New member, long time lurker! Finally buildimg a coop

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community!
Best Wishes & Be Well!

 

[Jonoton]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community!
Best Wishes & Be Well!

 

[Jonoton]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens - you sure are starting your build off right. Can't wait to see the finished product. What breeds are you planning to have?

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
What gauge is the cloth? The 23 gauge cloth is easily torn through. If you haven't cut it yet, you might want to consider upping to 19 gauge 1/2" cloth.

Bummer! I already have it, and it is 23g stuff. Do you think I can make it work if I run a 12" board along the bottom, coupled with the heavy gage goat wire? I'm not worried about any predators passing completely through the goat wire, and think that raccoons reaching through to grab chickens are the biggest threat, and things biting off curious chicken heads that were to poke through. So I was hoping to have the hardware cloth prevent those two scenarios.


Thank you all for the welcome! My dad grew up on a farm in a community where raising and slaughtering chickens to feed the family was just what you did. Mom is not so impressed with the idea, but she will come around. My wife and I are excited to introduce our 2 year old to raising chickens and finding eggs- she already asks to go water our garden every morning.


We are outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
Breed recommendations:
We plan to start out with prioritizing eggs, and need something that is heat tolerant. Any suggestions?

 

[DobieLover]

Bummer! I already have it, and it is 23g stuff. Do you think I can make it work if I run a 12" board along the bottom, coupled with the heavy gage goat wire? I'm not worried about any predators passing completely through the goat wire, and think that raccoons reaching through to grab chickens are the biggest threat, and things biting off curious chicken heads that were to poke through. So I was hoping to have the hardware cloth prevent those two scenarios.


Thank you all for the welcome! My dad grew up on a farm in a community where raising and slaughtering chickens to feed the family was just what you did. Mom is not so impressed with the idea, but she will come around. My wife and I are excited to introduce our 2 year old to raising chickens and finding eggs- she already asks to go water our garden every morning.


We are outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
Breed recommendations:
We plan to start out with prioritizing eggs, and need something that is heat tolerant. Any suggestions?

If you have no other choice, you can sandwich the wire between well adhered wood boards at all edges. I would attach the top board with a screw every 8 to 12 inches along the length.
White Leghorns and Plymouth Barred Rocks with be good choices for heat tolerant birds. You will still need to provide deep shade, shallow cold water baths, fans and maybe misters when it get really hot. Offering electrolytes in the water every three days during heat waves helps too. Have lots of fresh clean plain water available at all times.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[chrissynemetz]

Hi and welcome to BYC! It's nice to meet you! If your wanting lots of eggs from a breed that does well in the heat, Leghorns are a pretty good choice. But there are many more who would work just as well.