Angel07
Songster
You need to start building a run asap. That is too small a place for them to live full time. It will cause problems if you leave them in there.
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Thank you so muchYou need to start building a run asap. That is too small a place for them to live full time. It will cause problems if you leave them in there.
Thank you so much for your timeLots of good questions - I will start off with a very simple thing about the pallet floor. Rodents are going to try to get into anything you build and pallets are going to be extremely easy for them to permeate. In fact ideal to nest in! (the rodents, not your birds)
You could use pallets as the "frame" - what I would do for the floor is put hardware cloth down under the pallet- make it a 'bowl' and secure those edges somewhere up the wall. Then put another layer of hardware cloth on TOP of the pallet floor, again, secure it up the wall.
Then put down 3/4" plywood on top of the hardware cloth making sure there are NO GAPS between the floor and walls. And I put a rubber mat over my plywood floor to make it moisture proof and easy to keep clean- and very easy on everyone's feet. Personally I did a regular shed build and then I added hardware cloth up and down the walls, over the floor frame etc, then put my plywood walls up so the rodents have to get through more than one layer of hardware cloth to permeate the coop. And I blocked off access to my rafters with more hardware cloth. At my last property I had rats come in the ROOF VENTS. They will do ANYTHING to get in. You might not have a problem for a while - but once they find you - ugh.
Make your run as big as you can. Use aviary netting over the top to keep the hawks out. Welded wire can work as long as you also secure it with hardware cloth for at least 2 feet up to keep the chickens from sticking their heads thru - some predators will grab and decapitate heads that way.
But in the mean time- make your run as big as you can, 5x10 isn't going to work for long as you're finding out.
You can use cattle panels which come in 16ft lengths and are about 4ft tall- and secure the bottom with hardware cloth- of course - as a way to quickly expand your run (cover it of course) using t-posts to hold it up. Very strong and VERY easy to install. https://www.farmstore.com/product/cattle-panel-16-ft/
I could be wrong here, but what I think she is trying to say is that if/when the drake tries to mate with a hen, it can seriously injure or kill it from trying to mate.Hi marie,
When I went up to get the chickens the Drake was living with them Day-and-night, although there were about 30 Hens and one Drake. I guess you're saying in such a small area. It would be a Pain to separate the Drake in a dog carrier at night. I posted photos
Blessings
Stewart