?
-care and maintenance?
Thank you all in advance!
by OdinsReach
5 Comments
Start with your neighborhood Karen association. What is the home thing called?
Check out the book “The Small-Scale Poultry Flock” from your local library.
Plan for at least 5sqft per bird.
Building a coop is easier than you might think and a fun way to learn construction basics.
Trees are a plus with a flock, they love shade and foliage.
Coop:
Start with how man chickens you want, now multiply it by 2 and build a coop that size. (Chicken Math is real, as hard as we try for it not to be)
Chicken Run: free range or not
You know more about your property and neighbors than we do. Chickens need less space than you think but you want to give them as much as possible. Start with a chicken wire fence and go from there
It’s a fun hobby, I recommend the YouTube Channel, HappyChickenCoop. It explains everything
Best!
Build a coop for sure! There aren’t any that you can buy that would compare to a well built coop. Make sure you use hardware wire 1/2” or 1/4”. It’s also suggested that you bury the wire in the ground and run it out about a foot or two. The best method for the wire is to cut like 20ft sections and run it over the top to each side so you have enough over hang to bury the wire around the coop into the ground as well. You will want a large run but the coop itself only needs to be as big as the required size for the amount of birds you plan on having since they’ll spend most of their time in the run and coop is mostly for sleeping or laying eggs. Add some extra perches in the run and hang the food and water from the ceiling to keep them clean. Don’t forget a dust bath area for them, we used logs to separate the sand. We also use mulch (we get it free from our neighbor) but if you can use sand in the whole thing I would suggest that so it’s easy to clean. I wish we had made a poop shelf under the perch in their coop, it’s a good feature to have. Also nesting boxes; quality over quantity. They will fight over them no matter what, you’ll want to have a few random separate spots or you’ll hear the hens cackling in the morning arguing over spots. Alsooooooo skip a rooster and thank me later. Getting set up is the easy part, free range can be tricky cause they’re vulnerable to predators and can get into things that can harm them. So be wary of that. If they get sick make sure you have a separate designated area to care for them at where they’re quarantined away from the flock. Do full inspections on them monthy or as often as possible to check their vents, feet and overall health/weight/crop/color. I also wish I looked into recommended breeds for my location. Some of the birds I got didn’t like the heat and would do better in colder climates. That’s all I got I think lol
More:
Trees are good, but the roots will give you problems when you’re setting your posts. It would be helpful if you consider the direction of the sun most of the day. If you live somewhere warm, you don’t want the coop in the sun and you’ll probably want to utilize the shade of the trees. If the sun comes from the other side you can position the coop to keep the run shaded as well. Roofs help but the setting afternoon sun still hits hard
Fun fact… If your neighbor has a rooster, you have a rooster.