New to chickening. What might I be missing?

[dennisma1]

Welcome. I saw in your post you have a another run behind shop, so I'll assume space is fine . It all looks nice. I would not keep food on the ground it gets hard to clean up spills, which attracts rats, mice etc. Or keep it on some flat pavers boards etc or make something they can't spill. When I had chicks I used a heavy glass Pyrex pan they couldn't tip over. I dont know your predator situation , but I see chicken wire on one side, may not cut it. I'd use a heavy duty hardware cloth over it.

 

[cmom]

I have chicken wire around my pens but I also have electric wires around my coops and pens to deter any predators. Once they come in contact with the hot wires they don't make another attempt. I think the adult predators teach their young that a bird isn't worth getting zapped for. I do have welded wire with chicken wire in between the pens. After a few years the chicken wires rusts and degrades. I do have hanging feeders in all of the coops. In the grow-out coops I also hang waterers but the younger birds I shut in their coops at night.

Again good luck..

 

[Patchgirl]

I'm sorry, but your coop is WAY TOO SMALL no matter how much outside run you give them. It's not 5x6, it's 4x6 -- because the nest boxes don't count.

Well, fwiw, it is 5x6 without nest boxes. I realize I cannot get anymore chicks with this setup. But with drastically improved ventilation, all of their enclosed, constant access forage space, and us staying on top of the bedding I’m hoping it’ll be just fine. Honestly, I’ve been reading so many stories I assumed one or two of my chicks would arrive dead or die at some point. Or end up being a rooster. So I padded my order shooting for 10 chickens.

You will need ventilation just as much in the winter as in the summer.

Yes. Definitely planning to enlarge the gable vents (and add 1 or even 2 roof fan vents. Thinking I’ll need to go electric and constant-on.

As for the odor, with the vegetation essentially destroyed you need litter to absorb the poop and compost with it. Wood chips, wood shavings, straw, pine straw, dry leaves, or any other form of dry, organic material. The coarse wood chips you can get by the truckload from a tree-trimming service are often considered the gold standard as run litter.

Thank you. Yes. Woodchips. Just like I do in my Back to Eden garden. Don’t know why I didn’t think about this. I guess I just assumed the chicks would dig stuff up but they’re far too little yet.

 

[dennisma1]

I wouldn't sweat the coop size until chickens get bigger. As you said if you stay on top of cleaning in coop they are fine for now , so long as they have ventilation in the summer. My hens spend 0 time in their coop in the day unless they are laying or broody. I Clean it every day of poop. If you can get some removable trays under the roosts that is a plus.

 

[aart]

I wouldn't sweat the coop size until chickens get bigger.

That happens fast...why wait?

 

[3KillerBs]

I wouldn't sweat the coop size until chickens get bigger.

That's a matter of weeks.

 

[HighlandChickens]

Hi there! This is my first time having chickens. I’d love to have feedback on my set-up. (Photos included)

12 chicks. They are 4 weeks old. Out in covered run during days/coop at night with brooder heater panel thing in case they’re cold.

Coop is only 5’x6’. But they will have tons of run space when they are big enough to defend themselves from the cats. Plus double that amount of run space behind the shop. I’d say about 2000 sq feet total. About 20’ of roost space. I just mix the poop into the pine shavings each day or so. Plan is to add more as needed until it needs changed after a few months or so.

Coop only has two 6” or 8” gable vents. Plus three windows. Is that enough if windows are open when the weather allows? Is it ok if window openings are just below roost height? Would you leave them open all winter minus storms?

Can’t tell from photos but it’s all enclosed under the coop with chicken wire. Windows have hardware cloth. I’m not worried about day predators getting into run as they’ll be out in large run area each day.

The small enclosed run space they are in now is just grass/packed dirt. It’s getting smelly. Any advice on that?

Any red flags?

Thanks so much! This forum is quickly becoming my new favorite resource.

My coop and run are nearly identical to yours, even the tarp. My run and under coop are their only places to be outside due to ordinances. I have 6 chickens in there without any problems. There is easily roost space for 6 more. I just push the snow off the tarp on the rare occasion it gets thick. I put sand under the coop and in the run, and the girls kick pine shavings out of their coop on top of the sand. This seems to allow for decomposition. I have to clean that out every couple of months due to smell. No feet problems. Pdz does nothing to help at my place. I added eight 2" holes above the roosts along the wall opposite the windows for winter ventilation. I keep at least 6" of pine shavings in the coop and churn it once a week, replacing everything every 2-3 months. All of my chickens lay in the same box even though I have 6 boxes.

I bet you will lose some chickens as you anticipated, and you will need to clean out your coop and run more often than I do. However, I think there is a good chance your setup will work out fine, especially with the 2000 sq feet,, with added vent holes, adjusting the ground.

Congratulations

 

[JWarner]

I'm sorry, but your coop is WAY TOO SMALL no matter how much outside run you give them. It's not 5x6, it's 4x6 -- because the nest boxes don't count. 4x6 is big enough for 6 chickens, not 12 and even for 6 chickens that coop (like all of those "Amish" style coops), has inadequate ventilation.

When considering space you can think of a chicken as a 15" cube -- about 12" of actual chicken and a bit of personal space.

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop,
• 10 square feet in the run,
• 1 linear foot of roost,
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

For 12 chickens you need:

• 48 square feet in the coop. 6'x8' is more practical than 4'x12' since a long, skinny coop like that would be difficult to work inside.
• 12 feet of roost.
• 120 square feet in the run.
• 3 nest boxes.
• 12 square feet of ventilation.

You will need ventilation just as much in the winter as in the summer. This is BYC's best article on chickens in cold weather: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

One thing you could do is to convert the little run into a coop so that you could divide the flock. You can see what I did to make an outdoor brooder here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

As for the odor, with the vegetation essentially destroyed you need litter to absorb the poop and compost with it. Wood chips, wood shavings, straw, pine straw, dry leaves, or any other form of dry, organic material. The coarse wood chips you can get by the truckload from a tree-trimming service are often considered the gold standard as run litter.



That's only 2 square feet per chicken, twice the density recommended. Better than commercial caged layers, which get only 1/2 square foot per bird, but far from optimal.

The tighter the chickens are kept the more sanitation and behavior problems are likely to occur.

In regards to behavior problems, I was literally thinking about how whenever they come home from a trip or the rare bad storm they may have fewer chickens than they started with and that hurts my heart.

 

[Kellow1]

Hi there! This is my first time having chickens. I’d love to have feedback on my set-up. (Photos included)

12 chicks. They are 4 weeks old. Out in covered run during days/coop at night with brooder heater panel thing in case they’re cold.

Coop is only 5’x6’. But they will have tons of run space when they are big enough to defend themselves from the cats. Plus double that amount of run space behind the shop. I’d say about 2000 sq feet total. About 20’ of roost space. I just mix the poop into the pine shavings each day or so. Plan is to add more as needed until it needs changed after a few months or so.

Coop only has two 6” or 8” gable vents. Plus three windows. Is that enough if windows are open when the weather allows? Is it ok if window openings are just below roost height? Would you leave them open all winter minus storms?

Can’t tell from photos but it’s all enclosed under the coop with chicken wire. Windows have hardware cloth. I’m not worried about day predators getting into run as they’ll be out in large run area each day.

The small enclosed run space they are in now is just grass/packed dirt. It’s getting smelly. Any advice on that?

Any red flags?

Thanks so much! This forum is quickly becoming my new favorite resource.

Plan on putting a roof over the run. I chose to use clear roofing material so my birds still can get sunlight. Use sand on the ground, just make sure to get the washed, construction-grade sand like you find at a local quarry. It is easy to clean with a litter scooper. It also drains well so you don't have standing water when it storms.

 

[3KillerBs]

I chose to use clear roofing material so my birds still can get sunlight.

Clear roofing is one of those "Climate matters" things.

It's great for people in cool climates who need to maximize sunshine. In my climate it turns the chicken housing into a chicken rotisserie.