Hello from a First Time Chicken Owner

AnneHealy

Chirping
Jul 19, 2022
20
91
69
Yuma County
I am 64 years old and am finally a proud owner of 10 baby chicks! Three years ago, my husband and I bought an acre in Southwest Arizona. About 2 or 3 weeks ago we bought 10 "Easter Eggers" because we learned that they are more heat tolerant, and it does get hot here! We don't know if they are boys or girls yet, and I'm not sure yet how old they will be before we can tell. With my luck, we will have 1 lady and 9 boys.

We are in the process of building a chicken coop out of pallets and chicken wire, while the chicks are residing in a brooder (or whatever it's called) in our RV. We couldn't keep the chicks in our home because of the dog (crazy Husky), and the RV made the most sense where, with the AC running, it doesn't get any cooler than about 95 degrees. Of course, it smells funny in there at this point so I'm encouraging my husband to get the coop finished.

My husband and I went from being city people who sailed on weekends throughout the year to learning to homestead. We are so green!! I am working on a garden in the back that will hopefully be successful so that I can use the leftovers to feed the chickens, who will then provide me with composted manure to put in the garden so I don't have to buy composted manure.

As I said, we are building a chicken coop, and we are at the stage where we needed to make a decision as to what to install for the chickens to roost on. We almost bought 3/4 inch dowels on Amazon, but then I said, "Why don't we search the internet to see what other people have used." And that brought me to BYC.

I learned that 2x4s will work just fine, so that's what we are going to use. I guess here's my first question: How high off the ground should the 2x4s be? Do they hop up to the 2x4? Do they fly up? Do they need a ladder to get to it? lol.

I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

Anne
 

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Hello Anne, and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
By chicken wire do you mean 1/2" hardware cloth? Actual hexagonal chicken wire is not predator proof.
Oh gosh. I'm so glad I posted. And thank you for making this point because I have no idea. I will have to look into this. The idea is to used pallets for the bottom half of the walls, and then chicken wire over the pallets and then higher up to about six feet. I was thinking that predators can't get through pallets and chicken wire, can they?
 
Oh gosh. I'm so glad I posted. And thank you for making this point because I have no idea. I will have to look into this. The idea is to used pallets for the bottom half of the walls, and then chicken wire over the pallets and then higher up to about six feet. I was thinking that predators can't get through pallets and chicken wire, can they?
Snakes, weasels, and small rodents can. Hardware cloth is expensive, but it will give you peace of mind and flock protection.
 

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