- Mar 19, 2012
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Hi, my name is Jennifer and we are looking into getting some hens mostly for the eggs but also for pets. We live in southeast Texas and have a very tiny backyard. Most of our yard is taken up by a huge pool. We have a side yard that is fenced and thats where we would make our chicken coop/run. My husband and I have been researching on your site. My concern is the neighbors cats killing our chickens. I've really enjoyed looking at all the coops on this site. We are getting some really great ideas on how we're going to build our coop/run. I'm assuming if we put a top on the run and bury wire or several inches down this will help with predators getting our chickens. Do most people let their chickens roam around all day in the run and then coop them at night. That's what we would have to do. Can someone tell me how big of a coop we would need for approx. 6 to 7 hens. Also, we are a family of 7, we do not eat a huge amount of eggs but we do eat them from time to time. I also use them for baking. How many eggs would I likely get from 7 hens?? I really do not know anything about chickens as far as what type to get. We know that we want them for eggs. I also would like them to be pets if thats possible. My kids would love that. Is it possible to have hens for egg laying and them be nice enough for pets? I was raised around chickens as a child because my grandparents had a large amount of hens and roosters. They were not the friendliest birds. So I would like some friendly ones. Any tips would be appreciated. Also, I read something about them getting mites/lice. Is this common? If so, do you just bath them with a certain type of shampoo? I hope I don't sound too dumb about all this. Thanks.
Jennifer
Jennifer