Question about Hen Run and how quickly 10 hens will take it to dirt

[Cara]

I'd suggest sectioning parts of it off, and sowing something like Proso that McMurray hatchery sell, or an assortment of seeds for poultry grazing like these

http://www.eggbid.com/listings/details/index.cfm?itemnum=1198560655

Then you could rotate where you let them forage, and you'd also have pens for different breeds or more birds

 

[Penske]

Thank you for the info!

Here's the scoop on our plans:
8-10 chickens (full size) and maybe 2 bantams.

Coop looks like it'll be 8x10 for the nest/food water area with windows. And attached section that will be about 5x10 for the roost and droppings pit. I thought I'd have a door on that just for raking and clean-out. Another door would enter from the hen run for egg collection, etc.

Roosts: in the roosting area, if we get bantams, I'll need smaller perches for the bantams. Can they be right along side the bigger perch? Has anyone done this with success?

We live on Nantucket Island and our avg winter temps are in the 20-30's, although we get WIND (20mph is normal, and 35 mph doesn't even raise concern). It feels colder though because it is a damp cold, unlike the midwest.

Vent holes: I keep reading that they are to be on the north and south. How can a vent hole be in the roosting area without causing a draft?

We are looking at chickens for eggs and pets. They'll die of old age. I have a 6 yr old daughter and a pre-school, so I need gentle birds. I am thinking about Welsummers, Cochins, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Croad Langshan, Jersey Giants, Barnvelder. The trick is...I want to get them from one hatchery. Looks like I can get some of these from there and they'll do small orders.

Any advice, suggestions that any have is welcomed! We are brand-spankin' new at this!! Have done LOADS of reading though!

Happy New Year!!
Penske

 

[patandchickens]

Another door would enter from the hen run for egg collection, etc.

You might consider making the whole inside of the coop, or at least a little egg collection door, accessible from outside the run. That way when it is wet and muddy and pooey and such in the run, you will not have to squish thru it. Yeah, I know you'll keep the run picked up and put stuff down to deal with mud and so forth, but still, there will be days you want to get into the coop, or collect eggs, before dealing with the run...

Pat​

 

[Penske]

Hi Pat,

That's good advice. My daughter wants to do the egg collecting and we have lots of outside cats. I was thinking that if she collected from an "inside the run" door then there is extra protection that 1) the chickens do not accidentally get out, and, 2) the cats aren't accidentally let in!

I think I need to go and look at some set-ups...there's only so much I can visualize from books and graph-paper drawings!

This forum is so helpful with the "reality" of it! Thanks all!

Penske

 

[patandchickens]

You can make a little egg door into the nest boxes that has wires across such that you can easily get a hand in to retrieve eggs but a standard-size chicken can't get out. Having it auto close by a spring or gravity should be plenty to keep cats out although you will want a latch as well.

I mean, you can *also* have a door from the run to the coop, all I'm suggesting is don't have it be your *only* people door.

In any case your concerns about chicken/cat excursions/excursions would still apply if she has to enter the run to collect eggs, right? I don't see how you could keep the chickens indoors enough to avoid the risk of them escaping when she enters the run same as if she's entering the coop? If anything I think escapes etc would be less likely from direct entrance to the coop since the chickens will hang out in there less, at least in decent weather.

Just a thought,

Pat

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Penske, you have a fellow-chicken farmer in MV at www.flyingskunk.com. He has a webcam. He has a HUGE run (with goats and everything), and lots of chickens, and unfortunately it looks like the ground has no grass left on it whatsoever.

Our run is pure sand. During the growing season, I dig up clumps of the tall grass that grows in our woods and throw them in the run. The girls love scratching through it.

 

[Penske]

Hi Pat,

Your point is well-taken and I think I'll heed your advice and work a door in!

Thank you!!

Penske

 

[sundance]

All the pretty green grass and weeds in our run was gone in less than 3 weeks, so i buy hay at least a bale a month in keep in the run for them to scratch in. Middle Tennessee is pure rock, so they love the hay and i don't have to worry about oyster shell or grit for hard egg shells. they get plenty of rock to keep them hard, I also keep plenty of hay in the hen house, and when i clean it out ii have good fertilized hay for my garden.Can't turn them out to free graze, to many dogs, Supposed to bedown in lower teens tonite so guess i will add some extra hay to the hen house .

Mother to 12 RIR, 1 pitt bull, 1 poodle mix. 1 yorkie.1 cat and babysitting 1 Great Dane.

 

[bantymum]

My cat doesnt touch the chooks, he protects them, even the new born chicks are safe with him, I get alot of newbies who visit my garden who ask how they survive with my cat.
Good luck with it all and have fun, im envious, i loved it when i built my first run and got my first chooks 16 years ago and I still have one of those chooks!!

 

[LoneCowboy]

You might want to think about getting a Buff Orpington and a barred rock (I guess you said rocks). They are very nice gentle birds. Jersey Giants are HUGE, and might not do well with the bantams. I don't know, but they can get to the size of a small turkey, but I hear they are gentle. Are you getting any roosters, or just hens? You really don't want a JG roo trying to mate your little girls.