bock bock b-gock y'all

Date sort Score sort
Gifa

Gifa

Songster
7 Years
May 15, 2012
698
70
138
South Kansas City, Missouri
My Coop
My Coop
Hi... So I did it... After about a year, I managed to wear my husband down and get him fully on board with the idea of raising chickens in the back yard for eggs. Part of my strategy was to find a local (but unreliably available) source of farm fresh eggs and then express complete and total disgust with the quality of factory farm eggs and the inferior living conditions those poor chickens have to live in... while in the grocery store... After some research of his own, he most recently came across this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-greger-md/mad-cow-disease-california_b_1450994.html

And that tore it. We're going to raise our own chickens.

I live in Kansas City. So our ordinance permits up to 15 hens so long as it is 100 feet from the nearest neighbor's home, unless the affected neighbors consent to the coop being within that 100 feet. The ordinance also states, more or less, zero free ranging. Which is fine, I don't want my chickens falling victim to the local coyotes or camry's.

I don't live in a neighborhood with a homes association (it was one of our requirements when we were house hunting 10 years ago), my property backs up to undeveloped woods so I don't have any neighbors directly behind me, and I have spoken to both of my neighbors on either side... I even discovered that 2 houses up the street is another neighbor considering urban chickens.

So, we're good to go. We've spent the last two weekends clearing and preparing the site for our future girls. Building will commence in the next couple of weeks.

Here's the preliminary design:

463




And here is what we kind of expect it to look like in the space we are planning for it:



We were originally planning on having only 3 or 4, but have decided to get 6 in order to have extras for an ongoing thank you to our neighbors for being so cool about it.

We have decided on:
2 Australorps
2 Easter Eggers
2 Silver Laced Wyandottes

We are looking for a balance between good production, a calm, quiet-ish, colorful flock and a colorful egg basket.

An additional collapsable chicken tractor is planned for next summer so they can get out and about in the yard some.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the forum. I don't think you will regret having 6 hens. A few extra does not make for more work really, and it is nice to have a variety. They look like good coop plans. If you are animal people, you will probably enjoy raising chickens even more than you expected.
 
Thanks for the friendly welcome!

Yes, I am hoping a 4X4ish coop will be big enough for 6... I've read in various places that you only count the coop space, that you count the coop and run space, and that chickens need 4 square feet to be happy. I feel like, if that only goes for the coop space, it might be a little tight, but if it includes the run, then I could actually go 8-10 hens. So, I am a little confused there.

As for the design and space, yeah... the back yard was the main selling point for us when we bought this house in 2001. The back fence is 100 feet long and the total length of the coop and run will be 24 feet, situated almost in the center. This puts the coop about 80 feet from the nearest neighbor's house... Our hope is to keep it somewhat modestly camoflaged (color scheme and profile) so that we aren't calling too much attention to ourselves. While we have our neighbor's permission, I don't want to become the target of teenaged vandalism. It's also in a place that gets great morning sun, but ample shade from about 12pm on, and I feel like the shed on the south and the fence on the west will provide an additional deterrent to digging predators because of the awkward space there.

We are totally animal people. I am so excited.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
frow.gif


Unless they are going to have unlimited access to their outdoor area all year round, you really only have enough indoor space for 4 hens if it it 4x4. Crowding birds can increased social problems such as picking, and also increased humidity in the winter - a problem that can lead to respiratory infections and frostbite. Can you make your coop a little bigger? 4x6 would give you enough room for 6 hens without crowding.
 
1muttsfan said:
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
frow.gif


Unless they are going to have unlimited access to their outdoor area all year round, you really only have enough indoor space for 4 hens if it it 4x4. Crowding birds can increased social problems such as picking, and also increased humidity in the winter - a problem that can lead to respiratory infections and frostbite. Can you make your coop a little bigger? 4x6 would give you enough room for 6 hens without crowding.
Click to expand...

Ah Ha!

They will only be in the coop at night, with access to the run year round. However, we are planning for an automatic door opener so the door would be closed at night.

It's usually pretty mild in the winter here, most days hover between 30 and 40 degrees, and I understand that's perfectly fine for chickens. I remember warming up bricks in the oven and wrapping them in an old ratty towel for rabbits when I was a kid, so, I am sure I could provide some dry radiant heat for a few hours on the odd cold night to help keep the water from freezing. Still, we occasional get the -0 day. And I think if it's going to be like that for more than a few days, my hens will be brought in for a stay at Le Garagé Inn (which isn't really heated, but does stay above freezing) until it warms up some if only to make sure they have 24/7 access to liquid water.

But yes, we have plenty of room for a 6X4 or a 5X5.
 
Last edited:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom