So I'm new to all this....

[DarleneE]

Thank you SO much!! And no..no problem with wind or rain!! The lanai is enclosed with a two foot wall all around, then screened up from there!! It's been a pleasure!!

 

[sepaditty1]

Maybe it's kind of late in the game, but is there a reason you're not putting the coop outside? I'm only asking because it would make it so much easier for you if you didn't have to worry about the floor of the run.

 

[DarleneE]

Yes.. we live in the suburbs in a deed restricted sub-division first of all. So we don't wanna make waves. Second though our yard is huge..there really not much room for a coop with the pool, cool decking, then the huge wood deck my husband built adjacent to the cool deck, then we have tons of landscaping.. so we DO have grassy areas for them to peck and scratch.. But not large enough for a coop unfortunately.

 

[aart]

Yes.. we live in the suburbs in a deed restricted sub-division first of all. So we don't wanna make waves. Second though our yard is huge..there really not much room for a coop with the pool, cool decking, then the huge wood deck my husband built adjacent to the cool deck, then we have tons of landscaping.. so we DO have grassy areas for them to peck and scratch.. But not large enough for a coop unfortunately.

You do know there's a good chance will scratch up and/or eat a lot of your landscaping....and they will undoubtedly poop everywhere ..and they might not stay in your yard when you let them out of their cage?

 

[DarleneE]

Yes I'm aware. The fence is 6' tall and I plan to have my vet clip their wings.

 

[KayTee]

It's true that even a 6' fence won't deter a chicken whose wings aren't clipped, however, they need to be motivated to leave a fenced area. As long as they are happy with what is available within the yard, they won't even consider trying to go elsewhere. None of my 5 girls have their wings clipped. They will happily jump up 4' onto objects in the back garden, to get a better view and lord it over the other girls, but they never bother trying to fly over the 3' fence that separates them from the field next door. I also have an electrified fence (3 strands of string and wire) which is all of 18 inches high - I can step over it easily, and they never try to fly over that to the front garden.

I don't want their wings clipped, because if they are threatened by a predator that gets into the garden they will at least have a chance of flying up and getting away - with clipped wings all they can do is run and hide, and that won't do them any good at all.

However, as always it comes down to personal choice, beliefs and experience - do what works for you!

 

[sepaditty1]

I understand now about the run on the porch.

Clipping wings is very, very easy. No need to pay a vet to do it. And I'm not a wise, old, experienced chicken farmer. I watched a video in BYC, had my son hold the bird, & snipped it right down.

 

[DarleneE]

KayTee.. You are so right and I truly have mixed feelings about doing it. Once again this is my husband's idea as he's afraid they'll fly over the fence and the dog next door OR a stray animal/predator from behind us around the pond will get ahold of them. Weighing out the fact there's NO animals in our backyard and a big dog right next door.. I'm thinking clipping is the only way to go for their safety. I still worry that some cat could harm them, however I will NOT be leaving them alone in yard until they are fully fully grown. Hopefully a cat will not mess with them then at that size??!! My neighbor has chickens in his backyard running free all day and as far as I know they've been ok. But thank you SO much for your input!! As for doing it myself.. I actually DO know how I think cause I used to trim my parrots wings. I've just turned chicken myself here!! Maybe I'll watch another video and just do it. Thanks for the vote of confidence!!

 

[aart]

Oh if you've done parrot wings you can do chickens!

Neighbor having chickens is good measure of predators in the area.

 

[DarleneE]

Yeah I don't think there's too much out here in this sub-division to hurt them aside from some bully stray cat during the day! Now at night that's another story!!! There's lots of raccoons out here and could be a lot more predators. But since their coop is very secure PLUS it's inside a well enclosed lanai I think I can sleep in peace at night!!