filfilksq
In the Brooder
- Apr 10, 2015
- 8
- 1
- 11
Hello, I'm a new chicken owner, I'm an American living in the Middle East. I've wanted to try keeping chickens for a long time, it has taken this long to finally get things moving.
I've tracked down your forum because I need some hand holding! I let my chickens out of their coop for the first time today, we got them Wednesday evening and let them out this morning -- that is Friday morning. Well everything was fabulous all day, but once the sun started to set it was like a semi-panic in our chicken run.
We have a generous area for the chicken run -- about 7.5 meters by 3 meters. Hubby and I decided to try our hand at making our own, we used pvc pipes to make frame "boxes" that we then latched together. the area has a near-10 foot wall running down one long side and one short side, so on the remaining two sides we attached a heavy wire fencing that is over 6 ft high with 1-inch holes. The frame itself runs another 8 inches or so above that, so we have a gap between the fencing and the top frame. We then laid "sheets' of wire caging -- with open squares of about 5 inches -- on the top. We have some big trees in there, so this was a way we thought to discourage the chickens from trying to flutter out, and at the same time allow the leaves to fall through to the ground and not build up on top.
For the coop, we found a hutch that we fixed up, it is about 2ft by 6ft; inside we put three nesting boxes that are collectively about 3ft x 1 ft, a perching bar that is another 3 ft approximate, and small food and water dispensers. We made a wooden shelf to fit over the nesting boxes, so that gives additional space above.
We are interested in chickens for eggs and enjoyment, so Wednesday we bought four female chickens from our local souq -- I believe they are all "baladi" or local birds. As I mentioned, we kept them in the hutch until Friday morning, they were so happy to get out! And we fed them food scraps, which they were also happy to eat, and they spent their day happily pecking at leaves and digging in the sand, etc. Come sunset, one of the birds made a break for the opening above the fencing -- she fluttered on the fencing and reached about four inches from the top. We shooed her away, but as it kept getting darker everybody seemed to have the same idea. Whereas before they didn't even seem to notice anything above the ground, now they were eying the same top area, and a couple jumped on top of the coop which made me nervous as that put them about two feet from the 5-in square metal fence on the top. I didn't think I had to seal them inside, just discourage them from trying it!
Well, we went inside the run and were able to corral them all back into the coop and secure it. Honestly, I had anticipated that we would be able to just leave the coop doors open day and night and let the chickens come and go at will, but now I'm not so sure. They did jump in and out of the coop during the day, we got another egg
, so I thought they were all good with the coop..
So, first, maybe we didn't keep them inside the coop long enough? (And while you have them inside the coop, do you still toss in whatever vegetable or fruit bits for the girls, or do they stick with the seed feeders only?) and second, maybe we should plan on escorting them inside the coop each night and securing it? or should we work towards making the run escape-proof and let them go in and out at will?
Sorry for the complete novel, and thanks in advance for any advice or even sympathy! I was so excited about my girls, but after the evening struggles I'm a little down...
Kate
I've tracked down your forum because I need some hand holding! I let my chickens out of their coop for the first time today, we got them Wednesday evening and let them out this morning -- that is Friday morning. Well everything was fabulous all day, but once the sun started to set it was like a semi-panic in our chicken run.
We have a generous area for the chicken run -- about 7.5 meters by 3 meters. Hubby and I decided to try our hand at making our own, we used pvc pipes to make frame "boxes" that we then latched together. the area has a near-10 foot wall running down one long side and one short side, so on the remaining two sides we attached a heavy wire fencing that is over 6 ft high with 1-inch holes. The frame itself runs another 8 inches or so above that, so we have a gap between the fencing and the top frame. We then laid "sheets' of wire caging -- with open squares of about 5 inches -- on the top. We have some big trees in there, so this was a way we thought to discourage the chickens from trying to flutter out, and at the same time allow the leaves to fall through to the ground and not build up on top.
For the coop, we found a hutch that we fixed up, it is about 2ft by 6ft; inside we put three nesting boxes that are collectively about 3ft x 1 ft, a perching bar that is another 3 ft approximate, and small food and water dispensers. We made a wooden shelf to fit over the nesting boxes, so that gives additional space above.
We are interested in chickens for eggs and enjoyment, so Wednesday we bought four female chickens from our local souq -- I believe they are all "baladi" or local birds. As I mentioned, we kept them in the hutch until Friday morning, they were so happy to get out! And we fed them food scraps, which they were also happy to eat, and they spent their day happily pecking at leaves and digging in the sand, etc. Come sunset, one of the birds made a break for the opening above the fencing -- she fluttered on the fencing and reached about four inches from the top. We shooed her away, but as it kept getting darker everybody seemed to have the same idea. Whereas before they didn't even seem to notice anything above the ground, now they were eying the same top area, and a couple jumped on top of the coop which made me nervous as that put them about two feet from the 5-in square metal fence on the top. I didn't think I had to seal them inside, just discourage them from trying it!
Well, we went inside the run and were able to corral them all back into the coop and secure it. Honestly, I had anticipated that we would be able to just leave the coop doors open day and night and let the chickens come and go at will, but now I'm not so sure. They did jump in and out of the coop during the day, we got another egg
, so I thought they were all good with the coop..So, first, maybe we didn't keep them inside the coop long enough? (And while you have them inside the coop, do you still toss in whatever vegetable or fruit bits for the girls, or do they stick with the seed feeders only?) and second, maybe we should plan on escorting them inside the coop each night and securing it? or should we work towards making the run escape-proof and let them go in and out at will?
Sorry for the complete novel, and thanks in advance for any advice or even sympathy! I was so excited about my girls, but after the evening struggles I'm a little down...
Kate
and Welcome To BYC! Chickens like to roost as high as they can, and will often try to roost in trees etc even if they have a coop right there. If your run has openings the chickens can get to, sooner or later the chickens will try to get out ... if the openings are all pretty high you might try clipping a wing so they can't fly as well... but your best bet is probably going to be to cover the openings of the run with chicken wire or bird netting or something. No idea what predators you have to worry about there, but you might have to consider going with something sturdier and tighter like Hardware Cloth if you have predators. If your run is secure, they should go in the coop on their own at night, no reason you can't leave the doors open day and night.
