Hello!

[alittletoofar]

Hello and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. The size of your setup will limit the number of birds that you can keep. This link will help you to either re-jig your build to accommodate more birds, or to limit your flock size - http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need

Good luck
Pork Pie

Thank you for the link! The coop is off the ground so the actual run is about 40 square feet and the inside of the coop is 16. Sounds like 4 would be the max for my coop. Since it's so small, I might just start with 3 so they're not crowded.

They will have 3 nesting boxes and 2 4ft roosts inside the coop. They will also have time to run around our property, once they get used to me and I feel confident that I can get them back at night.

Last night, I read a lot about poop boards and now plan to add those as well. I can already tell I'm going to learn so much from this site!

 

[Pugsabi]

Thank you for the link! The coop is off the ground so the actual run is about 40 square feet and the inside of the coop is 16. Sounds like 4 would be the max for my coop. Since it's so small, I might just start with 3 so they're not crowded.

They will have 3 nesting boxes and 2 4ft roosts inside the coop. They will also have time to run around our property, once they get used to me and I feel confident that I can get them back at night.

Last night, I read a lot about poop boards and now plan to add those as well. I can already tell I'm going to learn so much from this site!

Leave them in their coop for the first week or two and they should go back in on their own. Mine do just as the sun starts to set, just before it's fully dark.

 

[alittletoofar]

Leave them in their coop for the first week or two and they should go back in on their own. Mine do just as the sun starts to set, just before it's fully dark.

Do you mean leave them in the closed up wood coop or just leave them in the entire enclosure before letting them free roam?

Sorry if that is a dumb question. I'm still trying to learn the terminology. What I'm calling the coop seems too small and dark for them to spend a week so I'm wondering if what I separately call the "coop" and "run" are really just 2 parts of the same coop. I hope that makes sense!

I attached a picture of what mine will look like. Right now, it's still in about 11 pieces waiting for me to prep the ground so we can assemble the walls. I was going to do something similar to the prep we did for the turtle enclosure. Basically, dig out a hole that is a little bigger, then put down gopher wire, then gravel/rocks, then dirt, then whatever I decide for the ground cover. Sand or something like that. I was going to go with sand, but I've been reading the different opinions on other posts and haven't decided yet.

 

[Pugsabi]

Do you mean leave them in the closed up wood coop or just leave them in the entire enclosure before letting them free

Sorry if that is a dumb question. I'm still trying to learn the terminology. What I'm calling the coop seems too small and dark for them to spend a week so I'm wondering if what I separately call the "coop" and "run" are really just 2 parts of the same coop. I hope that makes sense!

I attached a picture of what mine will look like. Right now, it's still in about 11 pieces waiting for me to prep the ground so we can assemble the walls. I was going to do something similar to the prep we did for the turtle enclosure. Basically, dig out a hole that is a little bigger, then put down gopher wire, then gravel/rocks, then dirt, then whatever I decide for the ground cover. Sand or something like that. I was going to go with sand, but I've been reading the different opinions on other posts and haven't decided yet.

The terminology does get confusing. The reason being is that there are so many different types of coops.

In your case, I mean the whole enclosure,not just the roosting area, but the run also. Personally if the run is attached I consider it part of the coop.

They will go into the roosting area by themselves at night without you having to show them because they like to sleep up high. By keeping them in the coop (the whole thing) for a week or so they will consider it their home and then, when you let them free range, as it starts getting dark they will return to the coop by themselves.

It kinda reminds me of all the times us kids had to be home by the time the street lights came on when I was a child.

 

[ronott1]

Welcome from Woodland CA!