New chicken owner

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JPHJPH

JPHJPH

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jul 31, 2013
44
2
24
NE Ohio
400
Hello my name is Jeremy and I live in n e Ohio. I'm an occupational therapist by day and now a chicken guy the rest of the time ... I built a small coop 3'x4' with a 13' run, all enclosed with welded wire and chicken wire .

I have read a lot about what to do but have many questions and concerns (one i posted in the coop construction thread).

I just got 5 hens literally 30 min ago... Not sure of age but they have feathers but are not full grown.. Very cute

I have their food and water and granit and oyster shell in the coop ... Which I think is ok right? I eventually will leave it open all the time since it is fully protected but for their first night I locked them in to get used to it...

My primary concern is cleaning the outdoor run since I have wire flooring I'm not sure what I should do... Put down plastic? Or hay but I'm concerned bc it rains often.

Any help would be greatly appreciated !
 
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I found in rainy weather that sand is the best since it dries faster than anything i have used and the smell isnt as bad. Plus you can clean it as if it was a giant kitty litter box! its much easier as hay tends to stink.
 
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your coop is much too small for that many birds. The standard is 4 sq.feet of space per bird in the coop and 10 sq.feet of space in the outside run. If chickens are too crowded they start attacking each other. It's good to have even more space that required - if your winters are severe and they will spend a lot of time inside. I think it would help a lot if you could post photos of your coop and run
 
Incidentally it won't take long for predators to notice you have chickens - they will be calling on them shortly. It will be a test of coop and run once they do. They can dig, climb and in the case of hawks just drop straight down. Good time to read up on predator proofing.
 

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