Washingtonians

[justbugged]

Hi,
Been busy building our coop, this weekend. It is 4x8. Do you guys think that 4 feet of roost is enough for 6 hens (one is a bantam). We are almost done with the exterior and roofing. I left DH out there to pound nails while I figure out some plans for interior.

THANKS!!!

I also have a 4X8 coop. I have more than 18 adult chickens that roost and lay in it, plus 13 chicks at moment. At this point I don't seem to have any problems with the size of the coop. I think the reason that I get away with the size of the coop is that the run is massive. The run is about 14X22. I have found that the limit to the coop is roughly 22 adult birds. It also makes a difference with the size of birds. I wasn't able to keep as many when I had a number of Light Sussex chickens.

I have maxed out the coop. I figured this out when I wasn't able to keep up with the waste in coop. I also have found the the poop board are absolutely essential to keep up with the waste. It makes up keep much simpler.

I know that many people feel that the chickens need more space, but this has been working for me. I have kept chickens off and on now for nearly 30 years. I know more now than when I first kept them, but for me I feel that as long as I can keep the chickens in fairly clean conditions and have them be healthy that I have met a decent standard of care for my flock.

So in my experience as long as your hens have a run, your coop is more than adequate.

 

[justbugged]

Quote: I am so happy that the nasty little bird will be okay. I have a love hate relationship with a large group of hummingbirds. There are several homes in the area that feed hummingbirds. I feed year around now. I found that a few of the nasty little birds live here in the area year around. It isn't easy keeping the feeder from freezing sometimes. I was very grateful when my DH fixed up the feeder so that the little birds had a reliable food source when the weather got really nasty.

 

[Hinotori]

Oh, that's awesome. I wish I could do that with my dogs but they think if it moves, it might kill them. They don't even like getting in the truck to go places.


I took some pictures I wanted to share

The only broody thing here right now. She didn't like the camera much. I walk up to within touching distance and she just looks at me. The male is more skittish and runs off when I get within 5 feet when he's on the nest. This is the third clutch of eggs this year, first batch got flooded before she actually started setting, was to close to the water. Second clutch was right beside the drive. I moved a road cone a few feet from it to mark it so no one ran it over. She hatched out those four a couple months ago. Something got one before it fledged, and one of the others went missing last week. The juveniles fly around by the house all the time.




These should be hatching soon. She laid them 3 weeks or so ago. This clutch is in the middle of the road in front of our carport

. I marked it with the road cone again, and we've not been driving over that way. The birds mostly ignore my dogs, as the dogs treat them like chickens and mostly ignore them. The german shepherd gets bird in her face sometimes because she's an oaf and doesn't look where she's going. But no aggression from the dog, just startles her and gets her to move back.





And we had a visitor in our trees. Usually they hang out in the neighbors huge snag. The canadian geese with a bunch of goslings were going nuts with him in the tree. Trying to hide their babies and yell at him to go away. Finally one of the resident ravens chased him off. It was sitting off to the left of him in another tree.

 

[StarryEyzz]

Can you do 2 parallel 4 foot roosts?

I will go out there in morning and see what I can do to make it work!

 

[StarryEyzz]

Well - I planted some beautiful foxglove two years ago in the small garden in front of our windows.

It has finally bloomed, and I was so excited I took these pictures this morning.





But today when we came home from a nephew's graduation, this little humminbird was sitting under the window, with a hurt wing.

She is a Rufous Hummingbird. She could not fly and was spinning circles in the dirt.

(sorry - terrible picture - super quick and no flash as I didn't want to scare her more than she already was!)



I took her to PAWS wildlife center and made sure she was indeed adult and injured enough to need their care, yes and yes.

They are the ones that told me she is a she and a Rufous Hummingbird.

They said she should recover fine and when she does the center will release her close to the area as they are extremely territorial.

But I'm worried I caused her to crash in the window by planting the foxglove too close.

I've never had any birds hit the window, we've grown climbing/flowering peas, rosemary, lavender,etc. in this front garden with no problems.

But this is my first time growing such a tall flower here. The foxglove are about 18 inches away from the window.

Thoughts?

Ahhh, poor thing. But glad to hear she will recover.

 

[chickenwings]

You guys and gals have some really pretty chickens! I know I want to add a couple more girls, but having a hard time deciding what to get because they will be my last new birds for a while.

My barred rocks are so picky with the table scraps, but I gave them some goat cheese today & they looooved it! It was a huge hit! I need to find more treats that they like.

One of the Leghorns, they are so funny, always up to some kind of mischief. I heard someone call them the Jack Russells of chickens... so true! lol



Girls taking a stroll around the house

 

[StarryEyzz]

I also have a 4X8 coop. I have more than 18 adult chickens that roost and lay in it, plus 13 chicks at moment. At this point I don't seem to have any problems with the size of the coop. I think the reason that I get away with the size of the coop is that the run is massive. The run is about 14X22. I have found that the limit to the coop is roughly 22 adult birds. It also makes a difference with the size of birds. I wasn't able to keep as many when I had a number of Light Sussex chickens.

I have maxed out the coop. I figured this out when I wasn't able to keep up with the waste in coop. I also have found the the poop board are absolutely essential to keep up with the waste. It makes up keep much simpler.

I know that many people feel that the chickens need more space, but this has been working for me. I have kept chickens off and on now for nearly 30 years. I know more now than when I first kept them, but for me I feel that as long as I can keep the chickens in fairly clean conditions and have them be healthy that I have met a decent standard of care for my flock.

So in my experience as long as your hens have a run, your coop is more than adequate.

THANKS for your input!!! Great to hear you have been so successfull with that size coop! Makes me feel hopeful!

 

[justbugged]

Can someone tell me the current law or code for how far away a coop has to be from the property line? I live in Gig Harbor and I called the Gig Harbor city place and was told there are no regulations for chickens or coops, but my very ornery neighbor said the pierce county law says the coop has to be 45 ft away from her house or property? Ugh I'm so stressed out! I can't find the current law on it anywhere. And do I listen to the Gig Harbor law that says I'm fine or pierce county? I thought we were all good and our coop is almost done. If anyone could help me I would be so grateful!!

If you are in the city limits of Gig Harbor then you go by the town's laws. On the other hand if you are in unincorporated Pierce County then you will need to heed the County's laws.

 

[Ogress]

Oh, that's awesome. I wish I could do that with my dogs but they think if it moves, it might kill them. They don't even like getting in the truck to go places.


I took some pictures I wanted to share

The only broody thing here right now. She didn't like the camera much. I walk up to within touching distance and she just looks at me. The male is more skittish and runs off when I get within 5 feet when he's on the nest. This is the third clutch of eggs this year, first batch got flooded before she actually started setting, was to close to the water. Second clutch was right beside the drive. I moved a road cone a few feet from it to mark it so no one ran it over. She hatched out those four a couple months ago. Something got one before it fledged, and one of the others went missing last week. The juveniles fly around by the house all the time.




These should be hatching soon. She laid them 3 weeks or so ago. This clutch is in the middle of the road in front of our carport

. I marked it with the road cone again, and we've not been driving over that way. The birds mostly ignore my dogs, as the dogs treat them like chickens and mostly ignore them. The german shepherd gets bird in her face sometimes because she's an oaf and doesn't look where she's going. But no aggression from the dog, just startles her and gets her to move back.





And we had a visitor in our trees. Usually they hang out in the neighbors huge snag. The canadian geese with a bunch of goslings were going nuts with him in the tree. Trying to hide their babies and yell at him to go away. Finally one of the resident ravens chased him off. It was sitting off to the left of him in another tree.

Wow, those are fantastic photos! Is that a Killdeer? The Bald Eagle is pretty cool too.

 

[mikeyb]

yep, a killdeer, noisy little critters.