Ironically this past year has been the first time in over 15 years that we've been without chickens.. some ongoing predator problems and my having major surgery last year (causing my inability to do anything to fix that) meant that our flock dwindled to one last hen who went to live with our neighbor's flock, and I told my kids we'd raise more chickens this year.
I'm determined to do all kinds of things so much better this time around.. we inherited a flock of chickens with our house when we bought it, and added more chicks every few years since then, but basically having had chickens continuously for 15 years meant that most fixes to the coop and run were kind of make-shift and most didn't work very well or didn't last very long - but I'm ready to pretty much start over. We are planning on a flock of about 18 bantams, a new coop, and a 10x20 run for them all - we can't currently let them free range safely (property is not fenced, lots of roaming dogs and wildlife in the area), and while the new run will be smaller than the prior run we had, it's going to be covered with a roof and as predator proof as I can possibly make it, and hopefully much safer and comfortable for our chickens, and hopefully give them all ample area while contained.
I'm determined to do all kinds of things so much better this time around.. we inherited a flock of chickens with our house when we bought it, and added more chicks every few years since then, but basically having had chickens continuously for 15 years meant that most fixes to the coop and run were kind of make-shift and most didn't work very well or didn't last very long - but I'm ready to pretty much start over. We are planning on a flock of about 18 bantams, a new coop, and a 10x20 run for them all - we can't currently let them free range safely (property is not fenced, lots of roaming dogs and wildlife in the area), and while the new run will be smaller than the prior run we had, it's going to be covered with a roof and as predator proof as I can possibly make it, and hopefully much safer and comfortable for our chickens, and hopefully give them all ample area while contained.
