New to chickens...would this plan work?

[lazy gardener]

Tell me please about your solar charger? Model, where you got it, approximate cost. How many linear feet of wire is it charging. Are you running wire around your coop, run, garden as a single area, or running it around each area separately and then connecting all to the charger????

 

[junebuggena]

Others have given great advice on coop size, etc. I'd like to address your predator situation.

With cougars and bears, geese won't be much protection. You need to incorporate hot wire around the coop or you will invite a bear to destroy it and clean out your entire flock. Cougars will be happy to pick off your chickens as they free-range, so be aware that you may face more than just losing an occasional bird to a predator. You can get cleaned out in a single day.

I have faced this problem myself. Early on, you may see no predators. But eventually, they will discover your "meat market", and you will likely experience significant flock loss and infrastructure damage, the latter being as devastating as flock loss. After battling bears and bobcats, I finally installed hot wire with a solar charger around all my coops, runs and gardens, and I've had no damage or loss since. It's very simple and not expensive to install.

It's foolish not to plan this system of protection from the very start of your endeavor. Your predators will be "trained" from the beginning and not get into bad habits that will be hard to break, even with hot wire. Peanut butter dabbed on hot wire at intervals sends a "message" that once learned, will discourage predators for years.

I'd also like to point out that if you have cougars and bears, you also very likely have coyotes, racoons, and foxes. Just because you don't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. Most first time owners grossly underestimate the amount of predators in their area. And geese will not offer any protection for your flock. I have a neighbor up the street that thought her african geese would be enough to deter predators. She lost 40 chickens and ducks in about 1 month. A secure coop for nighttime, and electric fencing are needed for ground dwelling predators. Lots of cover is essential for free ranging flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Putting your general location in your profile somewhere can help with some of these questions. Climate is the main thing we are after but sometimes just knowing if you are north or south of the equator can be important.

Some people can free range for years with no loss to predators even with predators pretty common, others will immediately be wiped out. If you have cougars and bears, you will have a lot of other predators even if you don’t see them. While your risk is generally greater at night, practically any of them can be out during the day too. One model a lot of people use is to let them into a predator-resistant run or even free range during the day and securely lock them into a predator-proof coop at night. For some people this works well, for others not so well. You might go years without a problem and think everything is great, then disaster hit. With living animals you just don’t know. I do like barriers to keep them away.

I suggest you build a pretty predator resistant run of decent size, somewhere you can leave your chickens locked in for days at a time if you find a predator is starting to pick off one a day. That might give you time to deal with that predator. I’m a firm believer in building in as much flexibility as you can to start with. That can reduce your stress levels considerably when something happens and not just with predators.

Since you plan to integrate a lot, space is critical. Others have mentioned why. I really like Mrs. K’s idea, start small the first year and see how you like it. Get some experience. Save money by using that playhouse though I’d go with a bigger run. Be flexible because your plans will probably change as you get experience.

I built my brooder in the coop but you may not have much free room in that 6’ x 6’. If you plans stay the same, I’d suggest you consider building a second coop with access to that same run. Whether this second coop becomes the main coop or is just used as a grow-out coop with a roost but no nests will be up to you. I find it extremely helpful when integrating to have a second facility where they can see each other but not touch. When it is not used for chicks, just having a facility where you can isolate a chicken can be really handy. The amount of flexibility it adds with a corresponding drop in your stress levels can be great.

 

[saucyaussies]

Thanks everyone! Definitely given me some things to think about and that was why I wanted to run my idea past the experts. I need to go out there and get a proper measurement of the play house...I've haven't been in there in ages and am going by memory. There's lots of space around it that I could put an addition on/put a bigger shed. I'll have to get something for the geese as well. Oh, someone asked where I lived, I'm in BC, Canada in the most moderate climate in the country. It's not super common to get below freezing at night and rare that it's below freezing in the day...that being said, we've had record breaking cold this year and I know many have been concerned about the cold with their flocks.

Definitely considering getting a few of a few different breeds rather than all of one breed and then adding more. Then could pick one hen of each and butcher the rest (ish, that of course would be decided at the time) and then re-evaluate what I'd like/need to add from there. I'm definitely not fixed into a certain plan, so if I need to change things up as I go, I absolutely will do that.

As for the predators...there's no way I'll keep the big ones out, so the geese would be for just the smaller stuff. There's a whole row of us here with goats, and neighbours on both sides have chickens, so the predators we have aren't going to change. So far, I think only ravens have been a problem for the chickens, cougar for the goats. Bear tend to stay away, we all have a lot of dogs, which tend to be a decent deterrent for bears to move along. Bears are very much a way of life here, the CO was saying they just hauled one out from under someone's house not too long ago. Because it's so mild here, they don't all hibernate so we see them often, but luckily fruit trees are more of a draw than stock (we only have black bears, no grizzlies). Luckily, compared to some places we are very lacking in predators (no badgers, coyotes, grizzlies and many others...living on an island has it's benefits.