Chicken newby here!
I'm in Southern California, just northeast of San Diego in Ramona. Hubby and I bought 8 acres last year and have finally decided to do the ol' laying hen thing. We get winters that have the occasional freezing night temperatures, as well as many 100*+ summer days. One thing that is certain, Ramona is windy a lot of the time.
Put up an 8'x6' coop this weekend (bought a wooden storage shed with hung doors) and plan on starting with a mixed variety of about 10 chickens.
Our intentions are:
- 8 - 12 egg laying hens + a few more as time progresses (heard this is an addictive hobby/way of life)
- Variety of egg colors (for fun)
- Chicken coop with a minimum 8'x 10' run (for the most part - we think this is generously large for the amount of birds - sound good?)
- Hubby wants to raise coop up about 2' for chickens to be able to access bugs and shade underneath (I don't get it, what with all of our space. Seems like added work for him. But, I don't care either way. Just wondering WHY most coops are raised?)
- Wind turbine on the roof (will that be a bad thing in winter?). Shed/coop also came with a small round gable vent.
- Cross ventilation windows with wire mess openings for normal-hot weather and opaque covering for cold weather
- 6 nesting boxes - 3 above 3 starting a few inches from floor (don't know why, but read to raise it, somewhere)
- Astro turf type floor for nesting boxes (or??? Saw that in one of the ready made coops online)
- Vinyl flooring covered with shavings (a friend with a coop about the same size said that this makes for easy cleaning and less smell)
- Access via hinged panel to nesting boxes from outside
- Hanging feed and water containers (inside coop)
- Additional water container (outside coop)
- Staggered (so the girls don't poop on each other), natural branch, approx. 2-3" diameter roosts with homemade branch ladder for access (same thing for coop access)
- Add a smaller, movable run (with small coop for shelter and maybe 2 nesting boxes)
- Try to predator proof as much as possible. Plan on totally enclosed run to protect the birds. So far, the predators that I know we have around here are: coyotes, hawks, turkey vultures, bobcats, snakes. We also have rats, squirrels, and rabbits. Don't know if they are an issue. What would be good to use as a snake barrier?? We have rattlers, king snakes, whips, etc. here.
- Not sure yet due to the predator thing, but want to *think* about free range if we/they feel comfortable about it (after several weeks/months???) - unless a large run IS considered "free range"...
- Organic feed (any suggestions?)
My questions (besides the ones above):
- Will the girls ruin my veggie garden if allowed in there? Or, will they just eat all of the bugs?
- Do you routinely "clip" their wings?
- How much feed will we go through on average - considering that they will be in a large run?
- Can we leave them unattended for up to 5 days w/o having someone come to take care of them? And, will we have to keep them IN their coop or okay to leave coop access open to their run for that amount of time?
- Do you routinely vaccinate or otherwise give medicine/supplements to them?
Any suggestions to what we have planned so far? I know that we don't know our hens from our rooster yet, but, with this forum I'm sure we will soon!
Nice to meet you, and thanks for having me! You guys are great!!!
PS, Ironically, my screen name has nothing to do with chicks or chickens, lol! It is a shortened version of esplendido chick - I smoke cigars, I'm female, and the esplendido is the first type of cigar that I smoked. BUT, the name is very fitting for this forum
I'm in Southern California, just northeast of San Diego in Ramona. Hubby and I bought 8 acres last year and have finally decided to do the ol' laying hen thing. We get winters that have the occasional freezing night temperatures, as well as many 100*+ summer days. One thing that is certain, Ramona is windy a lot of the time.
Put up an 8'x6' coop this weekend (bought a wooden storage shed with hung doors) and plan on starting with a mixed variety of about 10 chickens.
Our intentions are:
- 8 - 12 egg laying hens + a few more as time progresses (heard this is an addictive hobby/way of life)
- Variety of egg colors (for fun)
- Chicken coop with a minimum 8'x 10' run (for the most part - we think this is generously large for the amount of birds - sound good?)
- Hubby wants to raise coop up about 2' for chickens to be able to access bugs and shade underneath (I don't get it, what with all of our space. Seems like added work for him. But, I don't care either way. Just wondering WHY most coops are raised?)
- Wind turbine on the roof (will that be a bad thing in winter?). Shed/coop also came with a small round gable vent.
- Cross ventilation windows with wire mess openings for normal-hot weather and opaque covering for cold weather
- 6 nesting boxes - 3 above 3 starting a few inches from floor (don't know why, but read to raise it, somewhere)
- Astro turf type floor for nesting boxes (or??? Saw that in one of the ready made coops online)
- Vinyl flooring covered with shavings (a friend with a coop about the same size said that this makes for easy cleaning and less smell)
- Access via hinged panel to nesting boxes from outside
- Hanging feed and water containers (inside coop)
- Additional water container (outside coop)
- Staggered (so the girls don't poop on each other), natural branch, approx. 2-3" diameter roosts with homemade branch ladder for access (same thing for coop access)
- Add a smaller, movable run (with small coop for shelter and maybe 2 nesting boxes)
- Try to predator proof as much as possible. Plan on totally enclosed run to protect the birds. So far, the predators that I know we have around here are: coyotes, hawks, turkey vultures, bobcats, snakes. We also have rats, squirrels, and rabbits. Don't know if they are an issue. What would be good to use as a snake barrier?? We have rattlers, king snakes, whips, etc. here.
- Not sure yet due to the predator thing, but want to *think* about free range if we/they feel comfortable about it (after several weeks/months???) - unless a large run IS considered "free range"...
- Organic feed (any suggestions?)
My questions (besides the ones above):
- Will the girls ruin my veggie garden if allowed in there? Or, will they just eat all of the bugs?
- Do you routinely "clip" their wings?
- How much feed will we go through on average - considering that they will be in a large run?
- Can we leave them unattended for up to 5 days w/o having someone come to take care of them? And, will we have to keep them IN their coop or okay to leave coop access open to their run for that amount of time?
- Do you routinely vaccinate or otherwise give medicine/supplements to them?
Any suggestions to what we have planned so far? I know that we don't know our hens from our rooster yet, but, with this forum I'm sure we will soon!
Nice to meet you, and thanks for having me! You guys are great!!!
PS, Ironically, my screen name has nothing to do with chicks or chickens, lol! It is a shortened version of esplendido chick - I smoke cigars, I'm female, and the esplendido is the first type of cigar that I smoked. BUT, the name is very fitting for this forum
Last edited: