Moving to the country...Anyone want to brainstorm with me?

[Andora]

Right now we live in a suburb in town. Soon (if all works out!) we'll be moving to a little more than an acre of land out in the country. What should I do as far as set-up is concerned for my chickens and 2 pekin ducks?

Right now we have two coops, which are predator proof. Hopefully we'll be able to move those to our new property. The chickens live in an open pen, it has those metal poles and basic metal farm fencing. Some of them fly over it and range around the yard, which isn't a big deal. We have hawks, raccoons, possums, and so on. I've lost a bird to a possum at night and have had hawks swooping down during the day.

What will be different in the rural area we're moving to? Do you think they'll still be ok with a large open pen to range in, with some also probably ranging around the rest of the yard? (I seem to have two flocks...the handful that believe they don't belong in the pen, and the rest of the birds who nicely stay where they're supposed to.

) I don't want to lose a bunch of birds to predators, but I also feel bad locking them up and I don't think we can afford to build a covered pen big enough to happily house all 40-50 of them! I do have two dogs, one which loves the chickens and herds them. They don't stay outside constantly though.

We are also in the planning stages of getting milk goats, so I'd like to be sure the large area we fence off is good enough to house goats as well as my chickens. I'm considering getting a guard llama. Anyone have any experience with those? Then fenced off area would probably be around 1/2 an acre, maybe a little less. It would need to house chickens as well as 2 or 3 goats and possibly a llama.

In addition to my coops, I am thinking about what kind of housing we'd need for goats that some chickens could also possibly roost in. (Have to plan for more chicken space, owing to my unfortunate addiction.

) We really don't have a lot of money to spend. $1,000 at most on housing. This would be barely affordable...do you think it would be big enough for a few goats and a llama? (Probably Nigerian Dwarfs, so small goats.)

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100004954&N=10000003+90401+524467

I'm open to all sorts of suggestions!

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I'm no expert, but I would spend some of that money putting a roof on your pen if it doesn't already have one.

 

[ducks4you]

First, CONGRATULATIONS!!! We moved out to the country almost 10 years ago--to 5 acres on the edge of a rural town of 200 people, property has an Ag2 zoning, when means I own a Hobby-Farm--never looked back. You're in Kentucky, which means where you live it's more animal friendly than Illinois. WE have to register our cats in Champaign County, for instance at $18/yearly (regardless of the fact that they are all neutered.) ...gee whiz...

Here's what I expect you will find. Coyotes and raccoons are in overabundance. Start checking this site's links to Predators and Pests. IF you have a barn with a light, put your coops in front of it and closer to the house, for the birds' safety. DEFINITELY bury hardware cloth--see posts regarding how. Don't get a llama. Though I've never owned one I've talked to farmers who have. They can turn on you, if you don't know how to train them, OR, if they haven't been raised with a trained llama---don't exactly know how THAT works, BUT, I HAVE had a nasty mule who jumped my 5 foot fence. You do NOT want a monster living in your back yard! (He's been gone for awhile, now.)

You NEED cats. Raise them from kittens, handle them OFTEN, then they will:
--get along with your dogs and
--be catchable when they need a rabies shot

We have 4 cats, who go in and out of the house and roam and hunt. I feed them Farm and Fleet dry cat food. It leaves them full but a little hungry. They ALL mouse, and often leave us their kills on the house steps as a way of saying "thank you, I love you."

MY two dogs live INSIDE, where I consider the most valuable things are, including the people! They DO occasionally bark at something stirring in the middle of the night, so they ARE protecting my birds. (The Horses can protect themselves.)

Free ranging is up to you. I HAVE let my birds do a minimum of it, but you CAN expect to lose a few of them. Again, check the forum for posts regarding this.

Finally, your run NEEDS a cover from owls (which you will never hear flying---it's because of their abundant, thick coat of feathers,) and hawks, which are, thankfully ALL over the place.

You will absolutely LOVE

how quiet it is in the country. Also, you're gonna enjoy NOT having your neighbors so close that they can look into your bedroom windows!

If you are far enough outside of town, you'll also be able to see lots of constellations at night. Best viewing is (regretably) middle of the night, mid-winter. Enjoy your new place!!

 

[dbcooper02]

I sure dont have all the answers, but I do have some thoughts on the goat housing. I would think you should be able to find a local handyman that could put together a nice goat shed for you at a more reasonable cost. That thing from HD is a kit that must be assembled on a concrete slab, and does not include roofing shingles etc. ie more $. I think you could do more with less by building your own or having something built on site.
db