two things

1. bury wire mesh under the surface for a couple feet totally surrounding your coup/night area--this will prevent predators from digging under

2. Chicken Wire will keep chickens in but not predators out. Put heavier wire around the base layer of your coop area to prevent larger predators from clawing their way in.

Best of luck

/r

---

Steve

There are all sorts of resources online and in print for beginners (like myself). If you look in the Lavender Farm thread you’ll see our setup; old wooden henhouse with a metal frame chicken run adjacent to the back. We’ve got five laying hens currently and 17 juveniles that should be laying by summer’s end if not sooner.

They’re very easy to care for and if you buy the right chicks (hybrids in particular) you can expect them to lay daily far more often than not. Isa Browns and Rhode Island Reds are typically what we keep, with Plymouths and Australorps in the juvenile mix this time around. Great fun to watch and the kids love having them around, friendly if handled early and no issues with aggression save for the roosters.

If I were starting from scratch, I’d probably get a mix of those three, maybe six hens with one rooster for breeding. You’ll reliably take in 4+ eggs daily which is likely enough for your family’s purposes, with some to give away which is a nice bonus to keeping hens.

For resources, Tractor Supply Company typically gets a half dozen variety of chicks to choose from. I’d look on Amazon for hen houses, if you’re not looking to build your own. With the cost of lumber lately I found it much more cost effective and convenient to buy pre-fab, but there’s a hundred different ways to coop and run chickens so dig around for a while first.

Happy to offer what little wisdom I’ve gained in the process.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

My best advice is convince your neighbors to get some.

Not really joking.

---

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Look into A frame houses on the web. Pretty easy and cheap to make. I used chicken wire which has been replaced a few times. If you have a air crown stapler you can put it up pretty quickly. I have mostly crabtrap wire on mine now. Marsh racoons can rip chicken wire in about :30 seconds. I second advice to bury under about 8" and wrap it under inwards to the run. Occasionally I'll still have to throw a brick in every once in awhile to fill holes. If it were me I'd start with pullets if you can find them. Around $15-20 ea. but you'll spend that in 7 months of food. Make sure you post pictures of rat snakes eating your prized eggs like me. I may start a second career as a snake handler I've caught and transplanted so many.

  I have 21 Laying hens down here in Texas. We have several types, Leghorns, Orpingtons, Barred Rocks, Golden Comets, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Silver Laced Polish, French Copper Marans and Easter Eggers. They do all get along with one another. I did give away one trouble maker early and then they all settled down.

We get much hotter weather than you will up where you are at. I did lose a couple of our Orpingtons back in the summer due to the heat. We since added a Mister to our Coop and it has helped.

I do agree with everyone about making sure your Coop is predator proof. My coop has 2 and 3 rolls of wire around it, including buried under the ground 6-8 inches. We also have a Net that covers their Outside run to keep the Hawks from preying on them. That seems to be our biggest threat to our Chickens, the Hawks.

As you know a rooster is not necessary for your hens to lay, but I do believe they will protect your hens or at least alert them to an imminent danger.

Dogs can be a problem as well. We have 4 dogs ourselves and they all get along with our flock. However, most dogs will try to get to your chickens. In fact, I just went to Court last week with a Small Claims Case against a neighbor whose dog got into my Coop and killed 8 of our Sweet Hens. The dog dug completely under my buried wire and into my coop while we were away at work. The dog owner was apologetic but did not want pay what my chickens were worth. The Local Judge did make the Dog Owner reach for his check book after ruling in my favor.

Hope this helps, G

That's my hot tub or pool theory. Encourage the neighbors to get one, and bring treats when invited. Much less work for me.

Look up "chicken tractor"

These are big rolling cages that cam be easily moved so the grass doesn't get killed (you can leave them stationary if desired) and take advantage of the shit. Which could also decrease bugs/flies.

If you don't like it, it's easier to sell than a coup.

Good luck, Enjoy having chickens.

It costs, but lasts and saves a ton of time..........we spent some coin on getting the "Eglu". I bought the automated door, a giant vacuum based waterer, and taught them to use the step-on feeder thing. We bought the run extenders also to give them more room and a couple of the roosts they sell.

I've been pleased with it.

If you're "going big", it's not for you. It's for folks in the 2 to 8 bird realm of chicken fun.

I have my coop up off the ground. I also have an automatic door opener/ closer that's set on a timer. They go in at night and the door will close at dusk. (I still check in on them, though. The Wife has set up a coop cam so we can count the number of birds. If needed, I'll go out and check manually.) Then it will open again in the morning and they'll let themselves out. The coop itself is built on top of an old 4x8 trailer bed so I can move it around. This also eliminates the need to bury extra inches of wire to protect them. The coop itself is secure. Chickens are really low maintenance and fun to watch. They followed me around this weekend as I was out weeding and mulching. They were curious about everything and I'd toss them worms when I came across. Chickens are destructive to vegetable and flower gardens, especially if they're not given a lot of room to roam.

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

We have hawks show interest in them but so far no victims...they are probably too big for a hawk to carry away but it could surely kill them.

Our first batch of chick's came from a local farm store and were described as unsexed hens (can't have roosters in town). Well, one was a rooster and the other three were broilers, which ignorant us didn't understand ment they will eat non-stop for about 3 months and then need to be slaughtered. The second set were more carefully selected.

We built a coop from plans. We probably should have made the run waaaay bigger instead of giving them free range in the back yard. They are messy.

They can be super destructive to plants. They dig up mulch beds and all sorts of areas like that. Our neighbors chickens have rooted through our gardens and tree beds so much that my friendly wife has gone from wanting chickens to wanting to tell our neighbors to fence in their chickens.

If you have a rooster to protect them they will roam a lot further than without one.