Must chickens have a coop?

[gannman]

Howdy everyone!

I am in the process of considering whether to raise chickens or not in my small back yard. What I would like to know is, do they have to have a coop? What I would like to do is to build an open ended “shed” for them that would be fenced in all around. I would put the nest box in the back of the “shed” ad the roost on the side. This would allow me to walk in and maintain the coop/run.

What are the negatives of doing this?

Thanks,

Bill G
Las Vegas

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Would the run be all the way to the top of the shed with a roof? If so, it would work if the chickens have a way to get out of the wind. If not, then predators will most likely get in and kill you chickens. I would recomend having a four sided coop for safety reasons. It also depends on what predators you have. Raccoons, Possums, Skunks, Weasels, hawks, just to name a few.

 

[gannman]

The run will be entirely enclosed all around the "shed" and the only predators in my neighborhood would be the occasional cat, but it would be closed up so they could not get in.

Bill G

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Then I think that should be fine! Maybe put up a partial wall to block the wind, if the open side is the direction the wind comes from.

 

[wahmommy]

When i was a child, a hen flew over our fence from the neighbor's house. We ended up keeping her (with the neighbor's blessing) but never got around to building a coop. She died of old age, even though we had raccoons and hawks... so no you don't need a coop. But.. our chicken was a smart chicken, a coon tried climbing up the tree to get her she flew to another tree. And of course we never knew where she was laying her eggs

 

[nwredrooster]

I would think that your shed essentially is a coop in Vegas. But your run has got to be absolutely securely enclosed - and needs to be stronger/thicker than chicken wire. Also, is it a metal shed? More to the point, will the chickens have a cool place to retreat to from the hot sun?

 

[blackgum]

what nwredrooster said

 

[All4MrD8a]

I live in suburbia. I was surprised what predators we have that I never knew about before getting chickens: rats, mice, owls, hawks, eagles, raccoons, dogs, cats, and a whole bunch more I haven't noticed yet.