Does anyone have coops with no run and very little free ranging (?'s)

[KellyHM]

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Thanks, Kelly, they will have a mimimum of ten square feet. I hadn't considered that about the aggressiveness of any particular rooster; guess I'd better watch them to see how that goes. I will say though, I will never have another over-aggressive rooster. I have one that's in solitary confinement in the barn now for life; he's NEVER coming out; had to do that or kill him. He's meaner'n a snake, but we love him.

I don't keep any aggressive roos around either, which I think helps with the smaller size of the breeding pens. All of my pens are built with dirt floors and open sides since they need the ventilation for 9 months out of the year. They have dog houses/crates for nesting boxes which double as extra shelter on the few cold nights we get.

 

[HEChicken]

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Me either. For me, the whole point of keeping chickens is not for the "free" eggs but to grow eggs that are of a much higher quality than those I can buy in the store. If I keep them in roughly the same conditions that battery hens are kept in (no access to free range, fed totally manufactured food), how can I expect the eggs to be any higher quality than the eggs I could buy? For years I've bought the "cage free" eggs but cage free isn't the same as free range - it only means they are not kept in a little 1' square cage. In most cases, cage free means they can walk around in a pen that doesn't contain a blade of vegetation.

What the OP is describing sounds very similar and if that were all I could offer mine, I probably wouldn't bother and would just continue to buy the cage free eggs. To each their own, of course, but for me, the "fun" in keeping my own chickens is in watching them running around finding their own bugs and stuff to forage on. That they eat less of the manufactured food as a result of supplementing with what they find on their own is a bonus for the purse strings, but the real satisfaction comes from knowing that the eggs will be far better quality than anything I could buy commercially.

 

[joebryant]

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Very well said, goldielocks, and I agree 100%. What you described is why I feel somewhat guilty. If you look at my BYC site, you will see where the final results of the breeding program will be lodged; it's pretty much what you described. Sure wish I could have done it without my having to use the barn, but... Hopefully, when I give the breeding stock away next year, they will go where they can be out all day.

 

[KellyHM]

I just looked at your coops....GORGEOUS!!

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Me either. For me, the whole point of keeping chickens is not for the "free" eggs but to grow eggs that are of a much higher quality than those I can buy in the store. If I keep them in roughly the same conditions that battery hens are kept in (no access to free range, fed totally manufactured food), how can I expect the eggs to be any higher quality than the eggs I could buy? For years I've bought the "cage free" eggs but cage free isn't the same as free range - it only means they are not kept in a little 1' square cage. In most cases, cage free means they can walk around in a pen that doesn't contain a blade of vegetation.

What the OP is describing sounds very similar and if that were all I could offer mine, I probably wouldn't bother and would just continue to buy the cage free eggs. To each their own, of course, but for me, the "fun" in keeping my own chickens is in watching them running around finding their own bugs and stuff to forage on. That they eat less of the manufactured food as a result of supplementing with what they find on their own is a bonus for the purse strings, but the real satisfaction comes from knowing that the eggs will be far better quality than anything I could buy commercially.

HEchicken, couldn't have said it better myself. I would not be doing it either if it were not for the breeding program. T'aint what I want, but...