Newbie.... Kinda overwhelmed

[BrattishTaz]

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How could you torture your boys!!! Chickens are family oriented. A great ratio of roosters for hens is about one rooster to five or six hens. Quick like a bunny go out and get your guys some companions before they kill each other!!!!

Trust me, they were supposed to be pullets! I got them at the feed store before I knew "straight run" there meant all roos.

The guy even sexed the ones I picked out and told me I had girls. My boys are not killing each other and the neighbors let them spend quality time with their hens so they are not too lonely.

We have had a hawk problem lately so I have ordered guineas and am in the process of building new housing for their safety. We should have some girlies running around in the near future.

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
Best? Hmmmmm. How about I talk about my situation instead? You can take it from there.

My area is semi-rural. Of the various chicken owners around me, I am the only one with an enclosed pen. The top is just poultry net and the sides are just welded wire fence. The coop on the other hand has a shingled roof, plywood lower half, and welded wire top half . For winter I have 6 mil plastic covering most of the coop sides (some top space away from roost for ventilation). Over the summer the birds spent most of their time in the 1/3 acre chicken run with lots of shade.

When it was hot my birds did a lot of panting. I made sure they had plenty of water. I hung some shade cloth to give them additional protection and will do so again when it warms up. I also put up a tarp for rain protection

So, my take is that they do not need a fully covered run, though it might be a lot more comfortable for you. Where I live, metal roof is the most common for outbuildings. I only used shingles because I had them available.

It will be interesting come summer as they have decided to ignore the run and free range every opportunity they get.

 

[TheWaddler]

I live in Austin so we get the same kind of heat that you do sans that wicked humidity. Normally I would be all about telling you to cover it because shade=awesome in Texas but I would play it by ear with your chickens. If your current run can support it throw a piece of plywood/tin up there and see exactly where your chickens hang out. I have a small coop/covered run because my chickens get half of my little crappy duplex yard as their own. The coop/run is sufficient for foul weather or a weekend out of town in size so I covered it thinking the same, shade the ladies.

After watching them through the first summer I saw they hung out under the coop in the heat of the day, it seems it would have terrible ventilation down there. It has a 6 ft fence to the back, a compost pile up against the end door for easy disposal of poop (sweeps straight in no buckets/wheelbarrows) and a bail of hay under the nest boxes so it seems it can only get wind from 1 direction but they love it under there. Could have saved myself the time and effort of designing the roof over that end if I would have known that. Might save you the money and your husband's time and ire

 

[gsim]

A covered run in your area would be a great thing. I would also consider at least one fan for the interior of the coop. Heat kills chooks 100:1 over cold. I would also install a turbine vent. I am in Tennessee and have shade on my coop for 1/3 of the day and I installed a turbine vent. I am also installing a ceiling fan under that vent to move even more air thru it when it is really hot weather. I also set a box fan at one end of the coop in summertime and sometimes let it run at night. It sits in front of a window that is open all summer long.

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gerry