Texas

[jajeanpierre]

I'm getting a 12'x12' chain link pen ("dog kennel") on Saturday!
It might not look as crisp and tidy, but 144sq feet should be enough for my 5 large birds and 2 banties lol
And if I got more, I shouldn't have to expand it!
Besides adding cover/a roof, how should I modify it for a run?
My backyard is enclosed by a 6' wooden fence. And I don't think foxes or bobcats are a problem here. As you can see from Ms. Jellybean's pictures though, we DO have some hawks.
I HAVE seen a coyote (one!)...just walking down the street. I've never had an issue with one, but is it possible the chickens would attract them enough to where they'd dig or climb into my backyard?

You'll have to put some wire along the bottom because young chicks can easily go through chain link (and predators like raccoons can reach in). You might want to add some perches/branches at various heights so they can jump up for exercise and to be able to escape a bully. Your fence will keep out most predators, but raccoons will go over the top. They can reach in and grab your chicks and pull them through the wire piece by piece. Locking them up safely at night and your hardware cloth liner should prevent those kinds of attacks.

 

[Brookshire11]

They are good this morning in spite of everything. Marbles wouldn't have helped--they were sleeping in a pile beside the waterer and some ended up on top of the waterer and in the dish of fermented feed, and just wicked the water up. The waterer wasn't even tipped over and they were soaked. I'm putting them back on wire today so there is no chance of water wetting their bedding and I'll make sure the waterer is nowhere near the corner where they like to sleep away from the heat.

They have decided that they don't need any extra heat and have been sleeping away from the brooder so last night I raised the brooder up to the highest setting--maybe they thought it was too hot for them. I plugged it back in but didn't think to check that the light was on.... Yup, somehow I didn't make the electrical connection and the brooder was stone cold this morning. I feel like I'm in a "Final Destination" movie, with Fate decreeing that my chicks should die from chilling.

I sure love that Brinsea brooder. They seem to have hardened themselves off the supplemental heat really quickly. The room they were in is really cold at night and even with no heat, they are happy and running around this morning, even the two that got really chilled. They are only 17/18 days old.

I'm so glad they're doing better!

 

[yoopersjd]

How many chicks do you have? We kicked the older chicks out about a week ago at ages 2-3 weeks. There are about 40-50 of them. We moved their brooder outside, its a small coop w/nesting boxes, about 3ftx4ft. I can't remember if the dimensions are with or without the nesting boxes. They all group up in the nesting boxes at night and have done fine without any extra heat, even when we dropped down to 18*/feels like 5* a couple of nights ago. They have power in numbers though, if you only have a few chicks they might still need heat. If you put them out during the day and watch them, you'll be able to tell if they are ready or not. From what I've read on the forum, even during the extreme cold, air tight isn't the best because it will promote frostbite. Again, as with most things chickens, it seems to be a numbers game, if you have just a few in a large coop it should be fine.

I got 10 for now, gunna get another 10 or 15 more from local feed store. was there yesterday, they got about 40 more chicks from the batch I got mine from. they almost all feathered out now as well. My 1st 10 chicks are white leghorns. I want to get a couple more different breeds, and a cockerel yet. Want a few replacement chicks if a hen gets broody to replace what I butcher this fall. My coop is pretty fair size for the amount of chickens I want. It is 10 by 6, 10 nexting boxes. The run is 19 by 16, wired in with 1" hex chicken wire all around and over the top as well.
With all the rock ledge on my property, my fencing only has about 1 inch of dirt over the dolomite rock, so no worries about a pred tunneling in. I have overhead clearance inside the run of 7 ft. So i can walk comfortably around inside to clean up/feed/water as required. Just these cold snaps that hit every 5-7 days make feel like I am back up north on the frozen tundra..... one of the reasons i moved south LMAO
but I got a 1400 wat infared heat unit in my coop (heat unit for a green house) so not too worried about heating. Just on watching my electric meter spin on warp speed......

 

[Brookshire11]

Have you considered putting an electric fence around the bottom of your run?

Lisa

I have a 3 yo and 1yo..I don't know if I'd be able to do the electric thing...lol

You'll have to put some wire along the bottom because young chicks can easily go through chain link (and predators like raccoons can reach in). You might want to add some perches/branches at various heights so they can jump up for exercise and to be able to escape a bully. Your fence will keep out most predators, but raccoons will go over the top. They can reach in and grab your chicks and pull them through the wire piece by piece. Locking them up safely at night and your hardware cloth liner should prevent those kinds of attacks.

I forgot about raccoons.
I haven't seen any up here, but that doesn't mean anything. I figured I'd need some type of extra wiring around it.
I have some chicken wire, but not nearly enough to cover the whole thing, plus the top. Lol.
Will I need it for the entire fence panels? or just like..the bottom half?

 

[magpiesing]

Good morning from the piney woods. Going out to let my gang out. Have been in since Sunday. Our roo Abraham has been yelling at me for awhile. My little bantam catalana is brooding two eggs from my big hens. Saturday will be a week so gonna candle and hope I have two on the way. She raised four last fall. Need to build a brooder pen for her because my big girls keep giving her more eggs. Have a great day. Magpie

 

[Ms Jellybean]

I'm getting a 12'x12' chain link pen ("dog kennel") on Saturday!
It might not look as crisp and tidy, but 144sq feet should be enough for my 5 large birds and 2 banties lol
And if I got more, I shouldn't have to expand it!
Besides adding cover/a roof, how should I modify it for a run?
My backyard is enclosed by a 6' wooden fence. And I don't think foxes or bobcats are a problem here. As you can see from Ms. Jellybean's pictures though, we DO have some hawks.
I HAVE seen a coyote (one!)...just walking down the street. I've never had an issue with one, but is it possible the chickens would attract them enough to where they'd dig or climb into my backyard?

Yeah! I was just thinking I should look into getting a dog run. My neighbour kept her chickens in one until she had to give them up due to health reasons - her's, not the chickens.
You have an owl that lives over by you. I know of person over there that has a Yorkie and she won't let him out alone at night for fear the owl will take him.
A bobcat lives on the land at Virginia and Jordan and there are foxes all over the place too.

I have a 3 yo and 1yo..I don't know if I'd be able to do the electric thing...lol

I forgot about raccoons.
I haven't seen any up here, but that doesn't mean anything. I figured I'd need some type of extra wiring around it.
I have some chicken wire, but not nearly enough to cover the whole thing, plus the top. Lol.
Will I need it for the entire fence panels? or just like..the bottom half?

Lots of raccoons here too. I haven't seen any around here (Historic District) but I'm sure they are here. Finch Park is woodsy enough with a creek to have them. I'm sure they are all over the place. They really like chicken too!

You can run the chicken wire about half way up and that should be fine. You might want something stronger though that won't rip apart so easily - like Rabbit Guard.

You can cover the top with the plastic hardware cloth or shade cloth.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I have a 3 yo and 1yo..I don't know if I'd be able to do the electric thing...lol

I forgot about raccoons.
I haven't seen any up here, but that doesn't mean anything. I figured I'd need some type of extra wiring around it.
I have some chicken wire, but not nearly enough to cover the whole thing, plus the top. Lol.
Will I need it for the entire fence panels? or just like..the bottom half?

You just need some wire around the bottom 18" or so. They can get out by jumping up on the wire, but are not likely to. I would attach it with the little electrical zip ties--just keep in mind a raccoon is very strong with strong hands--make sure you are using strong enough wire attached well. They'll grow big enough soon, but for awhile, they can get out and of course, predators with hands can reach in.

Your kids will learn quick enough not to touch a hot wire. I think your three-year old is old enough to learn not to touch the wire just by explaining it to her, and I doubt you are leaving a one-year old unsupervised outside. I think you can dial them down, so you could teach them what the wire does without it being at a painful level. I don't think you can set it high enough to do any harm, but I don't know that for sure.

 

[jockeyeba]

I'm so far behind on posts my husband is donating a kidney today so my mind is elsewhere + we've been doing all kinds of jobs to make it easier on me while he's down a min. 2 weeks Sorry about everyones chicken losses we've had 2 chickens get killed 2 nights in a row now & something tried to get another one last night, went out & caught her & put her in a coop for the night ( they were all freeranging AG's) put the live trap out but no luck

 

[magpiesing]

Would bird net work to cover my yard? We have hawks. It's 20 x 30 with some tree cover but I hear the hawks. I only have grown birds right now. Just an idea that's not too costly. Going to add chicken wire to the bottom of the rabbit fence so that any future little ones will be safe. Good suggestion, they are such good escape artists. Magpie

 

[RustedOak]

I'm so far behind on posts my husband is donating a kidney today so my mind is elsewhere + we've been doing all kinds of jobs to make it easier on me while he's down a min. 2 weeks

Sorry about everyones chicken losses we've had 2 chickens get killed 2 nights in a row now & something tried to get another one last night, went out & caught her & put her in a coop for the night ( they were all freeranging AG's) put the live trap out but no luck

Sorry to hear of your losses as well as the many others here lately! i hope you catch the rascal soon! As for your husband, that is very noble of him. He has my upmost respect! I will keep him in my prayers for a successful procedure and a speedy recovery!