Suggestions for my run... New to chickens

[drevilsmom]

I'm still in the preplanning stages of my house for the girls, but since I am very new to all of this, I would love to hear from those who have a lot of experience. After all, I love to learn, and what better way than to ask lots of questions!! Ok, here goes....

Part of my back yard is depicted in the above rough sketch. Obviously, at the bottom of the pic is my house. There is a garage capable of one vehicle, and plenty of storage space, although it hasn't housed a car in years, and pretty much is nothing BUT storage space. The gray lines depict doors, including the garage door at the north. Green is grass, of course. The concrete is shown as light blue, and there is a roof connecting between the house and garage. The concrete to the north of the garage is covered by a very large awning, so is shaded. The west part of the concrete is approximately 4 feet wide, and has a large portion of it covered by overhang of the garage, and the wooden privacy fence is a full six feet tall, and extends along the property, and makes a 90 degree turn to cover the north side of the property. The chain link fence is also 6 feet tall, and extends to cover the south side of the property.

So my plans are to place the coop against the southeast side of the garage next to the concrete, and extend the run to the chain link fence. This would make it around 4 feet wide N/S, and 12-14 feet long E/W. Unfortunately, this really exposes the girls to the neighbors, who probably won't have issue, and also to the full force of the south Florida summer sun. What if I place a significant portion of the run in the "alleyway," that is, the portion of concrete that runs along the west side of the garage, and also where it is hidden better by the privacy fence as well. I'm needing a quiet breed, and I'm really leaning towards Buff Orps, which I know are a heavier breed, and so I want to protect them from as much heat stress as possible. Pros? Cons? I know that I will have to provide a floor on top of the concrete, such as sand, straw, hay, etc, but it just seems to be better protected from neighbors and weather, while still providing the same floor space as the south side of the yard. As for a coop?? I'm planning on using a child's playhouse and modifying it. They are a dime a dozen here, and will be easy for me to get.

 

[kdwag]

I too am new to chickens. Just put the coop together but struggeling with the location. I don't have areas of our yard that are shady all day long which is a concern but thinking i could create some shade somehow. Construction of the run is the newest concern. And, since I live in Ohio, our winters are unpredictable as to snowall and temps...so much to learn.

 

[darkmatter]

Plant mulberries and other fruit trees where you plan the run. (You may have to cage smaller trees until grown above chicken picking reach)

 

[drevilsmom]

Plant mulberries and other fruit trees where you plan the run. (You may have to cage smaller trees until grown above chicken picking reach)

 

Oh what a fabulous idea!!! We were planning on planting fruit trees anyway, and what better way to basically solve two problems - where to put the trees, and how to protect the chickies! Awesome

 

[Popcorn]

A coop design that is raised so the birds can go underneath for shade is also a good idea

 

[darkmatter]

A coop design that is raised so the birds can go underneath for shade is also a good idea

Just the opposite of what I've been doing for over twenty years, I prefer a sub-ground level deep litter composting pit in the coop.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Here's a thought. Since your garage isn't used for storing a car, you could build a coop inside the garage, maybe on the South side and use a little cat/dog door to let the birds out into a run. You would save on building supplies, because you wouldn't have to fully cover the the coop in lumber or worry about a wind and rain proof roof and you'd be able to come out to the coop to collect eggs and offer food and water while protected from the elements. You could also save on fencing material if you consider the chain link fence, the side of the garage and/or the side of the house as boundaries. I don't know how large a coop you were planning on building, but you could probably build something raised that the chickens exit out of the floor down onto the concrete slab of the garage, which would stay cool and shady on hot days and be protected from rain on rainy days, with a little dog door that they could go out into the outside run.

 

[drevilsmom]

Here's a thought.  Since your garage isn't used for storing a car, you could build a coop inside the garage, maybe on the South side and use a little cat/dog door to let the birds out into a run.  You would save on building supplies, because you wouldn't have to fully cover the the coop in lumber or worry about a wind and rain proof roof and you'd be able to come out to the coop to collect eggs and offer food and water while protected from the elements.  You could also save on fencing material if you consider the chain link fence, the side of the garage and/or the side of the house as boundaries.  I don't know how large a coop you were planning on building, but you could probably build something raised that the chickens exit out of the floor down onto the concrete slab of the garage, which would stay cool and shady on hot days and be protected from rain on rainy days, with a little dog door that they could go out into the outside run.

That was most definitely a thought, but it's going to take some major rearranging to get something like that set up. Right now I'm not home, but I'm thinking there may be a window on that side that could be somehow converted into an entryway. And it would probably be relatively easy to set something up that could be quickly dismantled so hurricane shutters could be placed, while the chickens stayed safe during the storm. Hmmmmm.... Yet another great idea to ponder.