They JUST Birds, right?, like the wild ones?

[ducks4you]

I agree that you should build BIGGER than you think you'll need--if possible. But, if you goof, who cares? Just add on, redo, etc.

Just read the recent post regarding enough room for the birds in a "store-bought" coop, and I had to respond.

I'm on this forum because I don't know enough experts to help me that live nearby. I DO know, however, that these birds are domestic. I have not handled my new (2 month olds) brood like I handle my dogs or horses. YET...they KNOW "Momkins" as the food-giver, even when my dog, Rose, harrasses them from the outside of the pen. Can't really release any of my horses, dogs, cats or chickens to the wild and tell them that they are "free" ('to pursue a life of religious fulfillment', or, whatever the excuse is today!) THEY'LL STARVE!!! (Well, maybe not Rose--she'll eat wild rabbit.)

Not to anthropomorphize, but our animals have an "agreement" with us as to our expectations of each other. We feed them and they all have certain jobs. My cat, Tomkins, chose us to take him in when he was almost a week away from starvation at 5 months old. In exchange for nursing him back to health he mouses and he gets along with the others. We are the "government" and the animals are the "subjects." It's a benevolent dictatership.

My hen lays eggs, like the young sister hens I'm now raising will also do. In exchange, I make sure that she(they) are fed, watered, and comfortably housed.

Just food for thought.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The thing is, adding on or rebuilding is generally much more expensive and difficult than having done it right in the first place. And often you never end up with as functional a product.

our animals have an "agreement" with us as to our expectations of each other.

I don't see where animals have knowingly agreed to anything. WE are BOTH sides of the agreement you're describing... we do x for them and expect y in return.

The problem with too little space for chickens is, they will start to disassemble each other. Picking, cannibalism, that sort of thing. Very gruesome. Really, they do, no matter how cute and hand-tame they may seem. Most people want to avoid this happening, partly because Eeuuuwww and partly because it is inconvenient and also because it is sometimes impossible to cure except by getting rid of the whole flock and starting over.

So it is all well and fine to *say* you expect the chickens to just suck it up and deal with whatever you give them -- but they often don't see it that way.

JMHO,

Pat​

 

[ducks4you]

I don't expect my animals to expect poor treatment/housing. I'm sorry that you misunderstood. I know about the needs of my other animals. I know how much grass I can graze more horses on (1 acre/horse in good weather), and I have fodder to supplement. I know how large their stalls must be. I know what size crate my dogs need. I know the needs--feeding, outside time (i live in the country!) for my 4 cats.

I am learning about the chickens, though I have had one or more birds since 2005.

I try to plan for the size of my flock. I have 11 birds--I WILL have 7 hens by the winter. My new coop will be 8 x 10 x 6---that's 480 sq ft. I think that I'll have enough room, but, if they seem crowded before the winter, I'll subdivide and put a few in the barn.

My post was making reference to a post about chickens and their (lack) of intelligence. True, our pets/livestock do NOT have a choice, BUT, they are the property and we are to be good stewards of them.

Isn't educating ourselves the "hobby" part?

Let me know what you think.

 

[DarkWolf]

I consider everything short of taking care of the animals themselves to be a hobby. The latter being a responsibility.

At 8x10, which is the same as mine, you can fit 20 birds in.. I'm sticking at 10 for right now though till the need to rotate new birds in comes up. I fall in the middle ground as far as pets vs. livestock go. So long as they're productive, it's all good..

I saw a coop advertised today on some site, it was basically 125 square feet and said that it could hold 100 birds. That was an insane figure.

At that figure, I can hold some odd 350 birds! Woot!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Er, actually it is 80 square feet. (Multiplying by height gives you *cubic* feet but that is pretty close to irrelevant in terms of how many chcikens the coop can hold). That's still plenty of room for 7 hens of course

I guess I still don't understand what you meant as 'food for thought', but I expect you'll enjoy your chickens and vice versa

Pat

 

[DarkWolf]

Quote:
Er, actually it is 80 square feet.

LOL.. I'm surprised I missed that.. Or maybe I didn't and forgot to say something..

480 is CUBIC feet..

I'm sure it's relevant, if you can stack birds...

 

[ducks4you]

I MEANT cubic....but my middle left finger typed "sq" instead....'cause it wanted to.

Actually, I'm tired of planning and writing about the COOP---time to take some pics of their temporary quarters THIS WEEKEND--PROMISE!! (I'll post a new thread--tired of this one.)

I haven't started on the deconstruction, yet--been trying to get my garden in---almost 1/2 done. We had severe storms in IL yesterday, and a REALLY violent one around midnight this morning. Birds were safe and sound in the old dog igloo I provided for them. I took a head count this morning. (They also chased me around for food!)

 

[DarkWolf]

About have the same amt of garden out as we do.. Spent yesterday trying to get as much out as we could and ended up with about half that needs re-tilled and planted out still.

I think too much planning can be counter productive. After a while you start second guessing things and can be quite wishy washy about what to do.. I ended up just grabbing the hammer and nails and going to town.. The only thing I have on paper is the nest box wall because I needed to plan out all the headers for the windows and nest box opening.

Looking forward to seeing your p r o g r e s s...

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks for the moral support!

It was SO WET this morning that I scooped out holes in the mud and plunked in 6 acorn squash seedlings, before work. Same with the big pot of borage--dug a hole, smacked the pot and put it in. (Saluted "good luck troops," and left.)

Have you seen:
· Coop finally finished !!!!!!! by mendogurl

Really cool coop and grounds.

(Great site when you can open up and operate 2 windows at once.)

I'll get my daughter to take some shots tonight with her nifty-keen digital that has a HUMONGOUS lens.

 

[DarkWolf]

I'd seen that one... Love the raised beds in it.. Very classy.. Beyond what I'd ever do, though..

Looking forward to seeing your pics, eh..