Just starting out

[Cluck Berry]

OK, let me start off by saying I know nothing about chickens, and I have no equipment whatsoever. All I have is the desire and the space to raise a dozen meat birds. With that being said, here is what I have to work with.
I live in a somewhat rural area. I have a chain link fence off the back of the house 75' square (toddler retainer). Now that the kids are grown, I want to raise some chickens in the fenced area. My thoughts were to get a coop, put it in the fenced area, fortify the bottom of the fence with hardware cloth and extend the top of the fence with the 25 inch fence extender poles and hardware cloth. Now I have a bunch of questions. Will the chickens fly over the top of the fence if it is 6 feet tall? Will a dozen chickens be able to forage and be happy in a 75' square? I want to start this off in July for my initial attempt so i am not dealing with cold weather problems as I start out. There are hawks, coons, an occasional mink, and lots of coyotes. My basement walks out into the square, and my deck overlooks it from above so we can always watch things during the daylight hours. It can get pretty windy in my area as I am surrounded by farmfields and I don't know if a chicken tractor will offer enough protection compared to a hard sided coop during periods of high winds and stormy weather. Am I on the right track with my chicken yard thoughts? I know I will need lots of stuff starting out, but I am looking forward to this. I appreciate any and all thoughts and suggestions.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hello again!

All I have is the desire and the space to raise a dozen meat birds.

What kind of meat birds? There are basically three types.

#1 - Cornish X - These are what you get at the supermarket. If you raise them as recommended they are ready to process between 6 to 8 weeks of age. If you delay butchering them they can die of a heart attack or stroke, or become crippled as their skeleton breaks down. These are the most efficient at converting food to meat. They eat a lot so they poop a lot.

#2 - Rangers - Several different rangers to choose from. In general they were designed to gain weight slower than the CX and to be better at foraging. They are often butchered at 12 weeks but are a lot less likely to die than the CX if you keep them longer.

#3 - Dual Purpose - Several different breeds of these. This is probably what your Great Grandmother raised on the farm. They will grow a lot slower than either CX or Rangers and will not get as big. They are not going to get so big they just fall over dead. You can breed these to hatch more, unlike the other two kinds. Since they are typically so much older when you butcher them the meat can be tough and strong flavored. People eat them and can create a gourmet meal but they are usually too old to fry or grill.

These are all generalities. There are plenty of people on here that regularly break the rules and still get good results. To cover all of the possibilities would take a really thick book.

My thoughts were to get a coop, put it in the fenced area, fortify the bottom of the fence with hardware cloth and extend the top of the fence with the 25 inch fence extender poles and hardware cloth.

That is a lot of hardware cloth, really expensive. The chain link fencing will stop most ground based predators from going through it. About the only predators that could get through would be rats, snakes, and some weasels. To me that would not be worth the extra expense as I consider the risks rather small. But if you get a weasel it could wipe you out in one night. I'd go with the chain link you already have, with modifications.

Critters can still get under a fence. It doesn't take much of a gap for a fox, dog, raccoon, or such to squeeze under, even without a little digging. You might consider a no dig apron. That's where you lay a piece of 12" to 18" wire mesh around the entire run and attach it to the bottom so nothing can squeeze through. The idea is that a predator goes up to the fence, starts digging, and does not know to back up when it hits the wire mesh.

Another problem is that many critters can climb. Fox, bobcat, raccoon, and possum for sure. There are others. You probably have wolverines up there. I know of two ways to defeat climbing predators.

One way is to use electricity. Different methods for that. The other is to install a flat or downward sloping section from the top. The idea is that something climbing up cannot get over the top as it would have to hang upside down to do it.

This does nothing against flying predators like hawks, owls, or eagles. Some people can go years without losing a chicken to one of these. Others can be hit early and often. If you have trees or brush in that area they can hide under them. Maybe erect something they can hide under, like an old satellite dish or something else raised on cinder blocks

Now I have a bunch of questions. Will the chickens fly over the top of the fence if it is 6 feet tall?

What does the top of the fence look like? Does it have a top rail that looks like a good place to perch? Most chickens will not fly over that and land on the ground outside but they will fly up there to perch and may hop down on the wrong side.

I'm not sure if young CX or Rangers could fly up there. I have no doubt Dual Purpose could if they want to. With only 10 in that huge area and no top rail that looks like a perch they probably will not want to. I keep my dual purpose inside a 4 feet high netting fence. They can easily fly higher than that but don't unless they are trapped at the fence in a pecking order fight and one tries to escape by flying up and lands on the wrong side of the fence.

Will a dozen chickens be able to forage and be happy in a 75' square?

That is over 5,000 square feet, huge for 10 chickens. In July the forage should be excellent if you don't mow it for a couple of weeks. I'd still expect you to have to feed them some chicken feed, especially the CX. How much I don't know. I grew up on a farm where the dual purpose chickens fed themselves but they had more room than that plus the cows and horses helped them forage. The chickens would scratch in the rotting manure for bugs, especially maggots.

I'm sure what you are talking about can be done. I'm sure you will have a learning curve so don't be too easily discouraged. Good luck!