So, I just recently found out that my city is considering allowing chickens to be raised in people's backyards -- up to 5, no butchering, and no roosters. It's been being discussed in the papers and there's a petition going around. I've always wanted to try raising chickens, but having never done so before, I come from a position of near-zero information. I've been reading up some, and I'd like to see what you experienced chicken owners think (and to correct any misconceptions / bad ideas), from coop construction to care and so forth.
I live in Iowa City, just south of the 4b/5a border. If the resolution were to pass, I was thinking about building a coop behind the shed, large enough to house three hens, with an initial purchase of two. The shed is on the north side of my property, separated from the chain-link fence to the neighbors' yard by a small path. The path I would convert to a coop is about three feet wide and eight feet long. The main structural supports would be purchased lumber; the panels salvaged plywood; any non-structural elements, such as a perch, scrap branches; and the roof covered with spare asphalt shingles.
The area would be in full shade year round with the exception of some possible early morning and late evening sunlight. The shed 100% shields the south side, and the north is mostly blocked by a neighbor's dense pine tree, so there won't be much wind.
The ground is mostly dead due to the lack of light and accumulated pine needles from the neighbor's tree. The lower level would be bare ground surrounded with chicken wire on the east and west ends, walled off by the chain link fence and the shed on the north and south, respectively. Below the shed is a small (~2") hole, as the shed is elevated a couple inches. Rabbits sometimes live down there. I'm not sure if I'll need to close that off.
The yard is suburban. There are no foxes, and I've never seen a snake, although I have seen some occasional evidence of mice, moles, things of that nature, and hawks do sometimes fly overhead.
The coup would be elevated, with a ramp leading up on the east side to the coup on the west side (the lower area being for them to scratch around in). The ramp would be a board with small crossbeams every few inches for traction; I understand that this design is to discourage rats and mice from entering. The entrance would be just wide enough for the particular breed of chicken.
Note: are hens smart enough that if I put a doggy door-type flap there to help keep the wind out, that they would be able to figure that out? If not, I suppose I could design some sort of baffle to slow the wind and direct it toward the vents.
The coop would be managed with the deep litter approach. The floor would be made of screen door mesh half an inch under wood lattice, to discourage the hens from tearing up the mesh (I assume they would tear screen door mesh if they could reach it, right?). The contents would be cleaned into garden compost in the spring once it warms up enough by opening up the mesh into the area below the coop so the shavings fall to the ground, and then shoveling that area out to our compost. A fresh layer of shavings and diatomaceous earth would then be put down in the coop. Scratch would encourage the hens to mix the shavings. This would be repeated approximately monthly.
With a thin layer of shavings in the spring and summer, air would flow up through the mesh base, helping dry the manure and keep the hens cool. By the time winter comes around, however, the shavings would be several inches deep and effectively seal off that route. By then, ventillation would occur only through the ceiling vents and whatever comes in through the door.
The walls and ceiling of the coop would be double-layered plywood, with the inside being 2" of fiberglass batting heavily dusted with diatomaceous earth to prevent red mites. This would leave 2.5 feet north to south inside the coop, by about 4 feet east to west -- 10 square feet, not counting nest boxes. Atop the ceiling would be nailed asphalt shingles. The slanted ceiling would overhang long vents along the north and south walls, thus not allowing breezes to blow directly through , but still allowing air to circulate. The vents would be at a height to be perhaps four inches or so above the hens when they're perching. The slanted ceiling would also overhang the rest of the scratching area to keep snow out.
The north side of the coop would have a long perch, while the south side would be open. I'm not sure how to make the hens perch facing one direction or another... ideally, though, they would perch facing south. Underneath their rears on the north end would be a thin slit open to the ground below for their waste through (probably open to a small trench in the ground, just outside their scratching area below the coop). I suppose I could have it lined with plywood all the way to the ground to keep drafts out, or possibly have a poop-catching removable board that I could put in and clean occasionally during the winter months. Either way, I wouldn't want them to freeze.
The southside of the coop would have space to roam, the feeder, and the waterer. The waterer would be a garden hose-connected auto-filling dog water bowl (they're around $13). The feeder would be a homemade gravity feed system. The garden hose will freeze during the winter, so I'd need to switch it out seasonally with a gravity feed auto-waterer that I'd have to manually fill.
Would I need an IR incandescent lamp for extra winter heat, or would their body heat plus a couple inches of insulation on all sides (fiberglass, shavings) be enough?
The roof would be hinged on the east side to provide access to the food, water, and hens. A prop would allow it to be held up once opened. Two 1.25'x1.25'x1.5' nest boxes would be on the west side, overhanging the chicken wire boundary below them, and also insulated. These would have a center cutout and a slope toward the cutout. Below the cutout would be foam padding in a removable drawer.
The chicken wire on the east and west sides that bind off those edges of the scratching area would be openable (by me, not the hens). The west side would only ever be opened to access the hens. Beyond the east side is the garden. Hens would be given unlimited access to the entire (fenced in) garden before spring planting and after fall harvest. They would have no access to any of the garden just after spring planting (I may set up a temporary, fully-enclosed run in the yard for them so they can nibble on the violets, grasses, dandelions, and bugs). In summer/fall, they would have access to only the "hen-safe" side of the garden -- mature squash plants, melons, corn, things of that nature. The "hen-unsafe" side would have things like my brassicas, lettuce, etc that they're known to enjoy, and they would not be allowed in. The boundary would be a couple feet of chicken wire (how high can they get over?). High over the top of my garden are a mesh of strings (and later in the year, vining plants that grow on said strings), so I doubt a hawk would even consider attacking there.
Would they care to have access to the garden area in the winter? Do they avoid snow?
What breeds would be the least garden-destructive but still tolerant to our winter conditions?
The hens would eat a commercial chicken feed during the year, supplemented with non-moldy household vegetable scraps and edible weeds from garden weeding (I wonder if they like smartweeds? I bet those seedheads are healthy... perhaps also tall grasses that have gone to seed?). Plus whatever bugs and plants they can catch/dig up.
What vaccinations/medical care do they need? Would I be able to purchase pre-vaccinated (if needed), near-mature hens, or would I have to raise them from poults myself? And if so, what all would that entail? What would the costs be like?
I assume I should not let my parrot (our household pet) anywhere close to them, and wash our hands after handling the hens before handling him, so as to prevent the transmission of diseases.
I assume that I don't need to "shut the hens in" at night if there aren't predators in the area... correct? Can they be counted on to seek shelter in their coop during hazardous conditions, such as rain or wind, or do they need to be forced to safety?
Am I missing anything important?
Thanks for any info you can offer!
runningtrails
msjay2u
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