3 ms·

I don't understand why you were being downvoted but please write a report somewhere and post it here next year, and good luck with the chicks! Just remember to

by caio1982 9y ago

I don't understand why you were being downvoted but please write a report somewhere and post it here next year, and good luck with the chicks! Just remember to take good care of them, and provide a decent, clean, natural environment for the animals while they live.

iamthepieman 9y ago
We have two acres (1 acre cleared) and don't use any pesticide or herbicide in our yard so I'm sure they will have plenty of natural forage to supplement their grain and room to stretch their legs. Our biggest concern is the local wildlife which includes mink, weasel, raccoon, skunk and fisher cat. We've seen every one of those creatures on and around our property so I'm trying to devise a critter proof chicken coop to put them in at night and wondering if I should get a dog as well.
- cr0sh 9y ago
  I'd say yes to the dog, maybe 2 or 3 given the size of property you have. You'll probably still lose some, though. As far as the coop is concerned, can't answer much there; my parents raised chickens for eggs when I was a kid, and my dad made the coop (2 x 4 and plywood, then a larger outer "pen" using 4x4s and chicken wire). Provide plenty of shade and water, of course. Instead of chicken wire, you might try something more robust - thicker gauge hardware cloth with closer mesh. I recall my parent's coop was about a 20 x 30 foot area for the "outdoor" part, then an "indoor" area about 10 x 8 off the side. Fence of chicken wire on the outside was about 8 - 10 feet high, and the indoor part was 8 feet tall (standard plywood dimensions). There was a latched door to the outdoor portion, then an opening to the indoor part (no door). We didn't have any "critter" issues given where we lived (county island in the middle of a suburb neighborhood). Everything was sized so an adult could stand up anywhere, and we kept the chickens penned inside the coop area (we didn't let them run free). There was always a rooster around, too. Plus we had to trim the chickens wings (because sometimes they would try to fly out of the coop - sometimes successfully and get in the yard area - that was the signal to "clip the wings"). I wouldn't want to do such a thing myself, but my parents loved it. We had fresh eggs all the time, and the occasional fresh chicken (I know where and why the term "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off" comes from - and I helped my mom pluck the carcass, too). It was a messy and smelly thing to have in a backyard; at one time we had upwards of 60 chickens. Even so, it was a part of my growing up I wouldn't change even if I could.

iamthepieman 9y ago

We have two acres (1 acre cleared) and don't use any pesticide or herbicide in our yard so I'm sure they will have plenty of natural forage to supplement their grain and room to stretch their legs. Our biggest concern is the local wildlife which includes mink, weasel, raccoon, skunk and fisher cat. We've seen every one of those creatures on and around our property so I'm trying to devise a critter proof chicken coop to put them in at night and wondering if I should get a dog as well.

cr0sh 9y ago
I'd say yes to the dog, maybe 2 or 3 given the size of property you have. You'll probably still lose some, though. As far as the coop is concerned, can't answer much there; my parents raised chickens for eggs when I was a kid, and my dad made the coop (2 x 4 and plywood, then a larger outer "pen" using 4x4s and chicken wire). Provide plenty of shade and water, of course. Instead of chicken wire, you might try something more robust - thicker gauge hardware cloth with closer mesh. I recall my parent's coop was about a 20 x 30 foot area for the "outdoor" part, then an "indoor" area about 10 x 8 off the side. Fence of chicken wire on the outside was about 8 - 10 feet high, and the indoor part was 8 feet tall (standard plywood dimensions). There was a latched door to the outdoor portion, then an opening to the indoor part (no door). We didn't have any "critter" issues given where we lived (county island in the middle of a suburb neighborhood). Everything was sized so an adult could stand up anywhere, and we kept the chickens penned inside the coop area (we didn't let them run free). There was always a rooster around, too. Plus we had to trim the chickens wings (because sometimes they would try to fly out of the coop - sometimes successfully and get in the yard area - that was the signal to "clip the wings"). I wouldn't want to do such a thing myself, but my parents loved it. We had fresh eggs all the time, and the occasional fresh chicken (I know where and why the term "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off" comes from - and I helped my mom pluck the carcass, too). It was a messy and smelly thing to have in a backyard; at one time we had upwards of 60 chickens. Even so, it was a part of my growing up I wouldn't change even if I could.