Hello From Santa Cruz,CA!

[kingsleycoop]

Hello Fellow Chicken Go-ers,

Excited to join! I recently ( 1 week ago) rescued 3 little ladies from our local animal shelter. They came from an egg farm, in not the best condition. Luckily the ladies, are A LOT happier and learning how to become a "real" chicken. Hehe. I had chickens as a kid but am somewhat new to the experience. I've been doing lots of research, but any tips, comments, suggestions are SO appreciated. Including a picture of our coop, which was given to me as a gift. I know it was purchased from Costco. I personally would not have picked this one, since I feel it is not, entirely safe and cozy. I started making my own improvements, and are still a ton left to do. Any input is ALSO appreciated.


Thank you,
You're fellow crazy chicken lady
-Danielle

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC, Danielle. Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm glad you were able to rescue the ladies from the shelter and want to give them a good home. Are you planning on free ranging your birds as it appears to show in the picture? If not, you definitely need to increase the size of their run. Also, I can't see what's going on very well in the picture within the coop itself. Do they have a nest box or two in there? Are there any roosting bars for them to sleep on? Our Housing and Feeding Your Chickens in our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/housing-and-feeding-your-chickens is definitely worth checking out in regards to your coop/run. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your new flock.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[kingsleycoop]

Hi Michael,

Thank you! Yes, the ladies will be free range. We have a great size yard for them, that is protected. I let them out when I am home, which is about 5-6 hours a day. There are currently two nesting boxing inside and I am working on a third so all three ladies have a place. There is currently 1 roosting bar, but I plan to make more, along with a second story addition to the left of what you see in the picture. I have two hanging feeders and 1 hanging water feeder. They do not yet know how to really use the roosting bar, and are sleeping in their nesting boxes. I am assuming, it feels safe to them. I will post a picture of the inside, when I do my nightly chores

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

I LOVE your coop! So cute and tiny! And congrats on your hens! How nice of you to give them a home.

Michael has given you great advice. If you are not going to free range then defiantly increase their house space. Each chicken needs 8-12 square feet in their run and 3-4 per bird in their house part.

Good luck!

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

Feel free to ask lots of questions! We're all here to help.

Nice coop!

 

[drumstick diva]

Thank you for rescuing them. I would guess they have never seen grass either. This must be like winning a trip to Disneyland for them. All new sights and sounds and good things happening to them.Welcome to BYC

 

[Michael OShay]

Hi Michael,

Thank you! Yes, the ladies will be free range. We have a great size yard for them, that is protected. I let them out when I am home, which is about 5-6 hours a day. There are currently two nesting boxing inside and I am working on a third so all three ladies have a place. There is currently 1 roosting bar, but I plan to make more, along with a second story addition to the left of what you see in the picture. I have two hanging feeders and 1 hanging water feeder. They do not yet know how to really use the roosting bar, and are sleeping in their nesting boxes. I am assuming, it feels safe to them. I will post a picture of the inside, when I do my nightly chores

You're welcome. For only three hens, two nesting boxes will be plenty. The rule of thumb is 1 nesting box for every 4 hens (athough if you have more than one hen, even if it's only two, it's a good idea to have a second nesting box. The third nesting box is just taking up coop space. In fact, you're likely to find that all three hens will use the same nesting box. As far as roosts go, make certain that you have enough space on the roosting bars, that the bars are wide enough for the chickens to sit comfortably on (2" X 4"s with the 4" side up work nicely, make sure that they are not too close to each other or to the wall of the coop (at least 18" spaces between), and make sure that some of the roosting bars are higher than the nest boxes as chickens will tend to gravitate to the highest available spaces to roost. Also, you may need to move them at night up onto the roosting bars and block off the nests until they get comfortable going onto the roosting bars themselves.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on your new flock, they are lucky you rescued them. You've gotten some good suggestions above. It will take some time for your girls to learn to act like chickens. Like Michael OShay suggested, usually the roosts that come with coop kits are too narrow and replacing them with 2x4 makes it easier for the hens to roost, and moving the hens onto the roosting bar at night for a few days will help them get the idea since they have probably never been able to roost before.

 

[kingsleycoop]

Thank you for all the suggestions! My only problem with trying to place them on the roosting bar is they are very flighty and won't let me really "hold" them. Perhaps closing off the nesting boxing and raising the bar will help with this? I like the 2x4 suggestion, since they seem to have a hard time balancing on the bar that is currently there. I really want to make sure they have everything they need to be happy!