We get some pretty strong winds on this side of the Bighorns too. One wind was clocked at 55 mph a mile down the road a few weeks ago.
I promise I won't say a word! I'd love to build bigger, but as I said I'm limited by where I can put it. As it is we're already going to have to take out an apricot tree and put the coop there in order to meet setback requirements, but that's alright...I'll get more eggs out of my chickens than I ever got apricots off that tree! LOL Our lot here is 110 x 130, and on this lot we have our house, a garage, and our hot tub room, so you can see my space dilemma. We thought about using part of the garage for the inner part of the coop, then build the run off that, but the garage is an old log building that at some time was covered in stucco, and there's only room in there for one car as it is. We may try to figure out a way to use the back outer wall of the garage as one wall of the coop - just build the coop as a lean-to against it. I just need to accept that we build what we can and then make it work well. Hey, I'm a Navy wife - I can do anything! TeeheeHello and welcome from Glenrock!
I would have to agree with the others, don't build your coop too small! Mine is 12X16 feet, I planned on having 2 different areas of the coop, 1 for the full sized birds and 1 for the bantams. Now my plans have changed and I need at least one more large coop, maybe 2 or 3 or. . . Shhhh don't tell my hubby
I promise I won't say a word! I'd love to build bigger, but as I said I'm limited by where I can put it. As it is we're already going to have to take out an apricot tree and put the coop there in order to meet setback requirements, but that's alright...I'll get more eggs out of my chickens than I ever got apricots off that tree! LOL Our lot here is 110 x 130, and on this lot we have our house, a garage, and our hot tub room, so you can see my space dilemma. We thought about using part of the garage for the inner part of the coop, then build the run off that, but the garage is an old log building that at some time was covered in stucco, and there's only room in there for one car as it is. We may try to figure out a way to use the back outer wall of the garage as one wall of the coop - just build the coop as a lean-to against it. I just need to accept that we build what we can and then make it work well. Hey, I'm a Navy wife - I can do anything! Teehee
Chickens probably won't spend much time free ranging. Our biggest issue here is cats - Cowley is overrun with them. They've knocked the skirting off one corner of our trailer and been going under there to get out of the cold. Ken blocks it off, and they manage to get right back in. My bathroom smells like cat, and I don't even own one! There's also our little 2 year old granddaughter to consider - Kendra doesn't walk and she loves to be outside, so she's usually either sitting in the yard or "army crawling" to wherever she wants to go. Chicken poop and two year old crawlers don't seem to blend well! LOL The yard is one place where her wheelchair doesn't do her much good. So there's a lot to consider in putting up our coop and run. We want the chickens to be healthy, content and safe, and want to keep our neighbors happy too. And we want Kendra to be able to enjoy the outdoors. Now I ask you, is that too much to ask? LOL
That's exactly my thinking! I don't need too many hens to provide my family and some of my neighbors with eggs. My son, his wife and two little girls (8 year old Katie and 2 year old Kendra) live across the street, and my daughter Tam and her 8 year old son Evan are two blocks down. So enough eggs for us, them, and my neighbors would be perfect. And of course when we were looking for what kind of chickens to get, the kids were "helping" me....hence the addition of a few Easter Eggers! Evan can't wait to go to school and tell his friends that he DOES like green eggs and ham! LOL So we'll end up with probably 6 chickens to winter over. That's a good idea about adding new layers every other year. We bought some dual purpose birds and as we choose the best chickens to keep for layers the extras will end up in the freezer. We won't have any roosters - right in the heart of town here and since I'm on the Town Council and hubby is on Planning and Zoning we want to avoid the old, "Oh, sure, they are in town government so they think they can do anything they want" syndrome. I got in enough trouble when our council drafted the new livestock ordinances two years ago. TeeheeI understand your concerns about space now. And in reality, if you are just wanting eggs to eat it doesn't take much room for 6 or 8 chickens. You should actually start out with just enough hens to give you the eggs you want. I believe a 6 x 8 coop would hold 12 chickens. But you will want to add new layers at least every other year to keep up production. This is where the chicken math starts to become a problem. Because most of my hens will live 5 or 6 years and several have lived 8 years. They become pets and you just can't say "out with old, in with the new". So I add 3 or 4 new layers each summer. And I HAVE to keep that beautiful little rooster I raised for breeding........
