Newbie - Need Feedback on my Coop/Run Setup Plan

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3KillerBs said:
My run is electric poultry netting from Premier 1 and I love it.
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So do you have the electric netting just fencing in an area around your coop . . . or do you also have a run and then the electric netting is extended from that run?

I realize running around inside the fence is not truly "free ranging" but it seems a lot more "free" than inside a run . . . and I agree - at least it eliminates the land preditors!

Thank you for all the "hot climate" info . . . I will most certainly study up - I am glad I have a few months to get a game plan together there and am definitely choosing my coop location with the HOT months in mind (aka shade).

I really wish we had built but I just didn't want to wait longer - of course my kids got an amazing treehouse built for them that would make a great coop (AND THEY DON'T USE IT) . . . and here I am having to buy the pre-fab coop. GRRRR. If only I could take it out of the tree or get a chicken to walk a ginormously long ramp - hahahaha.
 
ugachickenmama said:
So do you have the electric netting just fencing in an area around your coop . . . or do you also have a run and then the electric netting is extended from that run?
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I don't have a covered run, though my giant Open Air coop is equilant to a coop and a covered run combined.

My electric netting is the run, but open to the sky.

So, safe from ground predators but vulnerable to hawks. Since my birds are livestock, not pets I accept the risk of losing one from time to time. Not perfect, but nothing ever is. :)
 
ugachickenmama said:
HAHAHA - I love this label/concept . . . so you do "traditional coop" (I assume with an auto door) that opens to an electric fenced "limited range" area?
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No. I don't have a coop page for it yet because I waited for a year to see how it all worked out, but Neuchickenstein is featured in my hot climate article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

It's 16'x16' -- 256 square feet combined total area. The "coop" part of the combined design is the 3-sized shelter, the "run" part is the open area, and then I have the run made from electric netting outside to give them even more space.
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I wasn't able to put my coop in the shade but because of it's design the inside of the coop is the coolest place in the yard on a blistering hot afternoon.
 
ugachickenmama said:
So should I assume shade is best when choosing a location? Or is part shade/part sun best? Stressing me out because I know it will be close to impossible to move it once I put it there . . . ahhhhhh.
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Here is the South shade is definitely best.

Chickens readily tolerate cold down to 0F and even below if well-acclimated, dry, and out of the wind. But depending on breed and how well-acclimated they are, chickens can start experiencing significant heat stress by the time it hits 90F.

This is one of the reasons I prefer to buy birds from Ideal in Texas -- their breeding flocks are automatically selected to tolerate heat (Privett in New Mexico would have the same thing going on but I haven't bought from them).

IMO, shade, ventilation, cool water, and access to dirt to dig into are the critical things we should do for heat.
 

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