Getting ready for chickens

[Mothermary18]

Hello all,

we are almost finished building our chicken coop, the approximate size of 75 m2

We are allowed to keep up to 99 birds and are in the due diligence process.

Would appreciate any information on
1 how many birds can we have in our coop?
2 What is the best bedding to use?
our coup has a concrete slab section which is intended for the nesting boxes, the rest of the area is under weed matting, where we want to lay bedding or turf.
The coop is mostly under cover apart from a small section of about 5m2, with that roof being black shade cloth.
3 We want only laying birds at this stage
4 What are the best breeds of laying eggs?
5 Snakes are of a concern for us, although we have only ever seen 1 on our property, they are all around us as we live in a rainforest on the northern tablelands of Australia. What helps deter them?

 

[debwhitt]

I use straw bedding, however the most chickens I’ve ever kept was 19. As far as snakes here in the USA, our chickens kill them! They eat mice too. The best layers are leghorns and ISA Browns. I don’t know what’s available in your area of Earth. Most heavy breeds are good layers. A good way to measure for coop size is 3 square feet( I don’t know metric because I live in USA and am under educated) for each bird.

 

[Mothermary18]

Thank you for your reply, it gives me a start

 

[drumstick diva]

Actually rule of thumb is 4 sq. feet per bird in the coop excluding roosts and nest boxes, and 10 sq. feet per bird in the outdoor coop. Chickens may eat snakes but, I don't think they would be a match for poisonous ones.

Our Aussie people should be coming on site soon, and should have better answers for you.

 

[drumstick diva]

Some very good layers happen to be from your country- Black Australorps, they are very popular in the USA.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Welcome, hope you enjoy this site as much as we do!

 

[debwhitt]

Actually rule of thumb is 4 sq. feet per bird in the coop excluding roosts and nest boxes, and 10 sq. feet per bird in the outdoor coop. Chickens may eat snakes but, I don't think they would be a match for poisonous ones.

Our Aussie people should be coming on site soon, and should have better answers for you.

 

[debwhitt]

I free range my chickens, copperheads and cotton mouth snakes are very venomous, they kill them, if they aren’t too big and the chickens are in groups. They gang up on them, which terrified me at first, but I’ve only lost 1 rooster in 10 years... to a dog.

 

[Mothermary18]

Thank you, I believe I've had the Australorps over the years, now I know their name

The snakes in our region are so big, I have seen them digesting kangaroos, to give you an idea, there bigger than a large breed dog!

I have taken every precaution to make the coop snake proof, fingers crossed.

I have been told Geese or Guinea fowl scare the snakes away, has anyone heard of that?

 

[debwhitt]

That’s rather scarey!!! No, the snakes I’m referring too are rather small, like 18” or less! We also keep an electric fence on the outside of our perimeter fence, so two lines of defense. The bottom wire is located 3 inches from the ground. I’m sure that would deter snakes that large! Our predators here are coyotes, Weasles, raccoons and opposums. Feral dogs are a huge issue as well. A skunk will come around from time to time too. In the coop, I use small hole wire and we drive 2 foot stakes every 5 inches around the entire coop and roost so it makes it difficult for animals that do breach the fence to dig under at night. Birds of prey, hawks, eagles,and owls are tricky! So far I’ve been lucky!