Noob from Nerdwood

[Aimiel]

Hello everyone!

I'm from Norwood, Ohio, where our city of about 20,000 recently adopted a law allowing up to seven hens. We'll be researching chicken-keeping and coop designs until the weather lets up a bit and then taking the plunge. Neither my wife or myself have any farming experience, but we do have about an acre of uncut forest in our back yard, and I'm slowly taking out all the honeysuckle which is exotic and invasive. Anyone with any coop design recommendations is welcome to post a link or photo or PM me with plans. We'll also take all the advice we can get so if there's websites / threads you recommend for newbies, please feel free.

I lied, I did raise JohnnyRooster, when I was young. I noticed him in a neighbor's backyard, and thought he was a baby bluebird that fell out of his nest. It was just after Easter and the little guy was about three inches tall, and didn't look very comfortable trying to hop around in the snow. My neighbor didn't know a thing about him, so I gathered him up and took him home. It was a Rhode Island Red rooster who had been colored blue to be sold as an Easter chick. I guess that when the owner didn't know what to do with him, he was released or maybe he just escaped or perhaps was let outside and then simply forgotten; anyway, I raised him, feeding him bread crumbled in a bowl of warm milk. Later when he got too big and could escape from his cardboard box home we transferred him to the back yard. Once he got to where he started crowing all the time, we decided to send him to my uncle's farm where he could live a long life (so we thought) and be comfortable. The next time we went to see him, he was missing. They said, "Well, he just wouldn't stop pecking people's shoelaces, so we had him for dinner." I don't know where he got that habit from, because he was fine at our house. Maybe it was his way of protesting the large number of chickens in the pen. They had about fifty or so, and in my opinion the pen and coop were too small to support that many birds. Needless to say, I thought a LOT less of my relatives after they slaughtered and ate my PET!!!

Thanks for having us and we're looking forward to a fun time being city-dwelling chicken-farmers.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

from Mississippi, glad you joined us!

 

[ghillie]

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[annie3001]

welcome from ct.!!

 

[terrilhb]

from Ga

 

[S&N Livestock]

from Ohio

 

[BWchicken]

I can't believe they ate him just for pecking shoelaces! How sad. Well this time around, they'll be YOUR chickens and you won't have to worry about that.

I think the main thing is to make your coop big enough, have good ventilation, and most of all, predator proof. And for the run, you'll want to cover the top with something to keep sky predators out (like hawks and owls). We have ours covered with chicken wire, I see hawks circling sometimes and am so glad my chickens are safe from them. A lot of people use deer netting and the like too. But they'll still need to be closed up in a predator proof coop every night so the ground predators can't get to them.

Check out the Coop And Run Design forum, you'll get great ideas there, lots of pictures and how-to advice. This is a great community with a wealth of information and helpful people. Good luck!

 

[jimmy72]

Hey everyone

 

[Aimiel]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

Quote:
Well, it would probably have been OK, because they tolerated him, until it got hot, and they went out barefoot. Chicken beaks hurt, if they peck your bare feet!

I think the main thing is to make your coop big enough, have good ventilation, and most of all, predator proof. And for the run, you'll want to cover the top with something to keep sky predators out (like hawks and owls). We have ours covered with chicken wire, I see hawks circling sometimes and am so glad my chickens are safe from them. A lot of people use deer netting and the like too. But they'll still need to be closed up in a predator proof coop every night so the ground predators can't get to them.

I was planning on that, because we actually have a Red Tail Hawk pair who nests in our back yard every year. I've watched them hunt, and will make the cover for the run visible from a great enough height that they won't injure themselves diving on the chickens and running into a (practically) invisible poultry wire covering. We love our hawk family, and have far fewer mice, rats and snakes thanks to their great hunting abilities. When you're out working in the yard and one of the hawks happens to swoop by, it's an impressive view. I actually got to hold a fledgling one time. He fell out of the nest before he could fly and found safety by perching on our deck. I watched him (now and then) for over three hours, and he never made a sound or tried to fly. I called our friend, who has a business which takes care of injured or bothersome birds (he has an amazing collection of big birds who've gotten injured beyond their ability to take care of themselves in the wild and shows them at local county parks) who said to just pick it up and put it back in the canopy. I did. The fledgling had no fear of humans, and just sat on my gloved hand. HUGE talons!!! The very impressive bird was about two feet tall and much heavier than I expected. I found a tree that had branches all the way up to the canopy and yet low enough I could reach, put him on a branch and watched him slowly climb his way back into the nest.

Check out the Coop And Run Design forum, you'll get great ideas there, lots of pictures and how-to advice. This is a great community with a wealth of information and helpful people. Good luck!

Thanks. I've peeked in, and will probably draw my plans 20 or 30 times before I finally build a coop and run. I love to draw, and always make full blueprints of anything I'm going to build. Things turn out so much better when you plan ahead.