Following the rules... We're in WA and just acquired 6 laying hens. The first mistake I made was buying what I thought was a hand made coop from urban northern...turns out its just a prefab, and quite smaller than the images in the website. I just added a 4x8 dog kennel for an extended run. So far the hens are happy and laying, but each day I try to improve their situation a bit more.
I'm still waiting on parts for an automatic waterer, but my feeder arrived and is working well. I plan on building an additional coop/nesting box area and add it to the kennel run, giving the hens 2 places to hunker down in the evening.
The second mistake I made, was placing the run on some gravel, thinking that it would help keep things cleaner etc.... but then I read about concerns with their feet... so raked and removed 90% of the gravel... Now I'm researching, sand, and considering moving the entire set up onto some asphalt area.
I'm still waiting on parts for an automatic waterer, but my feeder arrived and is working well. I plan on building an additional coop/nesting box area and add it to the kennel run, giving the hens 2 places to hunker down in the evening.
The second mistake I made, was placing the run on some gravel, thinking that it would help keep things cleaner etc.... but then I read about concerns with their feet... so raked and removed 90% of the gravel... Now I'm researching, sand, and considering moving the entire set up onto some asphalt area.
Glad you joined.
Where are you located?
