New to backyard chickens! I need help!

[Rharrison7]

Hi everyone! I found this website after posting on reddit and finding it quite rough someone recommended i posted here, so here i am!
I live in the greater Montreal area, Canada, with my husband and 2 little kids (2 and 4). We're getting 4 hens in 4 days and are currently finishing up building our coop.

I need help with the bedding and all the other details.
My coop is 20 sq feet and the run is 50 sq ft. We can't have more than 5 hens in our town and they cannot free range.

The roof of the run was going to be just the metal wire (heavy duty) but now I'm wondering if I should put a roof?

What kind of bedding would you advise for the coop? I was looking into deep bedding.

What should I put on the ground in the run? I was thinking sand but I'm afraid it'll get gross and wet if there's no roof.
Ideally I want everything as low maintenance as possible. Deep litter possibly?

For feeding, the hens will be 12 weeks old when we get them. The farmer said to give them a feed for growth. Do you agree with that?
For water, i wanted to get a bucket with chicken water nipples. Are those good?

Any other tips would be appreciated! I feel so overwhelmed and pressed with time!

thank you!

 

[GodLovesU]

Unless you want to keep out rain, wire or other netting material should be good for the run. Using wire will also let them get more sunshine, while also keeping aerial predators out. I assume you meant chickens water nipples?

 

[Rharrison7]

Unless you want to keep out rain, wire or other netting material should be good for the run. Using wire will also let them get more sunshine, while also keeping aerial predators out. I assume you meant chickens water nipples?

Yes! Haha

But for the run if there isn't a roof, will the run get all muddy and gross?

 

[GodLovesU]

Yes! Haha

But for the run if there isn't a roof, will the run get all muddy and gross?

Yes, that is one downside.

 

[I Love Feather Babies]

Hi everyone! I found this website after posting on reddit and finding it quite rough someone recommended i posted here, so here i am!
I live in the greater Montreal area, Canada, with my husband and 2 little kids (2 and 4). We're getting 4 hens in 4 days and are currently finishing up building our coop.

I need help with the bedding and all the other details.
My coop is 20 sq feet and the run is 50 sq ft. We can't have more than 5 hens in our town and they cannot free range.

The roof of the run was going to be just the metal wire (heavy duty) but now I'm wondering if I should put a roof?

What kind of bedding would you advise for the coop? I was looking into deep bedding.

What should I put on the ground in the run? I was thinking sand but I'm afraid it'll get gross and wet if there's no roof.
Ideally I want everything as low maintenance as possible. Deep litter possibly?

For feeding, the hens will be 12 weeks old when we get them. The farmer said to give them a feed for growth. Do you agree with that?
For water, i wanted to get a bucket with chicken ripples. Are those good?

Any other tips would be appreciated! I feel so overwhelmed and pressed with time! View attachment 4134971View attachment 4134972thank you!

I also would not cover the run with anything but hardware cloth. If it’s raining the chickens can get under the coop. I use large shavings in my coop. It’s easier to shovel out. I tried hay a couple of years and the hardest time shoveling it out. The water nipples work fine, but you will need to have a something else for winter where you are. The nipples will freeze unless you have a submersible water heater for the bucket. I use 3 gallon rubber water bowls and in the winter I use a heated base to put under them.

 

[Rharrison7]

Yes, that is one downside.

So then in that case, if I left it without a roof, should I do sand or deep litter? Or neither? (Lowest maintenance as possible)

 

[GodLovesU]

So then in that case, if I left it without a roof, should I do sand or deep litter? Or neither? (Lowest maintenance as possible)

I’ve never done either.

 

[I Love Feather Babies]

Yes! Haha

But for the run if there isn't a roof, will the run get all muddy and gross?

If you are leaving it where it is, I don’t think it will be too muddy because of the gravel.

 

[BlueDawnRising]

This is my first go with chickens so take this advice for what it is worth!

We just finished building our run in March. I am SO glad we added a solid roof for the reasons you described. It still gets damp, rain blows in around the edges, and there is a low spot I need to add dirt to where, if it rains several inches, water stands for a bit. Just that much rain in the run has helped me understand, without doubt, I would dislike an open topped run! I’m sure it depends on your climate but we get rain and snow here, along with hot summer days, and the shade is also really nice to have.

My run was bare dirt when we put the chickens in. I have since added the pine shaving bedding from the coop that had been accumulating since February, some bags of horse stall pellets after big rains, a bag of chopped corn cob bedding and some straw I cleaned out of our barn. It rained here this morning, not the forceful blowing kind but a decent amount, and my run is perfectly dry. Even when I had some muddy places, the chickens didn’t mind but I did! Just getting in to fill feeders and change the water was more difficult.

Good luck with your build! It is an amazing adventure!

 

[Rharrison7]

This is my first go with chickens so take this advice for what it is worth!

We just finished building our run in March. I am SO glad we added a solid roof for the reasons you described. It still gets damp, rain blows in around the edges, and there is a low spot I need to add dirt to where, if it rains several inches, water stands for a bit. Just that much rain in the run has helped me understand, without doubt, I would dislike an open topped run! I’m sure it depends on your climate but we get rain and snow here, along with hot summer days, and the shade is also really nice to have.

My run was bare dirt when we put the chickens in. I have since added the pine shaving bedding from the coop that had been accumulating since February, some bags of horse stall pellets after big rains, a bag of chopped corn cob bedding and some straw I cleaned out of our barn. It rained here this morning, not the forceful blowing kind but a decent amount, and my run is perfectly dry. Even when I had some muddy places, the chickens didn’t mind but I did! Just getting in to fill feeders and change the water was more difficult.

Good luck with your build! It is an amazing adventure!

Ohhh that's really good advice. Thanks. Now with the run, is this considered deep litter? Do you just need to keep adding more and clean it out 2x a year?