Coop/Run design suggestions in North Florida

[Chad Zach]

Hello,
We recently moved our family to a couple of acres in Gainesville, FL and are looking at incorporating some animals, namely chickens, to our homestead. Having never raised chickens, my questions are numerous—but to begin—I am wondering what housing styles others around this area have found the most success with? We live on 5 fully fenced acres. About 3 acres are completely forested while 2 are mostly open with random trees and cross-fencing. Ideally, I would love to free range but have heard from others in the area that this can be a recipe for disaster with all the predator pressure in FL. If that is indeed a bad option, what have you found that works best? Fixed, fully enclosed coop and run? Enclosed coop and open run? Chicken tractors? Other options? I am all about setting up integrated systems that reduce manual input and prefer to spend the money/time to set up things properly in the beginning to reduce work on the back end. All suggestions or recommendations are very much appreciated and valued. Please let me know if there is any additional info I can provide.
Thanks!

 

[getaclue]

Go to the Florida thread, and you will see that cmom, and I have totally different set ups, but they both work. I started with welded wire, and 4 foot mesh to separate between the runs, and individual coops, so the roosters couldn't peck each other through the mesh. Later, when finances permitted, I got more mesh, and have since gotten more enclosed with it. Keep in mind, heat is the bigger factor down her, not cold, so enclosing the coop(s) with wood is not as necessary down here. I use tarps to cover the sides in the winter. No heating is needed. I've also put hoses into each coop, since these pictures were taken, but the design allows for automatic waterers to be installed, if I choose.

 

[getaclue]

BTW, welcome to BYC. Thanks for joining.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Welcome to BYC, you'll love it here and we're here to help.
@getaclue, I your set up! Wish I had the space for it.

 

[Chad Zach]

Thanks @getaclue, that setup is incredible. There are actually some old dog kennels on the property that look very similar to your setup that I may consider converting now, I had originally dismissed the idea because they're built on a concrete foundation. Would that be a problem? Thanks also for pointing me towards the FL thread, would have posted this there had I known.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I don't see a problem with concrete foundation, easy clean/shoot down. Hope you're able to convert those kennels, sounds like a great start!

 

[getaclue]

Concrete is fine too. Just make sure it doesn't get too hot for their feet in the summer, or too cold in the winter, but a layer of hay, pine shavings will solve that problem, and is pretty easy to keep clean.

 

[Sublight]

I live in Pensacola. Secure your pen against rats/mice. It will easily pay for itself in the long run. The rats ate twice what my chickens ate. When I finally rat "proofed" my pen, my feed bill went down dramatically.

Make sure coons cant get to them either.