Newbie questions

[yyz0yyz0]

Hello all,
I'm about 1.5yr away from getting chickens and am trying to plan out all the details long before the chicks arrive.

We would like to still be able to take short overnight trips after we get the girls so I'm reading up on auto waterer systems and auto feeders.

I understand I need to make the coop/run predator proof but I have a few questions.

What is best for the floor of the run? dirt with HW cloth buried deeply around the edges, HW cloth floor secured to the walls, concrete floor? What are the pro's and cons for each type? The dirt floor seems the best for the girls but I also want them to be safe as well.

If we are really going to be gone for a day or two then the girls will need unattended access between the run and the Coop. What type of doorway will let them come and go as they wish without drafts? I'd like to avoid the cost of the Auto door, will they be able to figure out a door of flaps like you see on Loading docks?


Bottom line: Are we dreaming about being able to leave them on their own for a couple days at a time? Of course if we can find someone to help watch them we will but I'd like to design everything with absences in mind so I don't have to retro fit everything after we have the girls and start losing them.

thanks

 

[Judy]

Probably the easiest is a hardware cloth "apron" fastened to the bottom of the run sides and laid on the ground, outward. You can secure it and let the grass grow up over it, which will hold it as well.

Be sure the run (and coop) are a little above ground level so they will drain well.

If I were planning this far ahead, I would have put two runs in and alternated, so I could let grass grow in one while they occupied the other. Many people I think end up letting the chickens reduce the run to dirt, then often put sand down. I have a larger yard, but it's not predator proof, just fenced. The dogs do well at keeping critters away.

I'm sure you could train them to go through a flap door of some sort, but if the shape and size are sufficient, there won't necessarily be a draft on the roost.

You wouldn't be alone in leaving them alone for a couple of days. It's always taking a chance, a waterer can get clogged or spring a leak, etc., but with a little planning..... It's nice to be able to ask someone to check on them when they don't need to DO anything but maybe collect eggs -- if that.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Quote:
So it's really the roost area that needs to be draft free and not the whole coop? That would make things easier.