a few Qs -- hen house floor? and others

[Delia]

Hi I'm new to chicken-rearing (actually don't have the chicks yet but have almost finished the tractor) and have a few Qs,

We built our hen house without a floor - it is meant to sit on the ground with a metal mesh bottom -- is this OK? Or does it need a solid wood floor? We have an attached caged run made from 2 large dog kennels about 20 SF and we were thinking of having 4 chickens.

Does the house need to have a door if the cage is secure?

How old do Buckeyes need to be to start laying eggs?

Do you mix the feed, grit and calcium together or should it be offered separately? I was thinking of putting the food in a hanging feeder on wet days and sprinkling it or at least some of it on the ground on dry days so they have something to do all day and find the food and bugs along with it. What do you think?

Thanks, your input is appreciated,

Delia

 

[patandchickens]

In principle, if the floors are mesh and everything is secure AND 1/4" mesh on all exposed sides, then you would theoretically not need to lock them in the house at night. (the reason to need the small mesh for the run, in this case, is to prevent predators from reaching thru and grabbing (temporarily-)living handfulls of whatever body parts they can reach of whatever chickens were unwise enough to fall asleep within reach.

In practice, however, virtually everybody THINKS their coop/run are far, far more predatorproof than they really are. And underestimates the strength and persistance of predators who have thier chicken dinner in sight. You would be surprised what a motivated dog or raccoon can rip apart.

So really I would highly recommend locking them up at night. But, it's a personal choice.

What size is your coop? I am a a little concerned because the run is quite tiny for 4 chickens (only 5 sq ft per chicken) and offers no opportunity for scratching/dustbathing if it has a wire floor... personally I wouldn't consider trying that unless I had an unusually oversized coop, like 3-4x the usual recommended floor area per chicken.

Some people scatter grit over the feed, but IMO it is simpler to offer it separately, either in a little container or just a handfull chucked into the run every now and then. Oystershell should for SURE be offered separately, always available in a little container.

I would leave the feed in the hanging feeder always, and for entertainment (cuz they will REALLY need it in this setup) toss in vegetable scraps, nontoxic garden weedings, etc etc onto the floor of the run for them to poke at.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Ridgerunner]

We built our hen house without a floor - it is meant to sit on the ground with a metal mesh bottom -- is this OK? Or does it need a solid wood floor? We have an attached caged run made from 2 large dog kennels about 20 SF and we were thinking of having 4 chickens.

I would not use a metal mesh bottom. Hens like to scratch and that could hinder them. Also, it would be difficult to clean. I'd think a wooden floor with a good coat of paint or a linoleum floor to make cleaning easier. My floor is just dirt but I've got a metal apron around it to keep the predators out.

I don't know how big you are making your coop. Conventional wisdom on this site is that you need a combined 14 square feet per bird minimum in your coop and run to keep them from getting bored and reduce the chance of picking and cannibalism. Your run is small for 4 Buckeyes, but your coop may compensate for it. And if you have a tractor-style coop that is moved every day, you can get by with less room.

Does the house need to have a door if the cage is secure?

If the cage is truly secure, and that means top, bottom, sides and joints, especially the gate or door, then it does not need to be closed for security purposes. It is usually more difficult to predator proof a run than a coop, so be careful. You might want to be able to close a door to stop wind or rain from getting in or to keep it warmer during the winter. All this depends on your configuration and weather.

How old do Buckeyes need to be to start laying eggs?

I don't know about buckeyes specifically but I'd suspect around 5 months old.

Do you mix the feed, grit and calcium together or should it be offered separately? I was thinking of putting the food in a hanging feeder on wet days and sprinkling it or at least some of it on the ground on dry days so they have something to do all day and find the food and bugs along with it. What do you think?

If you mix it, what proportions are you going to use? If you offer it separately, they will take what they need. If you mix it, how do you know how much to mix?. Many people do successfully mix it however, so that can work. Maybe they will chime in with proportions they use.

As far as feeding on the ground, I'd consider keeping the main food in a feeder. You can throw scratch or other treats on the ground to get them to scratch and keep them entertained, but putting the main feed on the ground seems like it would tend to attract vermin like mice and rats. If the chickens don't get it all, I'd also be concerned it could turn moldy and injure them.

 

[LizzyJo]

The metal mesh floor would be uncomfortable for them to walk on and unnatural. I've read it can actually make their feet sore.

I like the idea of wood, vinyl and shavings in the coop and dirt outside. Those girls do like their dust baths. My granddaughter was concerned about them throwing dirt on themselves, but I have enough to do without bathing chickens!

Oops, had to edit--if you put in a wood floor, elevate the whole thing so it's off the ground.

 

[pkeeler]

A dirt floor is fine. When you say mesh, do you mean hardware cloth, deer netting, chicken wire, rabbit fence, etc.? If the holes are big enough, things will tunnel in (e.g. rats).

If you coop is 16 sf or more, the run is big enough.

I would put two doors in the house. One for you and one for the chickens. However, if your kennels have a top, and you fortified the bottom so predators couldn't dig in, then you could leave the coop open to the run. But installing a hinge and a small door is really not difficult and would give you the option of shutting it if you wanted to. If the coop has a roost (and it should have 4' of roost minimum), the chickens will be in there at night. So, having the coop open to the run means they can get out without your help in the morning, but does open up new avenues for predator attack or vermin infestation.

Most dual-purpose hens start laying at 5-6 months. But, if your hens reach that age in the Fall, the lack of daylight could push laying back until next March.

I would have food in a feeder all the time inside the coop. Sprinkling grains around in the run is fun and you can put kitchen scraps in there as well. I would not put commercial feed where it could get wet, unless you are certain it will be eaten before the next rain. You can mix ingredients or put them in separate feeders.

 

[Delia]

I should have described my chicken accomodations better: we used 2 XL dog kennels -- made out of coated metal not wire. The metal is rounded not sharp edged. Each kennel comes with one extra panel which we lie flat on the ground and put the hen house on top of it. That way there is no bare floor that can be tunneled into. Also, the trays that came with the kennels we used on top as shades and rain shelters. The house is so heavy only my husband can move it with a wheelie dolly or whatever those things are called. The run is 20 SF and the house is 10 SF. We made it this way so we could relocate it onto fresh ground every week. If this proves to be too small we can get an extra kennel and attach it at the end to add 10 extra SF. We added chicken wire on the outside so chickies can't stick their heads out and nothing can get an easy reach in to grab them.

There is a hanging feeder and 2 gallon waterer with a separate container for grit. In the future I was planning on mixing the food and calcium together and probably keeping the grit separate. The chicks can free range when we are home in the yard.

 

[Norma]

I think there has been a major miscommunication here. I have dogs and am familiar with dog runs. A 10-square-foot dog run would be one that is, say, 2 feet by 5 feet, which is not large at all. What Delia meant, I suspect, is that she has dog runs that are 10 feet square, that is, 10 feet by 10 feet, or 100 square feet apiece. She is talking about using two of them together. Would 200 square feet not be enough footage for the small number of chickens she is considering?