How Many chickens Can This House ?Trying to delete

[Just-Moxie]

Those fancy coops might do ok for a broody and her chicks. Or even using it as a hospital coop. But for full time, no. They need fresh air and sunshine, dirt and grass and bugs. Someplace to shade themselves from the sun and predators. Even if you don't ever keep them for eggs, a happy flock is a good thing. Oh, and never have just one. Get whatever you are allowed to have if there is a limit on them where they would be.

 

[catjac1975]

I much prefer a dirt floor over one that must be constantly cleaned. Phooey on that! I do deep litter, when it gets messy, toss in more leaves, hay, or pine shavings. They enjoy scratching through it (leaves preferred) and it makes compost right there in the coop. I did it out 2-3 times a year and spread more leaves. LOW MAINTENANCE!

Have your nephew build you a walk in coop, with 4x4 posts set in the ground and a covered run attached. Then you have the option to open up the coop and let them out in the yard or just let them range around in the coop and run.

This was my coop in Livingston. It was 8x7 and I kept 6 hens. Later I added on a 12'x8' run and got more chickens. That gave them plenty of room and I also let them out in the yard.

Note all the ventilation. In winter, I stapled plastic over the largest spaces, but left the bottom open.

Not saying that you have to copy this, it's just to give you an idea of a walk in coop, dirt floor that the chickens liked. I like @canesisters idea of a wired off walk in area for you with space for a trash can with lid for feed.

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I used a star riser and made them steps to their roost. LOL

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See the wire laying on the ground? The whole coop was skirted with wire to prevent dig ins. Sometimes I had the run 2 feet deep in leaves.

In the north the chickens cannot have a frozen ground to stand on.

 

[Beekissed]

I free range and rarely ever lose a bird...just gotta do it right. You can lose a bird quicker in a coop and run than out on free range any ol' day. In the coop and run they can't get away...like shooting fish in a barrel. And if you think you have a Ft. Knox coop, you've never had a weasel or fisher on your land, or even a black bear. Just got to have your own predators on guard, lots of duck and cover and the right flock to get it just right.

I also have a soil floor and, much like Bay, I use deep litter there...even if it ever freezes in the underneath layers, which is quite rare, they have dry leaves underfoot at all times. And I purposely arrange for rain/moisture for the DL underneath my roosts so that my litter will continue to compost all winter long. In doing so, it provides heat, so under the dry leaves they have warmth coming from the composting action. Unless we have subzero for a couple of weeks, that warmth continues all winter long.

Unlike Bay, I NEVER clean out the DL all the way....I take some fully composted material out in the spring to side dress gardens, but I never clean out the coop. I've had the same DL growing/composting for 6 yrs now. No smells, no flies, no excess moisture or frost bite in the winter months due to great ventilation strategies. Free litter materials, minimal work, maximum health.

 

[Nyboy]

I like the idea of deep litter. Do you use it in the outside run or only inside coop ?

 

[baymule]

I pile it in both the coop and the run.

 

[flowerbug]

aren't there better animals for tick control? like guinea hens or quail or pheasant? they're more wild and able to better fend for themselves. not that i've actually studied this but perhaps that is an angle to consider...

 

[Nyboy]

aren't there better animals for tick control? like guinea hens or quail or pheasant? they're more wild and able to better fend for themselves. not that i've actually studied this but perhaps that is an angle to consider...

Guinea hens have been known to drive people crazy with their noise. Quail and pheasant can not be free ranged they just run away.

 

[bobm]

aren't there better animals for tick control? like guinea hens or quail or pheasant? they're more wild and able to better fend for themselves. not that i've actually studied this but perhaps that is an angle to consider...

Isn't it about time that someone finishes reading the library books instead of just the title ? With the first critter ... one would be tarred and feathered in the village square within a couple days. With the second and third ... one would go financially broke in replacing these critters within seconds of their charge to eliminate the ticks.

 

[flowerbug]

Isn't it about time that someone finishes reading the library books instead of just the title ? With the first critter ... one would be tarred and feathered in the village square within a couple days. With the second and third ... one would go financially broke in replacing these critters within seconds of their charge to eliminate the ticks.

like i said, i don't study this stuff, i don't keep animals here other than the natural body fauna and worms... the spiders are free ranging. i try to be practical with my studies and aim them at things i'm actually going to do or something more practical like how to hang and slaughter a pig (which isn't all that likely either, but that topic at least i did finish several articles on)... i'm still quite glad i've not had to do it though and hope i never have to.

as for the animals mentioned. ok, so i've learned a bit about them more here. however a fenced in area like a chicken tractor would keep them in and on tick duty.

but also, aren't birds a bit fixated on parents when they hatch? so if you have the eggs and hatch them and are around when they crawl out of the egg wouldn't they be less wild? just kicking at this a bit. i don't know...

 

[ducks4you]

My dog chain link fencing DOES prevent the predators around here from entering the coop, and, surprisingly, the bird netting on top prevents hawks and owls from getting in, too. You need to count on chickens getting smart enough to hide from hawks and owls if they free range, and I am not so sure that they all can do that.
Chicken wire fencing is feeble, but might work if you have a strong wooden fence around your yard. Don't have bear and don't live near running water, so ferrets and their relatives aren't around my property.
I only had ONE predator get into a previous bird enclosure when I had strung chicken wire on top, and it failed, so the owl got in and killed two hens. I HEAR both hawks and owls around here. There is an aviary where they raise pheasant about 10 miles from our house and THEY have 4 enclosures with bird netting on top of each of them. They have a wooden fence about 4 ft. high on each of their runs and we often see male and female pheasant perching on the top of the fencing, but inside. They also grow corn for them, which makes a great cover by the Fall, but NO cover for the chicks.
This is their Business and I doubt that they would house them like this if it didn't work.
Not MY opinion, just my observations which cause me to spend over $100 on the netting, which I have secured over the "walls" to prevent any gaps.