For the MINIMALISTS - those who think less is more in chicken keeping - Please help

[AmeliaBedelia]

Really? They'll sleep INSIDE the nest boxes? Stinkers. Should I close off the top 2 and leave the bottom 2 open? I was going to possibly close off 2 anyway since I only have 5 hens.

I think their instinct is to sleep as high up as they can get and sit or perch comfortably. That can be the rafters of the coop for athletic breeds or 2 or 3 ft off the ground for others like silkies.

 

[GetFitWithKrista]

Sorry. I wasn’t clear.
I couldn’t see the top. I was just warning you that if they can get on top and it is higher than the rl

Okay that makes sense. I think it's a straight shoot up. If it's not, I'll make sure we don't leave any space

 

[GetFitWithKrista]

I think their instinct is to sleep as high up as they can get and sit or perch comfortably. That can be the rafters of the coop for athletic breeds or 2 or 3 ft off the ground for others like silkies.

Noted. Our structure is only 9' high so they'll have to be semi ground level chickens

 

[GetFitWithKrista]

We're getting ready to dig up the area so question to you, amazing design team - This is our landscaping. If we are able to let them out, will they eat our plants? We don't care about the grass but we do like our landscaping.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

We're getting ready to dig up the area so question to you, amazing design team - This is our landscaping. If we are able to let them out, will they eat our plants? We don't care about the grass but we do like our landscaping.

The main danger is to edible plants (your veggie garden), small plants (marigolds, etc) and the roots of shrubs. I would fence off anything small and put pavers or LARGE stones around the roots of shrubs. They like to dig dirt baths and little hide outs, and often will dig around under shrubs if they can. That can kill the plant if the roots get too exposed.

 

[GetFitWithKrista]

The main danger is to edible plants (your veggie garden), small plants (marigolds, etc) and the roots of shrubs. I would fence off anything small and put pavers or LARGE stones around the roots of shrubs. They like to dig dirt baths and little hide outs, and often will dig around under shrubs if they can. That can kill the plant if the roots get too exposed.

We have a vegetable garden but it's separate. Hopefully they won't break free and get over there. Maybe some larger river rock would work around the shrubs? Thanks for the heads up

 

[Sally PB]

This is our landscaping. If we are able to let them out, will they eat our plants? We don't care about the grass but we do like our landscaping.

I'm glad you don't care about the grass, because it will be GONE.

Scratch-scratch, dig-dig, nibble-nibble. Move over 6" and repeat. The will probably make nice round chicken-sized divots for dust baths too.

But you won't have to mow, anyway.

 

[GetFitWithKrista]

I'm glad you don't care about the grass, because it will be GONE.

Scratch-scratch, dig-dig, nibble-nibble. Move over 6" and repeat. The will probably make nice round chicken-sized divots for dust baths too.

But you won't have to mow, anyway.

You guys are helping me have chicken mom brain. I saw a hole in their (future) area that my son dug up with his quad and thought about dust baths

 

[Ridgerunner]

A general rule of thumb is one nest for every 4 hens. That's 12" x 12" nests, which those probably are. Bigger nests can handle more hens. I really like a minimum of two nests any way so you have some redundancy. It's possible to get a hen that is a nest hog that won't let another hen in but it's more usual with mine for two hens to be in a nest at the same time laying while my other nests are free. So two of those nests should be plenty.

Chickens often like to roost at the highest point they can get to. You'll get different opinions on what they need to sleep on. Some people favor round tree branches. Some think you have to use a 2x4 flat side up. Others in climates colder than yours use 2x4's narrow side up. I've had them sleep on foot wide shelves.

People get concerned at the thought of them sleeping on top of flat topped nests. I put a juvenile roost over my nests and scrape the top of the nests as a droppings board when I have juveniles. As long as the poop doesn't get in the nests I don't care. Personally I don't care where they sleep as long as it is not in my nests and is somewhere safe from predators.

If it were me I'd block off those top two nests and let them sleep wherever they darn well want to. But that's just me.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

OK

We have a vegetable garden but it's separate. Hopefully they won't break free and get over there. Maybe some larger river rock would work around the shrubs? Thanks for the heads up

you will be surprised what size rocks they can move with their dino feet. You want big old stones or pavers