best breed for keeping penned up all the time?

[chickenNewby]

Friend recommended this site as a place I could check out breeds that do best penned up all the time.

(Did a search but came up with 1700 hits, each with one or more words in my phrase but not a lot of help).

As our yard ain't fenced and several neighbors think it's cool to let their dogs roam, I just don't wanna come home to any catastrophes so we've decided on a permanent coop.

Are there breeds that do better under these circumstances than others?

Thanx so much for your attention,
cnby

 

[Henk69]

Fence your yard, problems fixed. Or isn't your yard a designated toilet to the neighbourhood dogs?

 

[Bush Chickens]

you probably cant afford that(like me)but...ummmm...ive got nothing.sorry

 

[3riverschick]

Friend recommended this site as a place I could check out breeds that do best penned up all the time.

(Did a search but came up with 1700 hits, each with one or more words in my phrase but not a lot of help).

As our yard ain't fenced and several neighbors think it's cool to let their dogs roam, I just don't wanna come home to any catastrophes so we've decided on a permanent coop.

Are there breeds that do better under these circumstances than others?

Thanx so much for your attention,
cnby

Hi,

I have the same problem. Roaming cats and dogs. I have my poultry "yarded too.
You will want 4 sq. ft. per large fowl bird inside the coop. 10 sq. ft. per large fowl bird outside in your poultry yard. ( Halve these numbers for bantam poultry ). This will prevent stress in your birds. esp. when you need to keep them inside for days at a time in the winter. Make your poultry yard so you can stand up in it. 6 ft. high. Raise your coop 2 ft. off the ground so you can count the area underneath as poultry yard sq. footage. Roof your run with poultry wire and some kind of roofing. Even a tarp will do. It will give your birds shade and relief from rain. If you are not in a very hot climate, go to Lowes and get some of the smooth translucent plastic carpet runner like you see in model homes protecting the carpet walkways.
Affix it to the 3 outside walls below where the coop is raised. This will give your birds a foul weather shelter under the coop if they wish it.
Sussex do really well in yarded situations. It is called"semi-intensive" poultry keeping. Yes, Sussex also come in bantam size. Use 1 by 6 around the bottom of the run. Build up the floor of the run with 2 inches of dirt. Cover that with 2-3 inches of river sand(not play sand). Or just put in 4 inches of sand.
Best,
Karen
Waterford English Light Sussex
in western PA, USA

 

[warmheart]

We solved this affordably. We fenced the yard-- but with thin metal stick-in posts and a few rolls of affordable wire mesh farm-type fencing. Okay, it really isn't gorgeous, but it does keep out roaming dogs. While technically a very determined dog could dig under it, that would take time, hopefully be noticed, etc. Our yard is very large for a suburban backyard, and this wire fence roll with metal stakes scheme works great! The flock now free-ranges in the whole backyard.

For confinement, I would not only select a calm breed, but I'd give much more space per bird than the reccomended amount of space per bird. The more room, the less stress in confinement. Calm breeds might include Buff Brahma, Buff Orpington, Cochins both standard and bantam.

 

[chickenNewby]

Thanx y'all for all the helpful responses.

Yard is fenced on three sides thanx to neighbors; maybe it's time to get real and finish it. Sure would be great to let the girls roam the whole back yard.

And thanx for the Sussex tip. That's a mighty gorgeous chicken.

Best to all of you,
cnby

 

[warmheart]

Sweet Millie Bawk-Bawk reccomends the Speckled Sussex breed to you.

 

[chickenNewby]

What a doll!

We want some of those!

 

[warmheart]

They will siiiing and siiiing and siiing to you, while following you arround.

 

[farmer boy]

if u can't get the yard fenced then the bird you should get are hybrids im not sure what they are but people just call them hybrids they do great inside but outside their no good they do not know to run from predators so they are good inside the coop