Raising Chickens in Florida

[SimplyForties]

Check out this thread on hot weather coops. There are some great ones pictured.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=163417

 

[ERnoleGuy]

Found this mainly "Florida" thread particularly with regards to Pinellas County, St. Pete, New Port Richey, etc. THIS is just the type of forum community I need.

My First 6 Chickens

My chicks are about anywhere from 4-7 weeks old (I think) and are inside the house in a spare room while I slave away all day everyday working on their coop & run. So far the whole main support structure is up. I made it all out of 1.5" thick walled PVC and lots.... I mean LOTS of connector T's and some 90's. The whole thing is about 14 ft long, 5.5 ft wide, and 5.5 ft tall. Certainly big enough to walk into. I need to get some pictures posted now that it is all glued together & painted BRIGHT BARN RED. Still trying to convince myself it didn't make a bad decision to not paint it usual green or brown or something boring. You can picture it as one big, long rectangle. The whole thing sits up on a box made of 2 x 6's to make it completely level & square, and give me some place to attach and bury some wire.

Being in FL and living every day as a battle against the heat & humidity I know the coop area needs lots of ventilation. I have read so many posts and looked at so many pictures so I have an ok idea of what I am going to do.

Basically I have a PVC run, plus a stand for the actual hen house to set on all made of PVC. It's very very sturdy. I am going to use standard 1" chicken wire on all of the run area (where they will have freely confined space to roam over all day) Now I need to design a box to sit on that pvc stand and fit up into the corner of the large chicken wire cage basically that will act as their coop.

Here's The Question:
For those that have done this in the St. Pete/Tampa- and Surrounding areas, how much needs to be actual solid walls. The floor will be, the roof will be rain proof, but as far as the for walls go. I was thinking of making one wall plywood, with the nesting boxes on that wall. then the other three walls basically a wood frame with 90% of the exposed surface 1/2" Hardware Cloth. Of course a pophole door too leading down into the run. I know I need predator protection at night, and I can't really have a traditional wooden closed in coop cuz It'll get real nasty real fast in St. Pete. Now I also know it needs to be ok in the winter (which I read shouldn't be a problem at all really) but more so of a worry, is that the walls being made of hardware cloth will let in a lot of rain gusts and that hurricanes may be a problem this time of they year. Also, I know that I see raccoons occasionally and opossums too so will a secure 1/2" hardware cloth cage for the coop be safe from predators. (I am picturing it like a rabbit cage +nest boxes, roost, etc)

For those of you that have made a coop in St. Pete/Tampa/Pinellas County area and used a very open design and suggestions (and more importantly pics) would be so much appreciated. Any suggestions on how to make it so that it CAN close all up in very cold weather (hahahaha, as if we get that EVER here) and severe thunderstorms???

More pics of my progress tomorrow. It got too dark outside after I finished painting before I could take some pics.

Any suggestions on roofing material on the cheap. I think I'll also need to shade the run (half in, half out of shady trees) or maybe even make the top of it rainproof. Suggestions?

The chickens can get under their coop (its about a 35" clearance from the ground outside up to the bottom of the floor of their coop, that I hope will serve as rain shelter for them if they are out during the day... or do they just run back into the coop to get away from the rain? Also, the spot under the coop floor is where I imagined putting the waterer & feeder, after I thought about putting them farther out in the run hung from one of the support pieces of PVC (I realized they & their food would get rained on there)

Looking forward to talking to some local chicken lovers. Message me if you are in the area. I'd love to chat. Thanks Everyone!

-Runnins with predators in St. Pete???
-Anyone have a roster in this city & tips to calm the neighbors???
-Does keeping a light on in the run help deter predators???
-How does this all work with anyone who has fruit rats in the yard???

 

[DoulaHallie]

for those of you in the Tbay area, did you order your birds or buy from someone locally? I would really like to get some juvie birds, not chicks, for now at least. But I would also like to find someone nearby. Any suggestions?

 

[Sillystunt]

Hey there, I live in Polk County FL. We have all types of chickens and just keep them in the shade! They also get ice in the water dishes when really hot!

I just got back from Maderia beach...LOVE Pinellas county~

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I am in western West Palm Beach, 33412, and I have some nice young hens (pullets) for sale. Right now they range in age from 12-18 weeks old. I have a few each of an assortment of breeds, mostly heavy-breed layers like RIR, Ameracauna, Buff Orpintons, etc. I've been raising them to show & sell at our county fair but am willing to sell some now. I also have some mixed-breed beauties, some bantams, and a bunch of young cockerels, some RIRs & the rest colorful mixed-breeds. Let me know if you or someone you know in the area are interested in these birds.

 

[cmom]

I am originally from St Pete but have lived the past 10 years near Ocala. I have RIR's and ISA Browns. I just make sure they have a nice shady area. Also in the summer they have a wading pool and I also put ice chunks in their water. I have ordered chicks from Ideal as they are located in Texas.

 

[write2caroline]

I am in Jacksonville where it freezes once in a while.
My neighbors keep Americaunas, Marans, EE's. RIR
I keep Golden Laced Wyandottes, Silver Laced Wyandottes and a Barred Plymouth Rock.

I built a catawabe "a" frame coop to move around the yard. I put it out in the shade during the day and move it closer to the house at night. Sometimes on really hot days I keep a shade tent over the top to keep it cooler. I put ice in the waterers. My coop provides shade for them by design - coop houses them up top at night and down stairs is the tractor.

My Barred Rock was a replacement as My Pet Chicken (MPC) was out of GLW for me. But as we were discussing the suitabilty of breeds the gal said that the Barred Rocks did very well with heat and cold.

Being on the gulf I think that someone suggested a higher coop - That was a great idea.

I would also suggest something easy to clean. - When you can move them around or keep them clean - helps prevent smells from accumulating.

My neighbor with the RIR keeps bees too. He does not have chickens near the bees - I wonder if they would eat them? His RIR all Free Range but the coop is further away from the bee boxes.

Cal

 

[dennis2021]

Quote:
Chickens will snap bees right out of the air and eat them. If they have acess to the bees, the bees not be around for long.

Edit: Please note I haven't actually had a beehive, I just know what my chickens do when they see a bee.

I know this is old, but, yyou can keep beehives near chickens with no problems, however, I would not suggest that you keep them in the shade. Bees do better in sunlight for a few reasons, 1. is SHB small hive beetle seems to be better contriled by the bees in sunlight, 2. Bee a less testy in the sun.

Also, chicken never bother with the hives and the bees could care lees about the chickens.

 

[Likerah13]

Saw your ad in raising Chickens and I have been thinking about this for a least a year now. I live in Tampa now but don't have any land that I could raise Chickens but I would be interested in talking to you about the venture! Please contact me if you are serious I do have some capital that I have and want to start this venture very soon. Thanks bigtime Rick

 

[evergold]

I'm in Tampa and am loving that they city changed our ordinance making it easier to keep backyard chickens! A neighbor of mine was moving, and I inherited their flock and their coop. It is a frame structure covered in poultry wire with a dirt floor. I have two questions:

1) how often and to what extent should I clean the floor? It is too big and heavy to move.

2) I'm in the process of reinforcing the coop with hardware mesh bc something is trying to get into the coop at night. Does anyone have any other ideas for predator deterents/prevention? I've heard flood lights, coyote urine, hot pepper juice...does anyone have experience with something that works?

I appreciate any input you may have!