Hey everyone!!

[DavidAr]

Hey everyone My name is David I'm 26 years old and from Northwest Arkansas,I'm pretty new at keeping chickens my family had some when I was real young so I have a tiny bit of experience but not much lol,I'm currently building a run and coop and having a great time doing it,I currently have 6 chicks which I'm still trying to ID just have to wait for them to age a little,You guys have been a great help already so I'm glad to be part of this and excited to learn from you all.Here is my Run that almost finished up today,I let the chicks play outside in it for the first time and they loved it!,Still have a lot to do and now I can focus more on the coop

 

[DavidAr]

Iv decided to only keep 2-3 chickens with this size coop and run,Later on I'm sure I will build bigger,The run now is 4 foot by 10 foot and the coop is 4x5 foot,So I'm hoping it's big enough for at least 2?they will be free ranging a lot during the day as well,I have plenty of open land they will love I just have to wait and take care of a cat problem in this neighborhood

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!
Glad to have you a part of this community! Your chicks are to cute and run looks fantastic! If you need any help or have a question feel free to ask!

 

[nj2wv]

Welcome to BYC !!

 

[DavidAr]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!
Glad to have you a part of this community! Your chicks are to cute and run looks fantastic! If you need any help or have a question feel free to ask!

Thank you! I will have tons of questions for sure lol hope I don't bug

 

[DavidAr]

Welcome to BYC !!

Thanks!!

 

[drumstick diva]

David, nice run - the only thing I would suggest is to use 1/2" hardware cloth outside of the poultry wire you have now. A raccoon and other predators can tear through chicken wire like it was nothing. They won't tear hardware cloth. Even if you just get some 24" inches high, that would protect your flock especially from coons who like to grab any body parts through the fence and eat them on the spot. Also a cover for the run to keep out climbers, or raptors.

Let the cats find some other place to eat. BTW your dimensions are fine for 2-3 chickens.

 

[sunflour]

glad you have joined us.

I agree with drumstick diva's advice about the hardware cloth and roofing the run. You will need to double the size for the 6 you have. That will become very evident when they get full grown. And the water fount and feeder also take up the space of 2 chickens in the coop or run footprint.

I would have concerns on cleaning issue. Smaller coops are hard to clean when low, if there is a way to raise the coop about 2 feet you can use the under coop as part of the run and won't have to get bent over or on your knees for coop cleaning. Make sure the run top is tall enough for you to comfortably enter for chores as well.

Cats are a real threat to growing chicks, once they are full size the threat is lessened. But free range does come with expected losses. IMO when you have a small flock, even loss of one can be devastating.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[DavidAr]

David, nice run - the only thing I would suggest is to use 1/2" hardware cloth outside of the poultry wire you have now. A raccoon and other predators can tear through chicken wire like it was nothing. They won't tear hardware cloth. Even if you just get some 24" inches high, that would protect your flock especially from coons who like to grab any body parts through the fence and eat them on the spot. Also a cover for the run to keep out climbers, or raptors.

Let the cats find some other place to eat. BTW your dimensions are fine for 2-3 chickens.

Thank you! And thanks for the suggestions really apreciate it,I'm definately going to add hardware cloth around it next payday,I want them safe I know there are coons around here that would love these little guys