New to chickens - what do you think?

[Debo's Chickens]

Quote:
Just so you know, there is an incredibly large number of sad posts on this site from people who were CERTAIN that their dog would be fine with their chickens, and indeed he WAS for some months or years, and then one day, not so much

Dogs are predators, chickens are prey; it only takes one atavistic brain-cell firing at the wrong moment to end up with a pile of feathers and a dog that's now learned that chickens are tasty.

Just a thought,

Pat

I will certainly keep it in mind.

I'm still mulling over how exactly I'm going to go about this.

Initially, I thought I wouldn't do a run right away, & I would just let them free-range the back yard. If I have problems, then I'll do something.

But now I'm starting to think it might be better to start w/ a protected run, & then if later on down the line I feel like I can let them free-range, then do it.

So many things to think about, but I'm so anxious to get started!!!

 

[hooligan]

I converted a metal storage shed to my coop. It was here when we moved in but you can buy one like it at Lowe's or Homet Depot for $200-300 and that would give your chickens MORE than enough room. You might even be able to find some on Craigslist or in the paper much cheaper.
I have 6 dogs and really only have to watch my chickens around 2 of them...and I have 3 house chickens too. Our cats are weirded out by the chickens and don't mess with them, not even the stray cats bother them.

I am sure you will love it here and I second the book mentioned earlier, I live in a city and some of the things in the book were really helpful.

 

[Featherland]

If you think you might want 5 chickens I advise you to get them now all together so they will get along. Keep in mind sometimes you can lose one. I built a small coop with a small pen originally for 4 hens. The next year I wanted more so we had to build a much bigger coop. It was difficult to add more chickens to the existing flock. It is always a good idea to have a pen. We have a covered one to protect them from hawks. We also have a privacy fence and mine free range often but sometimes they need the protection of being in a run. If you go out of town for a couple days you can leave them enough food and water in a coop with access to a run and they should be fine. Have fun! Chickens are addicting!

 

[Debo's Chickens]

Would a 4'x4' coop be big enough for 5 chickens?

I really think I will just stick w/ 3, if it's not advisable to add more into a flock later on . . . but just so I can consider all of the options . . . I can consider getting 5 right away. 5 is the definate limit though, as per city code.

 

[orionburn]

I'd go bigger for 5 chickens. The recommendation is 4 square feet per bid so you'd technically have one bird too many. Keep in mind though that if you get a lot of rain being in WA you may want extra room so they have plenty of room to move around when the weather isn't good.

You can add more chickens later but you just need to take a few precautions. The best thing to do would be to let them see eachother for a few days before actually putting them in together. That should help them get used to one another. Keep in mind there will probably still be a little fighting until the new kids learn their place in the flock.

As far as your dog I think he'd be ok but keep a close eye on him. I wouldn't let him run free while the chickens are out until he gets used to them. Our rat terrier was more curious than anything when we first began letting our hens out to free range. She tried to go up and sniff our orpington's butt but Rosey quickly put our dog in it's place...lol. We have a beagle pup that is only 8 weeks old and we're hoping that she'll get used to them early on and not cause any problems. Even the cat is ok with the chickens. She'll go out and sit and watch them, but she doesn't mess with them. Again, she learned that chickens do know how to fight and protect themselves the hard way.

 

[2boxers]

Debo is a handsome fella! I do love the brindle.

I was going to start off with a small flock. Luckily my true love knows me well enough to build a coop big enough for about 30 birds

Bigger is better. I love Pat's description of the hens "disassembling" each other! That's a dainty way to put it!

Anyway, about your dog. I would not leave him unsupervised with them for a while. If they mingle, then I would have him on a lead so that he can be easily controlled in the event of a problem. From the picture, though, he looks like a big old sweetie pie!

Welcome to the wonderful world of poultry. Think of your coop as a Borg Cube. Prepare to be assimilated.

 

[Appytaz]

I was very surprised that the cats do not mess with the chickens! One day Baxter was napping under the tree wrapped around one of our roosters! They were just all snuggled up catching a mid-afternoon snooze. This rooster was hatched at the house and grew up with the cats. Maybe that made a difference.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

With an untested, active dog and cats that you know are particularly predatory, I would definitely plan for at least a small run. If your dog will ever be in the yard unsupervised, I'd make it a dog-proofed run. Something with sturdy wire and some type of digging preventer. You may end up not having any problem, but it's a lot easier to plan for it, than it is to try to put something together in a hurry, later.

It also comes in handy to have a run when you get visitors with dogs or small children or workmen or you need to have a gate open for some reason. It's nice to put away the chickens if you have people over for a BBQ, unless they don't mind chickens trying to steal their food or stepping around poo when the chickens are underfoot.

Since you live where there is a lot of rain, if you go with a smaller square footage per chicken in your coop, then I would also consider covering part of the run, so that they have a place to hang out in the run on rainy days. This will give them more living space on those days.

 

[Eagleman]

We put up a dog run, about 13X6 feet not necessarily to keep our chickens in but to keep our dog out. While I would like to say I trust her with the chickens, you just never know...We built a small coop for them (see below) for roosting and escaping weather, etc.

My favorite books are:
Living with Chickens by Jay Rossier
Keeping Chickens by Jeremy Hobson and Celia Lewis
Your Chickens: a Kid's Guide to Raising and Showing by Gail Damerow (a kids book so it has lots of good basic info). Damerow also has a good book on Chicken Health that I have referred to a few times.

Have fun!!

here is the coop, with our five chickens, as chicks, hanging out in the shade underneath before they moved into the run. The coop design is really simple and now it has a ladder for them and a door that can close if need be.

 

[Debo's Chickens]

The chickens are here!!! Yay!

But I have an issue already. Boo!

I got a Rhode Island Red, a Black Australorp & a Silver Laced Wyandotte. The Wyandotte has a weird beak; I think it's a deformity. Should I call the guy up & have him swap it for another?

Also, here is the coop

I have a lot of questions here. Will I be able to do deep litter on the bottom? I'm thinking no, because it will just keep getting taller & taller & eventually fill up the bottom portion. Right or wrong?

Also, we have racoons in the area & I'm worried that they could easily get the latches open (I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but they're just those little slide levers). Should I get padlocks or something to keep the latches closed?

I wanted to hang the waterer & feeder, but I'm thinking it will just be easier to place them on blocks to raise them up a little. Any problem there?

Any other suggestions, ideas or questions are most welcome!

Here are all 3 girls. I think I'm going to call them Rhodie, Wynnie & Aussie. I know, I'm not very imaginative