North Carolina

[michaelinnc84]

I've got a red production rooster someone can have for free if not for dinner. Got too many roosters.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am sorry you had to rehome your ducks allabout,

now you'll just have to go get more chicks...

I love roosters michaelinnc if they are gentlemen, and I have 2 hope you can find him a good home..we do put our extra roos in the freezer though.

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Ok BYC'ers...put your thinking caps on for this girlie here. My husband emailed me a tentative "blueprint" (it's 2-D so I can "follow" him along in his explanations) and he included NO windows or ventilation.

My questions for you all are:

1) How much ventilation is needed for a 10x20' coop?
2) Regarding windows: which direction should windows face? (North, South, East, West - my husband told me to specify this, because apparently direction isn't specific enough

) [Yep...I'm getting frustrated with him already...good thing he's on the other side of the country at the moment.

3) How many windows would be beneficial, size?
4) How large should ventilation "spots" be?
5) How much footage is needed for a nest box (assuming we have LARGE birds)?
6) ML suggested salvage stores (what are those and are there any close to Clayton area??

)

--Scratch this one...I actually found a Habitat for Humanity Resale store in both Raleigh and Clayton (both which are in my "area")

Thanks for the suggestion there!!

to you ALL!!
7) On my way home tonight, I saw 2 things that I know are going to be a HUGE problem...there was a fox hanging out on our path (we don't live off a road, but a dirt path) and it was "playing" tag with a skunk!!

Suggestions on keeping them out of our hen house?!?

This is what he drew up (and I was completely lost). Have fun with it.

the sides have spaces left out for nesting boxes
the little boxes on the bottom front are the pop doors
If you notice a double line on the left side of the front - that's an extra wall so we can separate/quarantine birds.
Also on the front you see a small box towards the top - that's above a "door" which is 2'x6' (There are also 2 in the back for the "human" to go in and clean...the front opens up into the run, should I need to go in there for some reason.)
The run is not shown but will be 200 sq ft.


Suggestions? Can you make things out? He drew it up on paper but didn't have access to a scanner, so "drew" it up in paint.

 

[DaddysChickens]

Quote:
To start with, I hope both of ya'll are some skinny humans...I would at least make one of the doors a 3-4' door...This will allow easier work conditions when you ahve to get in there and start mucking the thing out...It looks like you laid the studs out on 2' centers, so i understand a 2' door it just doesn't seem practicalto get in there and work and if they are on 24" centers then you are really only going to have 22.5" for a door...Put a header in and make a bigger door jmho....

Being in the area you are, you are going to need a lot of ventilation due to it getting pretty darn hot in the summer...I would put some form of ventilation (it doesn't have to be a window, it could just be a flap that opens and you will get some ventilation with the roof depending on how it's framed) on all 4 walls to take advantage of any breeze....I like the Isolation wall...Will teh run have an isolation area as well?

 

[BHep]

NH....

I'm as lost as you. This is what "I" would do. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and look at there sheds. They should have vents up at the roof area. They are sqaure or triangle looking. I would plan something that looks like that. I agree with Daddys.... you need to make the door wider,,,,, big enough to get a wheel barrow in, that is MY opinion. I pull my wheel barrow right in for cleaning.

The fox WILL be a problem, so will the Skunk. BOTH will kill and eat chickens.!!!!!!! Now you need to use hardware cloth for you run and to cover any window or vents and you need to bury some under the run, they will dig right under. So will racoons. All three will go right through chicken wire.

I know you have been haunting the coop page, have you got your DH on there to look with you. If you have not seen or posted regarding the predator and how to protect from them do so. You should get tons of ideas. I had fox & racoon digging under my coops in FL, I buried chicken wire...they went right through it. I buried a cattle fencing, that worked for me. (I had a small roll leftover )

Sorry to add to your confusion............. I just stress... Do it right the first time, spend a little extra. It will cost you in the long run in repairs, loss of birds and heartbreak.

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

NH
Hardware cloth for a 200 sq. ft run would be very expensive. I use 10' X 6' dog kennel panels made out of chainlink.
They work great. I find them on craigslist sometimes for $100 for a four panel kennel ( one panel with entry gate).
I run 2 foot chick wire around the bottom of any runs that will have smaller chicks in them. This keeps the chicks from going thru the chainlink.
As far as foxes, skunks, raccoons, opossums and coyote, we get pictures of them on our security/ cameras at night.
I know we have lots of predators here. (By the way deer cameras make very good security cameras. Hunters use these to monitor deer movement on hunting leases.)
I use an electric fence charger and run electric fence wire a few inches above the ground outside the run. I know it has kept dogs and
skunks out out of mine. You can get the holders for the wire that are made to attach to chainlink fencing. You can also run the electric wire around the top but I have never had the need to do that.

I agree about the door size for the coop. 3 foot minumum. When you start to clean the coop, it really is a lot easier.

Enjoy your chicken adventure

Mary

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Daddy & Beth- thank you so much for the suggestions (and Daddy - thank you for understanding his "easy to follow" drawing for his conceptually illiterate wife!! Beth - thank you for letting me know i wasn't the only one lost!!

). I actually copied both of your comments and emailed them to him. (Why not, he's awake in Cali right now, work doesn't start until 8am...that's a good solid 4 hours of reading he can do.

). I also sent him the links for the run, maintenance & design forum, the predator & pests forum and even (to delight his little engineering heart) the coop design page!! I am hoping

he will get as addicted as I am to these forums/posts/information centers!!

One of the things I asked him was how his 9month (not there YET, not pregnant yet...but...you never know) pregnant wife was going to be able to squeeze herself through a 2' wide door....his response, "Couldn't you go in sideways"...

"Did you SEE me about ready to pop the last time?" - That was all I said....assuming he could hear it through all the grumbles

. Thanks Beth for the wheelbarrow idea...now I don't have to try and explain being ready to pop and cleaning chicken poop is bad enough - let alone trying to finagle my way into an incredibly small area!!

Daddy - regarding the isolation wall - he has plans to have a completely separate area (isolation) in the run as well. I convinced him to do a little redesign last night as I mentioned that we really should keep the rooster apart from the girls but don't want him in the isolation area if we are going to use that to introduce new ones as they come along (I did talk to him about chicken math and the chicken disease that Beth obviously is trying to spread to all of us!!

) Now he is going to make a rooster/broody area (once I check with you all to see if that's an acceptable idea) where the rooster and the hen we allow to hatch a few will be (LONG LONG LONG time down the road....but a great classroom project for my homeschoolers) as well as an isolation area. I think he has decided to reuse the lumber from the original coop and build a separate but attachable and smaller coop strictly for isolation and then use the "isolation" area in the design for the mamma to hatch her clutch (I think that's the right term) and for the rooster to hang out (can a roo hang out with a hen he's already "fertilized"?? What about the chicks, will he hurt them??)

That's where we stand this morning. I plan to drive out to the Clayton Habitat for Humanity Resale shop today to do a little "window" shopping and get some ideas of what they have. Keeping my fingers crossed that we can get this one built for a reasonable price...I'd rather spend the money on the hardware cloth and keep the lumber aspect cheaper. What about bird netting, I have seen some posts talk about placing a netting over the top of their run, is that something viable or should we do hardware cloth on the top as well? Beth - any suggestions for free ranging while there's a fox/skunk in the area - or would you advise against it? Would a fox/skunk be so bold as to attack while I am out with the girls? Should I invest in a gun? I don't know if I could actually shoot something (perhaps my husband could but that's another story) but the noise might scare them away?

when will the questions end??

Mary - I just saw your post as I posted this. Thank you as well for the ideas & suggestions. They too will be forward along to my husband!! We don't mind spending the money on hardware cloth if we can save on lumber. We're thinking for the size of the coop and run we'll easily spend a thousand dollars (before the cloth/chain/etc...). I'd rather go the extra mile and know our little ones are safe but hadn't thought of the electrical wire...haha, knowing my luck, I'd shock myself!!

Thank you again for the suggestions, can't wait to see how this impacts my husband's ideas!!

You all have been such a wonderful help.

I'd hug you all in person if I could but since I can't...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hey new, since he asked you if you could possibly go through the 2'door sideways ask him how he will feel when he has to call 911 and say his 9mo. pregnant wife is stuck sideways in the chicken coop door because He didn't see the need in making it larger?

let him use his imagination on that one..

you have some great plans and some great suggestions, and habitat is a good place to start, ventilation is big priority... we are adding another window to the south side of our coop this spring because I had to run fans in there last year it was so hot. much better to do it when building than after..

can't wait to see progress pictures !!

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Quote:

I LOVE that idea ML!! Especially since we are literally in the middle of NOWHERE!! I told him the minute I started having labor pains, we should make our way to the hospital (it's an hour away)...unless he wanted to deliver it himself.

if you could have seen his face

Thank you so much for the encouragement!! Once he returns from his business trip we will finish demolition of the old coop, salvage what we can (like some wire and 2x4's) and start the building process.

Hey, we have a concrete pad we were planning on building the coop atop of. Will we still need to dig and place wire around the exterior of that to prevent critters from coming in? Just thought of that.

sorry everyone for so many questions.
~Ruthann

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

NewHomesteader, bird netting over the top is great for discouraging hawk attacks. That is all it works for.

If you do not own a gun, I highly suggest you get one you can use and PRACTICE with it. Better to have the gun and not need it. As a poster in my favorite gun shop says, "When seconds count, the police are only MINUTES away!" Animal Control can take even longer to show up. We live where rabies is a fact of life. Rabies is not to be played with. If you think some critter is rabid, shoot it!

Keeing a rooster with the hens is not a bad thing. Chickens are social animals. Hens need a rooster to be The Boss or you will end up with one hen stepping into the rooster role. I have been attacked by a boss hen. Thank goodness I had on jeans! She bruised my thigh where she pecked me. Having a seperate run and house for isolation of a "bad" boy or girl for a few days is always a good idea. I seperated my three roosters from my six hens for awhile. Then I started letting one boy with the girls at a time. I figured out who was pulling all the feathers during mating and culled him. (Of course he was a sweet rooster that my children adored, but that's what therapy is for, lol.)

A broody hen could well kick rooster butt!** The broody would probably spend most of her time in the nest box, so she may tolerate a rooster being near.

**Don't mess with the Mama! The most dangerous bear in the woods is a mama with cubs. Even a full grown male will turn tail and run!

Edited because it is hard to type on this stupid phone.