FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[HenKeepers]

"Flock" grew by 3 rabbits today. Hens were not happy. 15 hens(11 laying), 2 roosters, 5 quail(4F, 1M), 5 rabbits (all female), ~60,000 worms. We have finally hit the limit for this "farm".

 

[HenKeepers]

We have a new "neighbor" this morning! The flock has been discovered by a hawk. No one was lost, but all the animals were scared into hiding. There are many places of refuge in the yard. Free ranging is dangerous.

 

[cmom]

If a hawk knows there are birds there, it will be back. If you have any crows, encourage them to come around. We have some and I always put treats out for them including cracked eggs if I get them and everyday several times a day the crows come around looking for their treats and if they see a hawk they will chase it away. I put the treats in different places. They don't bother the chickens. I do have large covered pens to all of my coops. Because of the heat when I do let the birds out they are hesitant to come out because there is more shade in their pens than in the pasture and they would rather stay in the shade.

 

[flocking nuts]

I need a little guidance on building my coop. I'm down at the tip of the state in Homestead, so we have the heat like the rest of the state, but not much cold. Our chickens have been doing things like trying to roost in trees at night, or up high on stacked crates that we have for building the coop. All of the places they have been trying to sleep besides their little coop are totally exposed to breeze and open. They don't go in the carport that is in closed on 2 sides or anything like that.

My understanding is a draft is air that blows on chickens, and drafts are bad. We live somewhere very hot though, and it seems like they like the breeze from where they've been going. I know I want to keep the coop dry. What should I do about windows and ventilation? With the heat and humidity I'm worried many things I see would just steam the chicks.

Oh, almost forgot, the coop is going to be 8'x5' the roof will be 7' at the front and 6' at the back. We plan on only siding 6' up around and having the top above that for ventilation. It's 3'6" off the ground (the floor has been framed, legs on, and in the ground 6".) any openings will be covered with wire mesh, and have panels that can be put over them for tropical storms or the few weeks of cold.

Thanks
Wendy

 

[cmom]

I don't know if these pictures will give you any ideas. You can check out the BYC coop page also for more ideas.
My avatar has some of my coops. Since hot air rises my coops are all vented at the tops.

My husband and a friend built these coops from recycled materials. We are replacing the plastic siding that came off of a terrarium with metal siding when the weather gets cooler. We have the metal and it is all cut and ready to put up.

The coops we've built over many years.

I put the tarps up to keep the feed dry when it rains.

All of the pens have shade/rain tables for the birds to get under. Now all of the pens have shade trees in them too.

 

[HenKeepers]

If a hawk knows there are birds there, it will be back. If you have any crows, encourage them to come around. We have some and I always put treats out for them including cracked eggs if I get them and everyday several times a day the crows come around looking for their treats and if they see a hawk they will chase it away. I put the treats in different places. They don't bother the chickens. I do have large covered pens to all of my coops. Because of the heat when I do let the birds out they are hesitant to come out because there is more shade in their pens than in the pasture and they would rather stay in the shade.

Thanks CMOM. I expect it will return. We have a veritable buffet here! I don't think we have crows, but I think putting out various bird feeders may help the early warning system for the fattest and slowest of the flock. This is where a couple of mature roosters would really come in handy.

 

[poppycock1974]

Mine sleep in their coop at night. I have ventilation on all 4 sides and I have a small fan that blows down to circulate the hot air up towards the vents. They don't mind the fan at all but the ventilation is high and wind wouldn't blow directly on them, hard anyway.

 

[HenKeepers]

I need a little guidance on building my coop. I'm down at the tip of the state in Homestead, so we have the heat like the rest of the state, but not much cold. Our chickens have been doing things like trying to roost in trees at night, or up high on stacked crates that we have for building the coop. All of the places they have been trying to sleep besides their little coop are totally exposed to breeze and open. They don't go in the carport that is in closed on 2 sides or anything like that.

My understanding is a draft is air that blows on chickens, and drafts are bad. We live somewhere very hot though, and it seems like they like the breeze from where they've been going. I know I want to keep the coop dry. What should I do about windows and ventilation? With the heat and humidity I'm worried many things I see would just steam the chicks.

Oh, almost forgot, the coop is going to be 8'x5' the roof will be 7' at the front and 6' at the back. We plan on only siding 6' up around and having the top above that for ventilation. It's 3'6" off the ground (the floor has been framed, legs on, and in the ground 6".) any openings will be covered with wire mesh, and have panels that can be put over them for tropical storms or the few weeks of cold.

Thanks
Wendy

We are in Kendall!

We have an open coop (chicken and welded wire on 4 sides) that sits under two lychee trees. I use pallets in A-frames for shade and protection. (see post above) My coop has selective areas of protection. The flock loves it when a storm blows in, especially the cold rainstorms we get in January and February. If we did anything differently, we would just use milk crates for nest boxes. Our hens like their nest boxes but the nest boxes are not as easy to clean out as my laziness would prefer. Fortunately, we have kids.

 

[chickrunfun]

Thanks CMOM. I expect it will return. We have a veritable buffet here! I don't think we have crows, but I think putting out various bird feeders may help the early warning system for the fattest and slowest of the flock. This is where a couple of mature roosters would really come in handy.

If you go to one of them party stores, that sell party supplies and costume, you might maybe be able to find a fake crow. We had this mating pair that started coming WAY to close so I got one and attached it to one of the posts around the yard and it did pretty well for a while. Crows started coming by after a while so he got..."retired". Just as well cause they don't hold up to good in rain. He's lost a few feathers and is still waiting in a pot by the door for me to glue some black feathers back on him.

 

[flocking nuts]

I don't know if these pictures will give you any ideas. You can check out the BYC coop page also for more ideas. My avatar has some of my coops. Since hot air rises my coops are all vented at the tops. My husband and a friend built these coops from recycled materials. We are replacing the plastic siding that came off of a terrarium with metal siding when the weather gets cooler. We have the metal and it is all cut and ready to put up. The coops we've built over many years. I put the tarps up to keep the feed dry when it rains. All of the pens have shade/rain tables for the birds to get under. Now all of the pens have shade trees in them too.

Your pictures were a lot of help, and I looked at your my coops page. I feel a lot more sure about what's been dancing around in my head now. Thanks! Now to get the coop/run built, unpack, and get everything ready for my daughter's 4th birthday party on the 20th. Wendy