We live in Fair Oaks CA, known for the feral chickens, mostly roosters, who inhabit the downtown area. These birds wander into the businesses, fight and crow at all hours of the day and night. Some people complain that the birds are being abused and are subject to depredation from coyotes and other critters. I am sure they are, but the numbers never seem to reduce. We have seen many hens with clutches in the springtime hiding in the foliage around the area and the juveniles a few months later.
We have a baker's dozen hens who provide us and all our friends with lovely eggs. Our mixed flock lives in a converted dog run, chain link 6 feet tall. The main area is 30 by 40 feet. The night enclosure is also just chain link walls 10 ft per side. That entire enclosure is wrapped in hardware cloth - ton, bottom and sides, fastened securely. There is reed fencing on three sides to break the wind and a fiberglass panel roof. Very well ventilated!
I am a big fan of open air coops and ours is the openest! While others complain about the diseases and parasites with which their birds are afflicted, ours have remained disease and parasite free. We do get nights when the temperatures drop below freezing each winter, but our birds have shown no sign of frostbite or other problems. We do provide winter lighting in the form of christmas lights purchased at garage sales. These are all very low voltage and do not add appreciable heat. They shut off at 10 pm and come on again at 4 am. This induces the girls to get up, move around and eat which helps keep their internal temps up.
Our big problem is summer heat when the temperatures can hit 100 plus for several days in a row. The girls stay cool with ample fresh water and thanks to the mature oak, walnut and madrone trees shading the run. We worry more about heat than we do about cold, but have been able to keep all our girls, even the heavily feathered Faverolles and Cream Legbars, comfortable when others near us have lost many in their flock to heat. I can't say enough for the benefits of open air coops and mature shade trees.
There is a down side to the mature trees though. The only loss we have had to foreign predators (as opposed to our own bird dog who heard us say we had too many chickens - he just tried to help!) was the loss of a two month old pullet to a red tail hawk who dropped out of the tree into the pen. The pullet enclosure is now completely covered.
Deborah
We have a baker's dozen hens who provide us and all our friends with lovely eggs. Our mixed flock lives in a converted dog run, chain link 6 feet tall. The main area is 30 by 40 feet. The night enclosure is also just chain link walls 10 ft per side. That entire enclosure is wrapped in hardware cloth - ton, bottom and sides, fastened securely. There is reed fencing on three sides to break the wind and a fiberglass panel roof. Very well ventilated!
I am a big fan of open air coops and ours is the openest! While others complain about the diseases and parasites with which their birds are afflicted, ours have remained disease and parasite free. We do get nights when the temperatures drop below freezing each winter, but our birds have shown no sign of frostbite or other problems. We do provide winter lighting in the form of christmas lights purchased at garage sales. These are all very low voltage and do not add appreciable heat. They shut off at 10 pm and come on again at 4 am. This induces the girls to get up, move around and eat which helps keep their internal temps up.
Our big problem is summer heat when the temperatures can hit 100 plus for several days in a row. The girls stay cool with ample fresh water and thanks to the mature oak, walnut and madrone trees shading the run. We worry more about heat than we do about cold, but have been able to keep all our girls, even the heavily feathered Faverolles and Cream Legbars, comfortable when others near us have lost many in their flock to heat. I can't say enough for the benefits of open air coops and mature shade trees.
There is a down side to the mature trees though. The only loss we have had to foreign predators (as opposed to our own bird dog who heard us say we had too many chickens - he just tried to help!) was the loss of a two month old pullet to a red tail hawk who dropped out of the tree into the pen. The pullet enclosure is now completely covered.
Deborah
