Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

I've been outside watching how that flock was going to act since I turned the Silver Grey Dorking's loose from their cage. The cage was getting way too small for the 7 of them. One of the White Rock's was trying to peck one of the Dorking's, so another Dorking came up behind the White Rock and grabbed her tail.

 

[igorsMistress]

It has two perches that are 33 inches long. So does that mean a maximum of 6 chickens? That seems just a little crowded to me, but maybe chickens are big on community, I don't know. If they'd be comfortable with 6 in there, the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. Then there are two nest boxes.

Not quite. I would go four max in that case because as I said, they do need room spread out especially in summer.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Well the two frizzle cochin chicks have feathers going haywire! The smooth (the one i think might be male) doesn't seem to have as much wing feather growth.. i want to be wrong on that one. But, they are all so adorable

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I understand your concern with the pallets. You don’t know if they were around poison or where they’ve been. There are other materials you can use though which could limit your lumber costs. Are you building only a coop or a run also?

Coop and run. Here is the general design (please excuse my lack of skill in Sketchup). Lots of 2x4x8s and plywood.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

Not quite. I would go four max in that case because as I said, they do need room spread out especially in summer.

Thanks. Three hens and a rooster would be a nice start, and once the shed is turned into a coop, I could add more. I'd like to have hens that lay really dark brown eggs, and Black Copper Marans are supposed to have really yummy eggs. But who knows what I'll end up with, especially if these eggs hatch. They went into lockdown today, and some of them look shiny from the humidity in the incubator. It's staying right around 99-100 degrees, and today for lockdown I put the humidity up. It was at 67 when I looked earlier.

 

[wolfwalker]

I don't know if I am in the backyard chickens group for AZ, but I was going to post him on Arizona chicken raisers and Arizona chicken addicts on fb too. Thanks for the new group to check out!
I love the general mindset of people on this site so I posted here first. Fingers crossed for a good home for him. I didn't know how Pratt's worked so thank you also for that info, I may use it as a last resort!

If you weren't so far away I would take him. I have a small flock of 10 SS pullets to see if I was going to like the breed before adding them to the breeding flocks. But I'm down near Bisbee

 

[igorsMistress]

Coop and run. Here is the general design (please excuse my lack of skill in Sketchup). Lots of 2x4x8s and plywood.

We had a drawing on paper lol. You’re doing better than us. You already don’t have a lot of wood.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks. Three hens and a rooster would be a nice start, and once the shed is turned into a coop, I could add more. I'd like to have hens that lay really dark brown eggs, and Black Copper Marans are supposed to have really yummy eggs. But who knows what I'll end up with, especially if these eggs hatch. They went into lockdown today, and some of them look shiny from the humidity in the incubator. It's staying right around 99-100 degrees, and today for lockdown I put the humidity up. It was at 67 when I looked earlier.

Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

Good luck with your hatch!

Thank you! I hope at least one chick hatches. The humidity went down to 32 the other day, but everything looked OK. I readjusted the incubator cover and it's good now.

The hatcheries say their chicks have vaccinations for Marek's diesase. Do I need to vacccinate chicks if they hatch? Will medicated chick food do the job? And are there any general medicines I should have at hand, such as Neosporin?

Thanks for being patient with my zillion questions.

 

[CaroleW]

...The bottom measures just over 5 ft x 5 ft, and the top, including the two nest boxes, is just over 3 ft x 5 ft. ...
Experts, please contradict me if I'm wrong, but my best guess is 3 average sized hens and a rooster would be the max in it??
I am a little concerned that something might get into it from underneath. I'm thinking of using either hardware cloth (bought some 1/4 inch for the chicken coop project) or some sort of base that keeps predators out.

I'm no expert but here's my 2 cents...
Depends if they are in it all the time or if they are out in another pen sometimes. It sounds like you may keep them in due to predator threat so you're probably right at 4 grown birds max especially if one is a rooster. Also depends on the breed size & temperament (pick a breed that is generally content in confinement)...and remember chicken math syndrome... there's little to no room for expansion.

If they're only in this setup part-time and they have a larger yard somewhere, you'd be surprised how many chickens would fit there. I've seen some setups that they give them 12" of roost space and then they put more in as an experiment down to 9" of roost space per bird. But they are turned out to work a pasture during the day - so they are ready to sleep at nite after an enjoyable work day.