New City Farmer- Any advice?

[OldMacDonald]

Handbasket- You had chickens at a place you rented? Wow! No wonder you think people are mostly good!

Of course, I live in reality, and that means you never know if your neighbor will raise a stink over the chickens until it's too late. Why let the cat out of the bag...

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Got ya! that would be sufficent space, heck, you got more space than me!

LMBO! Razor wires, where are they? Caught some young kids from a catholic school climbing on my chain link to peer over the privacy fence next to it. I was MAD! Told them to get the F off my fence and they hot tailed home. From time to time, I would see them and they would hang their heads, probably admitting they did the wrong thing. I would not have mind showing the chickens to them if they would have done the right thing by approaching to me when I was out in the yard.

Have fun!

 

[OldMacDonald]

Razor wire is that stuff you see coiled up on top of prison walls. Instead of barbs it has razor blades on it.

Funny you'd mention that Catholic School kids story, I live directly across the street from a Catholic School and I have to patroll around with a ruler and beat the nuns off my fence every day.

Sorry, that was inappropriate.

 

[outdoor junkie]

I live in Michigan too, and yes your birds are definitly legal. Without roosters I wouldn't worry too much about your neighbors being upset by the noise. I also did not got a rooster for this reason, but i may in the future, because one of my neighbors is an old guy who could care less and will probably enjoy the birds as much as I do, and the other neighbor I've had nothing but problems with from day one. So a rooster cackling may bother him, but no more than his stupid mutts barking at me the whole time I'm i nthe yard so to heck with him. As long as you keep the smell down I don't think you will have any problems. Good luck.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

So, generally speaking, it is advised by most to have a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird in the coop with an additional 10 sq ft per bird in the run. Since your run is concrete, you'll probably want to add a deep layer of something for them to scratch around it since it sounds like they will be confined to the run...?

 

[OldMacDonald]

YayChicks- 4 sqft per bird in the coop and 10 per bird for the run? That's a HUGE run! What do people with Chicken tractors do?

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I have an Eglu Go so I have my chickens (3) in much less space. Of course, our girls have about a 20'x25' chicken garden which they free range in for a few hours a day. We're still playing with how everything works but so far so good. I think a lot of coop space depends on how much time the girls get to be free. We are trying to expand that time as much as we can.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I know you're limited on your available area, but the more space you can give them the better....especially in winter when everything is covered in snow and they may not want to go outside. When they're too crowded issues like feather picking start happening.

 

[maclady]

Ok here it is. You need 4 square feet per chicken inside the coop. May be able to get away with 4x4 coop but you are pushing it if they have to stay inside due to weather. It is best to have at least 10 square feet of space per chicken for the exterior run. You could do an incorporated coop/run. Coop elevated 2 feet off the ground and then figure how wide and long need to reach the needed square footage. I have a 4x4 coop elevated 2ft and then an attached run that is 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. This gave me the needed 16 sq ft interior for 4 Buff Orpingtons and the 40 sq ft total for the run area. You are using a small area but with proper placement I believe you can do it. Use graph paper to figure out layout before you start building and it should help immensely. People with chicken tractors usually follow the same ideas for space and they often free range them. It is just a small number of chickens per tractor. If you check out this site in the coop section-small coops there are a lot of great ideas. Check out the playhouse setup and the Wichita Cabin Coop. I would suggest you consider a L shape with the long part the chicken set up and the short for your rabbits. It would allow you to combine building space. Put the storage as an attached area to the blacksmith shop with access from the exterior. I am originally from Michigan thumb area & I wish you lots of luck with your mini farm. Can't wait to see pics of what you build.

 

[patandchickens]

Dont' take anyone too seriously about "magic numbers" of what is ok vs not ok for space for chickens. For one thing, it depends a lot on your purpose/goals/philosophy; for another thing it depends a lot on your particular hens' personalities.

5 sq ft indoors plus 5 sq ft outdoors (apiece) is pretty tight quarters, but you can likely make it work. Michigan winters will be a problem. Hopefully you will luck into very placid, getting-along-together hens. Your two main problems will be the risk of cannibalism getting started (chickens can be quite amazingly violent with each other when stressed or bored) and the difficulty of ensuring adequate ventilation in such a small coop. The latter will be made easier if the coop can be located right up against a building or fence such that there might be a very wind-protected location for the vent you leave open, and having that vent be at the opposite end of the coop from the roost. You may still find you can't always leave a vent open and thus have to put more energy into seriously CLEANING the coop every day. Deep litter would not be at all a good thing to try in such a small coop btw.

Concrete is actually a really good base in some ways, because it is so predatorproof. You will of course need to cover it with something -- I would suggest a deep litter based on things like mulch, straw, nontoxic garden weedings, dead leaves. With the run being that small you can ensure it is pretty well protected from precipitation in wintertime -- cover 3 sides with plastic or suchlike, DO NOT wrap the whole thing your you will have big humdity->frostbite problems -- which will mean minimal "thaw stink" problems, and without soil udnerneath it you will not have to worry about mud. Then periodically you can remove all the stuff from the run, compost it a bit longer and use it on garden, replacing with fresh stuff. I'd suggest aiming for AT LEAST 4" of stuff on the concrete, and it can pile up much deeper as long as you aren't letting it get nasty.

If the comment about electric fence atop the privacy fence wasn't a joke (and since you also mention razor wire, I guess maybe it *was*

) do make sure to check your local bylaws, as in many urban/suburban places this is illegal and can land you in a lot of hot water.

Make sure your coop is very raccoon-proof!

Good luck, have fun,

Pat