New member

[petrel]

Thanks for sharing your coop photos. Welcome to BYC!

 

[drumstick diva]

Generally speaking the coop should allow for 4 sg.feet per bird, and the outdoor run 10 sg.feet per bird. This isn't written in stone - since you plan to free range in your yard. If the predator situation turned bad or your weather was severe,- you might need to keep your flock in a totally enclosed run. That is something to consider if you must go to plan B.

 

[ltew]

Thanks again! This is where I will be free ranging. A lot of work ahead of me. IM worried about venting now! Hahaha. I'll be reading the forums and maybe getting a few books to read. Hopefully next post will be the finished product. Thanks again.

 

[spitfirecream15]

Beautiful yard. Nice for the chickens. Is the fence in the background the chicken run or is the whole yard going to be fenced for them??

 

[ltew]

The whole yard is fenced in. The wooded fence was my garden and there's a 6 foot chain link behind that. I might let the chicken in the garden and let them destroy that or turn the garden into a pumpkin patch. I'm not sure I'll have enough time for gardening and raising chickens. Hahaha. Too many options.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. How many chickens do you plan on getting? The recommended minimum coop area for chickens is 4 sq. ft. of floor space per bird (mroe is better), which means that with your 4' X 8" coop, you could get up to 8 chickens. Make sure that you get no more than 1 rooster with that number of chickens as too many roosters will be very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. As far as predators goes, there is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on predator proofing your chickens. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting your flock and protecting them from predators.

 

[ltew]

Thanks again. appreciate all the help and info.

 

[Book Em Danno25]

 

[sunflour]

Welcome, I am so glad you decided to join us.

In my area raccoons and fox come around at varying times of the day…not just dawn and dusk. If you plan to allow your flock to free range, be aware that you will have loses, unless you plan only supervised ranging.

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks again. appreciate all the help and info.

You're welcome.