First, I love this site so much!!! A little about me... I grew up spending a lot of time visiting my grandparent's farms as a child, but had not lived in the country until recently. I had a big lifestyle change when I met my husband at a beach resort a few years ago. I was the sales manager at the resort and he was on vacation. I couldn't resist the country boy charm, so we married and he moved me to beautiful Soddy Daisy, Tennessee! It didn't take long for the country girl in me to come out...LOL!
We have a few acres and I would love to start keeping my own "girls" for the eggs. I've been researching all over your site to figure out our coop, feed, etc and have some pretty good ideas. Here's what I decided to do, but any advice is GREATLY appreciated!
I only want to start with maybe four to six hens. My BFF is a vet tech and has some raising up now that will start laying by June and she will share with me. . I'm sure they will be healthy. Here's what I want to do and please tell me if it's good...
1. Convert an empty horse stall into a coop. Sturdy wood, it's about 8' X 10' wide and 9' tall with great windows on two sides around the top for ventilation. We will put heavy chicken wire and screen over and use shutters when the weather is cold. Hubby can build the nest boxes. I was thinking of building the boxes with an access door from outside to easily gather the eggs. .
2. The floor of stall is DIRT. The deep layer with sawdust or wood shavings method sounds good. We have an abundant supply of these. Does the dirt floor create more of an odor absorption problem?? If so, should I line it with plastic or other material to keep odors from seeping in the ground?? We would pour a concrete trench around the bottom to keep critters from tunneling in.
3. We are putting up a tall fence for their run area. Do we need the top fenced too? We at the foot of a wooded mountain and frequently see Yorkie hawks flying over. I prefer the free-range method, but there are neighbors with BAD dogs. Thought about a chicken tractor, but neighbor said raccoons and dogs were digging under theirs. I'm sure I can let the girls out of the run occasionally if I'm in the yard to watch them.
4. Food....I'd like to use the vegetarian chicken pellets because the others have some questionable ingredients. I read on a post here that one guy uses a compost bin right in the coop or run. He said the composting veggies and such attract worms and bugs that the girls can scratch and pick through for goodies. Does this sound like a workable plan?
Whew, that's all for now. My husband is already convinced I'm chicken obsessed!
We have a few acres and I would love to start keeping my own "girls" for the eggs. I've been researching all over your site to figure out our coop, feed, etc and have some pretty good ideas. Here's what I decided to do, but any advice is GREATLY appreciated!
I only want to start with maybe four to six hens. My BFF is a vet tech and has some raising up now that will start laying by June and she will share with me. . I'm sure they will be healthy. Here's what I want to do and please tell me if it's good...
1. Convert an empty horse stall into a coop. Sturdy wood, it's about 8' X 10' wide and 9' tall with great windows on two sides around the top for ventilation. We will put heavy chicken wire and screen over and use shutters when the weather is cold. Hubby can build the nest boxes. I was thinking of building the boxes with an access door from outside to easily gather the eggs. .
2. The floor of stall is DIRT. The deep layer with sawdust or wood shavings method sounds good. We have an abundant supply of these. Does the dirt floor create more of an odor absorption problem?? If so, should I line it with plastic or other material to keep odors from seeping in the ground?? We would pour a concrete trench around the bottom to keep critters from tunneling in.
3. We are putting up a tall fence for their run area. Do we need the top fenced too? We at the foot of a wooded mountain and frequently see Yorkie hawks flying over. I prefer the free-range method, but there are neighbors with BAD dogs. Thought about a chicken tractor, but neighbor said raccoons and dogs were digging under theirs. I'm sure I can let the girls out of the run occasionally if I'm in the yard to watch them.
4. Food....I'd like to use the vegetarian chicken pellets because the others have some questionable ingredients. I read on a post here that one guy uses a compost bin right in the coop or run. He said the composting veggies and such attract worms and bugs that the girls can scratch and pick through for goodies. Does this sound like a workable plan?
Whew, that's all for now. My husband is already convinced I'm chicken obsessed!
