A home for laying hens

[tammyhooper]

I'm thinking about getting 4 laying hens. Right now I'm thinking about the Plymouth Rock. I was thinking about making the run on a concrete foundation that would be easy to hose off. And using a combination of chicken wire and pipes to make an enclosure with a door so I could get in and clean the coop and feed and water the ladies. Am I out of my mind? I'm planning on having a victory garden along with a small orchard and sugar maples.

I really don't want a mobile coop that I have to move every year. But if that is what it takes to have happy healthy chickens I guess I would manage.

I would appreciate any thoughts on the subject.

 

[greginshasta]

The housing needs for 4 hens is roughly 16 s.f. of coop floor space and 40 s.f. of run. The coop should be dry and free of drafts and both should be secure from predators.

If you have 4-legged predators, you need to re-think the chicken wire. Use the search tool and find the many posts in that regard - it keeps chickens in but does not restrain predators. Use hardware cloth instead.

If you have winged predators, the run should have some sort of covering to prefent swooping hawks and owls.

The coop should have ventilation to allow it to not become too hot in the summer, but the birds do fine in very cold temperatures so long as they are dry and out of the wind. There are many choices about types of perches and roosting boxes - and have been covered extensively in recent threads.

There is much to learn from reading the accumulated posts on this board. If you have not done so, familiarize yourself with the learning section, the coops photos section, and the search button. All of these will be helpful to you.

Welcome to BYC.