GoldmanAcres
In the Brooder
Hello. I am new to BYC. New to Florida (six weeks ago we moved from Michigan to Dixie County). Both sets of my grandparent's were farmers, so I have always had a love of chickens and even a rooster or two held my attention growing up. Our coop was delivered right after the hurricane swept through. Our mini chicken coop guards were brought home on Monday. They are a male and female basset/redbone coon hound/blue heeler mixes. My female is very bassett looking and half the size of her heeler looking brother. I caught her on point two days ago. Her little left side hind leg was up, tail straight up and not moving at bit. She had a lizard on point! Her brother is very much leary of birds. We live on ten acres in a VERY rural area. Hawks, owls, vultures and turkeys are seen on this property almost daily. I keep a very close watch on these two little ones. Our coop is being revamped by the man of the farm. I bought a used coop with good bones so to speak. The previous owner of the coop kept chickens to keep the wife happy. This wife is interested in keeping the hens happy. New nesting boxes with outside egg access for me have been built and will be installed by the middle of next week. The run is enclosed long and wide. I simply cant free range in any form here other than the heavy duty wire top and sides of this run. Thanks to the wonderful people in Trenton where we bought the fencing for taking the time to show me their coop and run. The ideas have been beyond helpful. I plan to put my hens and roo in the coop at night and let them out in their enclosed yard during the day. I tried to do my research about this coop before we invested in one. This week we have dug 18 inches down and buried the bottom of the coop that far down. I don't want anything digging to get in to my feathered family. We are going to add boards around the three outside walls of the coop and add another layer of one inch chicken wire embedded to the same 18 inches as the walls over the boards. Sorry for being long winded. I am super excited to find this site and make our coop a happy home for a group of hens.
. Happy you joined us. Sounds like you've taken some efficient predator precautions. Best of luck to you and your flock!
