New to BYC with a question already!

Date sort Score sort
Kdesautell

Kdesautell

Hatching
5 Years
Apr 8, 2014
9
1
7
Hi all! I'm new to BYC and I'm so eggcited to have found this forum! (ok corny I know...)

I've kept urban chickens quite a few years ago and want to get a few hens again (I'm in N. Texas btw).

I have a couple of concerns/questions and hoping someone here may have some insight. This backyard is not ideal for the girls, which I recognize...and although they'll get a lot of "pampering" I want to make sure this isn't such a bad locale that they would be unhappy or in danger. If so, I'll just give up on the idea.

As briefly as I can describe this, they would be in a backyard area gated/fenced off from the rest of the back yard. This area is about 8' wide by 41' long...BUT only about 22' of that would be suitable for the girls. This area is what I call my "mechanicals" cause it has 2 air conditioners on pads, a swimming pool heater, pump and de filter, a small compost container and a small vertical shed. THAT area is also flag stone set into dirt. There's an 8' wood fence surrounding the area...the neighbors have a huge fig tree which gives shade. The 22 x 8' area is mostly dirt. There is a 3'x3' raised potato bin and a good size snowball bush that I was going to put the coop near. There's also a 6' by 2' area of ground on the "mechanicals" side I was going to plant some things that chickens like to eat.

My FIRST concern is that the 8' wide x 22' deep is not much area for them to roam in (coop is going to take up 4'x4' (and it's a 2 story)...and while I don't mind them having range through the entire 41' long area...I've never had chickens in such close proximity to electrical lines, ac units, etc.

My 2nd concern is...rats. Several years ago I had a NASTY infestation of norwegian roof rats, drawn, I suspect, by a combination of construction in the neighborhood and my 3 compost bins. I've trapped, stopped composting, etc...and I actually haven't seen any (knock on wood) this year. I'll be putting in hardware cloth everywhere...but with chicken poop comes the allure of composting again and I don't want to ring the dinner bell for the rats.

I was looking at getting 3-4 full size hens (barred rocks and RIR probably). The coop says it will accomodate up to 6...but is that enough "free room"??

I can occasionally let them out to the rest of the yard...but only when I'm there-because of the swimming pool.

I'd really appreciate opinions from you experienced hen keepers!

Thanks in advance!!

Kathryn
 
8'x22' is a decent amount of room for 3-4 hens im my opinion, I don't think they will need the extra space by the mechanical are.
by the way, welcome
welcome-byc.gif
 
Hi, Kathryn, welcome to BYC. The area that you describe would be fine for chickens. I see no problems with the equipment. Hardware cloth enclosed compost bins would help to eliminate the rat problem. I would guess that the greatest eventual problem would be possible predation. In addition to what you have described I might suggest a hardware cloth enclosed, covered pen for the birds when you are not present or during times of depredation. Go for it!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! X3, it sounds like it would work fine, chickens usually don't bother things like the air-conditioning units (they will jump on them so you may need to make a cover or something that discourages that)... you could make up a drawing / plat of your area and post it in the Coop/Run design forum for suggestions of where to put what if you want.
We have the potential for a huge problem with rats also because of the surrounding fields, have found that the best thing is to be very careful to stay ahead of them. Always have traps/poison out, we use the snaps or electrical Rat Zappers indoors and poison in the barn and coops, switch baits/ poisons often etc. Make things as unattractive for them as you can, keep areas open and eliminate food supply etc, make sure there is something under the coop, hardware cloth or put it on concrete to keep them from digging under etc.
 
Thank you both!! Yes, the coop will have a small run for when I'm not nearby (I usually am) and of course to roost at night. I'm
picking up a LOT of hardware cloth today to 1: go UNDER their coop...stapled to the bottom of the fence perimeter and under the compost bin. I have a new steel trash can with a tight fitting lid for the feed (although I want them to have a good mix of bugs, the falling figs, etc). I'll prolly also put a hardware cloth "top" on the potato bin....cause I think they'll hope right IN there, lol!
I'm looking at a way to do a "sloping overhead cover"...but that's a LOT of cloth.

I'm hoping to get my girls this weekend, if I can get their space finished. I've got a really nice dog crate/plastic and wire all ready to put the chicks in until they are old enough to move into the coop.

Should I actually fence them OUT of the mechanical area? They wouldn't have the shade of the fig tree then. The AC units are tall (and I'll clip their wings)...only thing that I'm a little nervous of are the 2 electrical outlets. One controls the low voltage lighting..one has the pool stuff.
 
Thanks Kelsie...I've taken to pics of the run (coop's not there yet) so I'll figure out how to post those there.

I have a ton of snap trap that I keep in the perimeter. Because I'm in a subdivision I won't do poison...even in the enclosed traps they carry little crumbs off and the girls or another pet could get them. Before my beloved dog pepper died, she had found the TINIEST crumb and I nearly lost her. I have picked up a bunch of peppermint plants...have peppermint oil soaked cotton balls up high...buck urine on the OUTSIDE of the fence and burned rosemary ashes. I'm hyper-vigilant about the rats...I even keep a bb gun by the back door and have plugged a few.

After the coop is finished (it's a pre-built) I'm going to make an automatic watering device for them...and I'm looking into making something similar for their feed.

I CAN cut back to 3 girls also...would just like to have the 4th :)
 

This is the "open area" of the run. (Still waiting on upload of the back to front view). There's about 4' behind that snowball bush and I was going to back the coop up to that. The tiny run in on the right side. (That's the potato bin in the front)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom