- Jun 14, 2013
- 10
- 0
- 22
Hello all,
been lurking for some time now gathering information and pouring over coop ideas to come up with my own design, but I am finally getting ready to take the chicken plunge getting chicks hopefully in July. My family and I will be getting chickens as layers (hoping to get Rhode Island Red, Blue Orpington, Autralorp, Dominique and Barred Rock ... that should be more than enough for us) hopefully some time in July which would help for shipping such a small quantity heat-wise. I'm mainly looking for chickens that can be pets as well as layers, and the temperment of these birds seems most compatible with that. Our daughter
is 1 year old now, and I want her to grow up respecting where our food comes from, and so now I think is just the perfect time to get started with the chickens I've always wanted. She loves our garden and we check it out everyday after work and she loves watching the butterflies that are busy doing their pollinating dance. She's definitely an outdoors girl!
Anywho ...
As I read and research more and more every day on here and in the book I got, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, I'm coming up with more and more questions as I go. The book advocates the philosophy of "deep litter", and it sounds great ... chickens without the smell. But then I see a lot of people here will use sand or pine shavings and clean the coop (or living quarters) out on a regular basis. So my first question is really which is the best way to go? Please help me with my confusion here. My coop design so far is basically a 4x8 area over bare earth with the 4x4 living quarters on posts 14" above ground, so that the run underneath will span the full 8' (and of course all enclosed with chicken wire). Hopefully that made sense to you. Now, I haven't finished reading the book, but I think my question is really, if one were to use the "deep litter" philosophy, would you apply that to the run only, or both housing and run? Since the answer will affect how I should build the coop, it's obviously best to get the answer before I start building. I admit my confusion may be just a misunderstanding of the terms, "coop" vs. "living quarters" vs. "run", which is why I turn to you good folks.
Any thoughts, comments or suggestions are hugely appreciated. Thanks!!
been lurking for some time now gathering information and pouring over coop ideas to come up with my own design, but I am finally getting ready to take the chicken plunge getting chicks hopefully in July. My family and I will be getting chickens as layers (hoping to get Rhode Island Red, Blue Orpington, Autralorp, Dominique and Barred Rock ... that should be more than enough for us) hopefully some time in July which would help for shipping such a small quantity heat-wise. I'm mainly looking for chickens that can be pets as well as layers, and the temperment of these birds seems most compatible with that. Our daughter
As I read and research more and more every day on here and in the book I got, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, I'm coming up with more and more questions as I go. The book advocates the philosophy of "deep litter", and it sounds great ... chickens without the smell. But then I see a lot of people here will use sand or pine shavings and clean the coop (or living quarters) out on a regular basis. So my first question is really which is the best way to go? Please help me with my confusion here. My coop design so far is basically a 4x8 area over bare earth with the 4x4 living quarters on posts 14" above ground, so that the run underneath will span the full 8' (and of course all enclosed with chicken wire). Hopefully that made sense to you. Now, I haven't finished reading the book, but I think my question is really, if one were to use the "deep litter" philosophy, would you apply that to the run only, or both housing and run? Since the answer will affect how I should build the coop, it's obviously best to get the answer before I start building. I admit my confusion may be just a misunderstanding of the terms, "coop" vs. "living quarters" vs. "run", which is why I turn to you good folks.
Any thoughts, comments or suggestions are hugely appreciated. Thanks!!
Deep litter cleaned out twice a year for coops with floors, and deep litter over dirt hardly ever cleaned out. Litter added as necessary.
