SoCal Newbie - Small Chicken Flock

[duhrel]

Hi everyone! I'm planning for a small flock of 3-4 chickens in southern California (USDA grow zone 10b). I'm designing a 3.5' × 4.5' × 5.5' coop with an attached 15' × 4.5' × 5.5' run.

The coop will be under 16 sf and incorporate ~10" of space for the deep litter method (DLM) on dirt. About 8" above the DLM I plan for two side-mounted nest boxes and a couple of roosting bars ~8" above the nest boxes.

I attached a picture with my concept drawing and would appreciate any feedback or ideas.

I've read a lot of debate over the DLM and figured if it doesn't work or causes more problems, I'll have a relatively large access door (2' × 5') to conduct more frequent cleanings.

I'm also wondering if I should make the run so high at 5.5'. I've thought of dropping the height to 3' or maybe even splitting it into a two-story run (has this ever been done?). What do you all think?

At any rate, I look forward to sharing my small flock adventure with everyone.

Sincerely,
Duhrel

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Judging from the size of coop you are building, you could accommodate 3 or 4 hens. Since you live in So Cal., your weather is not so bad that they will be hunkering down for months on end in the coop due to winter weather. Your run sounds big enough. You can also post this in our Coop and Run Construction forums for more input as well... https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance

Have you stopped by our learning center yet? Lots of great articles on all the aspects of keeping poultry... https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Good luck with your coop and run build! Make yourself at home here and if you have any questions or issues, feel free to post around the forums.

Great to have you aboard and welcome to our flock!

 

[duhrel]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've been lurking on and off for a couple of years, but now with two young kids I decided now was a good a time as ever to get started with chicken keeping.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join us here! Sounds like you have some great plans and TwoCrows has left you some great links to check out. We have a coop contest running right now that you could enter into ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-and-run-page-contest-winter-spring-2016/0_30
How to create a coop page and enter the contest is in the first post of the thread. You may need a few more posts to create a coop page but I'm sure you will good to go very soon.

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC

 

[drumstick diva]

Nice to meet you Duhrel, thank you for joining us at Backyard Chickens.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Duhrel and welcome to our community - I hope that you enjoy being a member as much as the rest of us.

Best wishes
CT

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

You coop plans sound good, but I'd make the run a bit taller. You'll find at times you'll need to go in there to collect a stray egg or do something and you'll appreciate the extra room then! The DLM is not something I've tried myself, so I can't anything about that, but we have some discussions on it here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/70/deep-litter-method/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/643302/results-from-first-year-with-deep-litter-method/0_30

And, unrelated, but if you're interested, we have a coop page contest running. More info and how to enter here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-and-run-page-contest-winter-spring-2016/0_30

These contests run over a few months and we restart them soon after they end, so you can enter any time

Good luck with your new venture!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[duhrel]

Thanks for all the encouragement! So much I've read and so much more to read. I'm setting up the brooder now and hoping to pick up the chicks this Friday.

 

[Kristen5894]

Hi and welcome! I am also from So. Cal, a new member and I love my small flock.