Hiya from chicken mom wannabe

[cocoemsf]

Hi all, thanks for having me here!
A quick intro so you and I can feel I'm really starting to be part of this community!
I'm in San Francisco CA and have a ca. 20 ft x 40 ft yard which is mostly dedicated to growing veggies.
I've wanted to raise chickens for some time but we had problem neighbors who thankfully moved out. So now I can dedicate more time to dream and act on raising chickens to provide my family of three with eggs, entertainment and more reasons to forcefully get us away from the computer!
We can raise up to four backyard-roaming critters according to city rules.
Without looking much around, I'm thinking of White Leghorns after reading a couple articles here. Life near Golden Gate Park is sure full of dangers for a clucker in the form of racoons and red-tailed hawks, cats and a dog. I thought its traits of being a good flyer and awareness of dangers could help us all to keep them all alive. Of course, there is much more to consider...
For example, how much run space will a flock of four leghorns require? They probably wouldn't be able to roam every day--more likely two or three times a week.
So these are some questions to start things off.

Tags: urban, city

 

[xMikachux]

First of all, welcome to BYC!
I was searching google for this but I found (using only 1 source) about 5 sq. foot per bird depending on the size. More or less really

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[xMikachux]

I forgot to mention!
About the predators, you might want to get a trap (if that's okay with you).
I haven't gotten one yet but I'm getting one soon after I saw my chickens' beaks bleeding (I know it was a fox!)

 

[liz9910]

from Modesto! If you haven't already, check out the Learning Center https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center , it has so much good info and will answer a lot of your questions. My advice would be build the run as big as you can and to use hardware cloth (strong mesh wire) instead of chicken wire.

 

[cocoemsf]

Yeah, thanks, I remember reading about that. Also, I learned to leave a foot of hardware cloth around each side on the surface of the run b/c that will discourage racoons. Apparently they're diggers, but won't dig under a foot of the stuff.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Good luck once you obtain your birds.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, cocomsf, and

! Pleased you joined us! Sounds like you've already received some good advice so I'll just say best wishes!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

actually you need 1/2inch hardware cloth around the perimeter of the run - from ground up 2 feet or so high - this prevents raccoons from reaching in and grabbing any body part they can snag. They will eat it off right on the spot. They can do horrific damage/carnage if given the chance. If they have a covered run that will exclude hawk & owl attacks. I believe the usual advice is 4 square feet of room per chicken inside coop and 10 square feet each for outdoor run.