Flight Risk?

[CrackedEggCraig]

Hi, just joined today, have been reading your site and others and bought a bunch of books and magazines so I feel like I'm finally ready. I bought 6 RI Reds last week and they seem very content in their box in my dining room. I ordered a coop from Rural King as a good starter and I intend to let them out a lot into my small suburban fenced-in yard and garden to supplement their diet and activity levels. So this may be a rookie question, but if the shoe fits.... Will my chickens fly away? Will they get over the fence and need to be chased? Or will they know how good they have it and stick around the coop?

Thanks!

 

[Bobmc914]

Yes, they will fly over the fence. They are unlikely to need chasing unless there is something out there they need to be protected from. Keep them in the coop a few days to a week before letting them out and they'll come home on their own to roost at the end of the day. They will destroy your garden if you let them in it; eating plants and scratching up bugs.

Also, I don't know Rural King's coops, but most prefab coops are too small and inadequately ventilated, especially as most of us find it difficult not to add more chickens along the way. Search on this site for "chicken math" also check out the coop and run building forum for sizing and ventilating advice.

 

[CrackedEggCraig]

Yes, they will fly over the fence. They are unlikely to need chasing unless there is something out there they need to be protected from. Keep them in the coop a few days to a week before letting them out and they'll come home on their own to roost at the end of the day. They will destroy your garden if you let them in it; eating plants and scratching up bugs.

Also, I don't know Rural King's coops, but most prefab coops are too small and inadequately ventilated, especially as most of us find it difficult not to add more chickens along the way. Search on this site for "chicken math" also check out the coop and run building forum for sizing and ventilating advice.

Okay great. Good to know they won’t run/fly away for good!

My Rural King coop should be big enough and I definitely intend to make modifications. I am a carpenter but I want to buy my first one to see how both me and my chickens use it before I start making plans to build a better one. There’s a million “best chicken coop” plans online but I don’t know which is best for me and my yard. I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[Ebony Rose]

Since you're considering modifying and likely building a coop down the road, here's some food for thought:

Consider your weather conditions year round before deciding on your ultimate build. Rain. Snow. Summer. Seasons can bring on special challenges and determine everything from the pitch of the roof to which side (or both sides) of a coop you wish to have ventilation. Heavy rain would make you thankful for an extended front overhang of the roof at the doorway, and the roof whisking the water to the opposing side of the coop, with excellent drainage back there (and/or) gravel to keep the wet side from becoming an ever deepening mud hole. You get the idea. Consider well how your weather could make your chicken-keeping duties a chore, and build to eliminate the issues.
Consider how you will handle a broody hen (one that wants to hatch out babies) and her young.
Always always always install your nesting boxes at a lower height than the roosts, and do not build the roost OVER the nesting boxes. Poop boards below the roosts can save countless hours of housekeeping. Two nesting boxes will be plenty until you have over a dozen hens. Don't waste your building materials and interior coop space.
Consider if you will want to separate excess cockerels/roosters from the flock, re-home them, or prepare them for your freezer. Unwillingness to separate, re-home or eat excess male birds will seriously detract from your enjoyment of your flock as it brings on a whole slew of problems.

Enjoy your birds