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You know a lot of the "requirements" for runs and whatnot say 10 square feet per bird, but I really do think that 20 square feet per bird is the way to go. The maintenance has been really minimal and there is absolutely no smell to speak of.
Even with the remnants of Hurricane Isaac pushing through this past weekend and dumping about 6 inches of rain on us... (which is not only the most rain these birds have ever seen... but is also the most rain my mini-aussie has ever seen...) my chickens were really quite happy in their enclosure. Their run wasn't muddy for more than a day because it apparently drains really well. I am sure the fact that we were so dry for so long helped. I was able to drop the windows on the coop in various combinations depending on which way the wind was blowing to keep the rain out but still have more than adequate ventilation.
For the most part, the chickens spent those two days camped out under the coop staying dry. I did take the feeder in the run away, and just made sure the feeder in their coop was stocked to encourage them to use the coop, where it was dry. I also made sure to scoop their coop every day, versus the ever 5 days I scoop, simply because they were spending more time in there.
On Saturday I put a big piece of the limb that fell out of our tree in the front yard in their run just to give them a new surface to stand on that wasn't mud. They loved it. Between that and the corner roosts I have up for them, there was lots for them to do. Despite not being allowed to free range, because of the city ordinance, they do not seem bored or unhappy in their enclosure.
Yesterday I put down a layer of straw... not so thick that you can't see the dirt where they're scratchin' around, but not so thin that they can't have fun kicking it around to find all kinds of creepy crawly goodies under there.
We're also to the point where we trust both of our dogs around the chickens... and visa versa.
Ajax, our 10 year old Sheltie on saturday
River, our 1.5 year old Mini-Aussie today.
Even with the remnants of Hurricane Isaac pushing through this past weekend and dumping about 6 inches of rain on us... (which is not only the most rain these birds have ever seen... but is also the most rain my mini-aussie has ever seen...) my chickens were really quite happy in their enclosure. Their run wasn't muddy for more than a day because it apparently drains really well. I am sure the fact that we were so dry for so long helped. I was able to drop the windows on the coop in various combinations depending on which way the wind was blowing to keep the rain out but still have more than adequate ventilation.
For the most part, the chickens spent those two days camped out under the coop staying dry. I did take the feeder in the run away, and just made sure the feeder in their coop was stocked to encourage them to use the coop, where it was dry. I also made sure to scoop their coop every day, versus the ever 5 days I scoop, simply because they were spending more time in there.
On Saturday I put a big piece of the limb that fell out of our tree in the front yard in their run just to give them a new surface to stand on that wasn't mud. They loved it. Between that and the corner roosts I have up for them, there was lots for them to do. Despite not being allowed to free range, because of the city ordinance, they do not seem bored or unhappy in their enclosure.
Yesterday I put down a layer of straw... not so thick that you can't see the dirt where they're scratchin' around, but not so thin that they can't have fun kicking it around to find all kinds of creepy crawly goodies under there.
We're also to the point where we trust both of our dogs around the chickens... and visa versa.
Ajax, our 10 year old Sheltie on saturday
River, our 1.5 year old Mini-Aussie today.
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