Hello!

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Well, we have lost a total of 4 of our 8 birds! We have the 2 older chicks - 5 weeks old- which are the Rhode Island Red & Americauna. The other 2 are 2 weeks old - a Buff Orpington & Easter Egger.

Finally got the base of the coop almost done! We are doing a Wichita Cabin Coop & will eventually extend the run out in front of it & rotate run areas. We buried cinder blocks & will top them with the thinner toppers. Now I am trying to figure our how to do the hardware cloth on the bottom of the run. We are building over mostly grass & some dirt which I will use for the dirt bath area.

I am thinking of just dropping the cloth down the inside edges of the cinder block before I fill in the gap from digging the trench, and then running it across the grass to the other side. I worry about the hardware cloth being on the surface where the hens will be scratching, but I don't want to cover the grass with sand or anything!
Any suggestions on how to run/secure the wire on the ground?

Also, wondering about space in the hen house. I want room enough to add more chicks eventually. The whole run base will be 5x10 with the nesting boxes outside of that. The hen house will be around 4x5. Is this enough room for 8 hens? Considering the 5x10 run will be expanded eventually??

Thanks!
 
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Sorry about the chicks you have lost, do you know what happened?

Glad the coop building is going well! You might want to post in the Design forum for suggestions on design, pictures would help also https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance Usually people bury wire/blocks etc a couple of feet straight down at the edge of the run, or straight out from the outside edge and cover it with something (stake it and just cover with an inch or two of gravel or dirt or rocks etc ... and not actually on the bottom of the inside of the run in that case ... if they do put it in the run itself (attached to the edges) then it is usually covered with something, with ie 6-12" sand.
The usual recommended area is 4 sq/f inside and 10sq/f outside for standard birds (not counting nesting boxes and food / water space etc) ... so a 4x5 / 5x10 combo is really good for about 4-5 standard hens, you maybe asking for problems if you crowd them more ... you can get away with less indoor space in warmer climates where the birds are pretty much never cooped up. There is a really nice article in the LC on space https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
 
peakdm said:
Here are our new flock!they are so cute!!
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Welcome to BYC
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Your chicks are so cute! I'm new too, and want to tell you you have come to the right place ! People here are so helpful and friendly! Good luck with your little ones!

I'm sorry to hear of the devastating loss. I just found the post that you had lost 4 of your 8. That is so heartbreaking. when we ran the hardware cloth under our run, we pulled and rolled the sod 3 inches down, then laid the cloth long enough to come up the sides of the run 13 inches . we re-set the sod over the wire (grass up) and put the run in place. Once it was set in place, being sure the hardware cloth over hang was inside the run walls, my DH and I (he in the run me out of the run) wove wire through the under cloth and the cloth on the run sides to stitch it together. we had to water the grass daily for about three weeks to get the roots to take hold. but it is beautiful now :) hope that helps :)
 
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It is going slowly but surely!! We are having to build it in a bit different order than we probably should! We are having to put on everything on the back side of the coop first and then lift it up & move it into its final place. We are putting it next to our shed, in front of a wall. & next to a juniper tree! We can't access two of the sides and the corner by the tree! So it is getting kind heavy!! Otherwise it is going well!!

The chicks are doing well! Never been around chickens before, but they are pretty cool!
 
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