Chicken Coop design questions

[jeffinsgf]

The approach I've taken is to treat the garden seasonally. This time of year, it's fenced to keep the chickens out (they love tomatoes and peppers almost as much as I do). In the fall when I put the garden to bed, I'll let the chickens free range in there until I plant again next spring.

I have a run as part of my coop that is adequate for the number of chickens we have (according to the 10 sq. ft. per bird guideline), but they much prefer to free range during the day. If your predator problem is severe enough that you can't let them have the run of the property during the day, then you might want to fence in an area that would be quite a bit more than the 10 sq. ft. per bird. They will strip that area clean of all vegetation in a matter of days. 30-40 feet per bird stands a chance of keeping some growth.

There's also the option of paddocks. You can fence separate areas and rotate which ones the chickens have access to on a daily or weekly basis. This lets the plants recover. Check out this book: Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard from Timber Press It has some great ideas on how to keep the chickens safe and the garden, too.

 

[tcreeley]

I have an 8x12 coop I walk into for 13 chickens. It worked, but bigger would have been better. It lets them get away from each other. Mixing chickens as adults will involve some fights and re-establishing of the pecking order. Our rooster was beautiful, but mean. He would attack me every 3 days. I'd scoop him up and carry him under my arm for 20 minutes and he'd back off for a few days. When he died I didn't replace him- more peaceful. After he was gone, the chickens grew the feathers back on their heads and back where he used to grip them doing his business.

The fenced yard should be big unless you don't mind the look of bare dirt- big enough so that the grass (weeds) can grow faster than they can eat and kill it by scratching. We keep them in when there is snow on the ground. Hanging feeders and waters are useful because there is less waste. I feed mash, layer pellets, scratch feed, scraps. They like zucchini which is a help when you have that large one that gets away in the garden!

Do what works for you- no right way - just different ways!

 

[Tororider]

Eddie, if you are going to cover your run, build it the size of net you decide to buy. I got the last one I bought on eBay.

 

[Larro Darro]

My BIL raises gamecocks, so his needs are a little different than most. He keeps about 8-10 rosters and 30-40 hens. 5-7 of the rosters are in small round pens with 1 or 2 hens each. These eggs are ate most of the time, but when there is a crossbreed he is trying, they are hatched out. When eggs are hatched, he keeps the biddies in a movable coop until they are big enough to go into their own pens, or turned loose on the yard. He has two coops with 6-8 hens and one roster each. These coops are 8X12' sheds that are open on one side, with 15X12' runs attached. As eggs are not his main focus, and he built them with scrap, the laying boxes are not outside accessible. He uses gallon jugs for water in the roster pens and five gallon buckets in the coops. The rest of the hens run loose and roost in the trees. He has one loose roster, and there seems to always be biddies on the yard. He also raises Redbone coon dogs, so they keep the furry varmints at bay. But the White Oak snakes steal their share. Last week they had eggs stolen for two days straight, so my sister put two golf balls in the laying boxes. The next day they were gone. They did kill a six foot White Oak a couple of days later, but he didn't have any golf balls in his belly. Either he wasn't the one who ate them, or he had digested them.