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I've been sitting on an acre in a city that allows backyard chickens, thinking about it but doing nothing. I think this is the catalyst I need to get started

I've been sitting on an acre in a city that allows backyard chickens, thinking about it but doing nothing. I think this is the catalyst I need to get started on a coop. If anyone has any plans or pointers for a coop, or raising chickens in the SW, would be much appreciated.

voisin 4y ago
You really don’t need much for a coop at all. When we bought our property it had a tool shed that we converted and it turned out to be way too big for our flock of 12. You could honestly use a large dog house. There are lots of plans online and Reddit has a very good chicken community with answers to any questions you might have. All that to say: the minimum threshold for starting backyard chicken keeping is very low. I’d recommend jumping in as cheap as possible and upgrading later if you find you enjoy it.
greenie_beans 4y ago
just make sure you have a good lock on your coop and the bottom is closed off (aka not just a frame sitting on the bare ground). raccoons are very good at getting into coops.
yostrovs 4y ago
You can buy pretty cheap coops at stores such as Tractor Supply that will house half a dozen chickens or so. They're great for people starting out because a number of things, that you might not be aware of, have been integrated and thought through. Also, backyardchickens.com is a popular site for all kinds of advice that we've used to research different chicken matters. In short, it's pretty easy to keep chickens, but you have to do it regularly and with love.
efields 4y ago
We're on half acre and do a flock of 6 in an enclosure behind the shed. My main piece of advice is get all the infrastructure before the birds. Pay someone to build you an enclosure. Hardware cloth, NOT poultry netting/chicken wire. You need a few nesting boxes and a dry roost for them to sleep. Look up "deep litter method". Woodchips are free, high carbon bedding chicken poop is high nitrogen. The result is incredible compost. Anyway gl.

voisin 4y ago

You really don’t need much for a coop at all. When we bought our property it had a tool shed that we converted and it turned out to be way too big for our flock of 12. You could honestly use a large dog house. There are lots of plans online and Reddit has a very good chicken community with answers to any questions you might have. All that to say: the minimum threshold for starting backyard chicken keeping is very low. I’d recommend jumping in as cheap as possible and upgrading later if you find you enjoy it.

greenie_beans 4y ago

just make sure you have a good lock on your coop and the bottom is closed off (aka not just a frame sitting on the bare ground). raccoons are very good at getting into coops.

yostrovs 4y ago

You can buy pretty cheap coops at stores such as Tractor Supply that will house half a dozen chickens or so. They're great for people starting out because a number of things, that you might not be aware of, have been integrated and thought through. Also, backyardchickens.com is a popular site for all kinds of advice that we've used to research different chicken matters. In short, it's pretty easy to keep chickens, but you have to do it regularly and with love.

efields 4y ago

We're on half acre and do a flock of 6 in an enclosure behind the shed. My main piece of advice is get all the infrastructure before the birds. Pay someone to build you an enclosure. Hardware cloth, NOT poultry netting/chicken wire. You need a few nesting boxes and a dry roost for them to sleep. Look up "deep litter method". Woodchips are free, high carbon bedding chicken poop is high nitrogen. The result is incredible compost. Anyway gl.