High Desert Chicken Newbie

[Cindylee3]

Hello everyone,
I'm so happy to find this forum to learn more about raising healthy chickens. We recently purchased 4 Easter Eggers and want to add a few more, they are approximately 3 weeks old now and it's been a joy to watch them change so rapidly.
We live in the high desert just above 4,000 ft. Our home is on the ridge of a canyon that has fierce winds at times I'm hoping our little chicken hut can withstand that kind of energy, it's arriving on Wednesday!
I am an oil painter who also loves to sew and spend time outside in nature with my little dog Sparrow.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

So glad you decided to join us. Your birds won't like the strong winds and may hunker down somewhere in the coop on windy days, but they will learn to deal with in. Enjoy this new adventure!

Make yourself at home here and welcome to our community!

 

[SilverBirds]

Welcome to BYC! Thanks for joining us.

 

[Jenbirdee]

welcome to BYC! i used to live in the high desert of antelope Valley in Southern California. It’s nice to meet you. Do you have a link or picture of the coop that’s coming? Is it a prefab kit? Most of them are very light weight so you are right to be concerned, you may have to secure it with large tent pegs that go deeply into the ground.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello Cindy, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

little chicken hut

This sounds like a prefab. It will not only not be large enough to house your birds, it WILL blow over. They are horribly flimsy and made of very cheap wood. If you can return it without unpacking it, I strongly suggest that.

You can convert an old shed into a coop for a much better price. You can anchor the shed to the ground with hurricane straps. If you don't have an old structure you can hand over to the birds, talk to local shed companies and tell them you are looking for an old shed. They remove them from customer's properties regularly. If you pay the delivery fee, you can likely get one for just that fee. It isn't too difficult to modify one and you can make them look cute. This is the old shed I modified and the after picture of the finished coop.

Good luck with your new flock!

 

[LTAY1946]

Hello and Welcome to BYC

 

[janiedoe]

Hi Cindy, welcome to BYC.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, Cindylee, and welcome to BYC!!

 

[azurbanclucker]

Short term you can build a wind break fence to help deflect some of the wind coming up the canyon on the windward side of your coop. Longer term, you can plant some native trees (like juniper, manzanita, or scrub oak for example in my high desert) along the windward side to for a natural wind break. That will take more time obviously, so just depends on how long you need to protect that coop. Also depends on the fire risk in your area of course.

Welcome!

 

[Boppo]

Glad to meet you, Cindy, and welcome to BYC. Congratulations on new birds! You are at such a fun stage.

You have gotten some helpful comments above about your concerns over wind. Chickens need a roomy place that is protected from wind, some sort of coop home.

Here are my favorite beginning articles that helped me as a newbie. I hope you will find them helpful as well. All articles are short, have illustrations, and reviews, which are often worth looking at for the comments.

1. Intro to chicken keeping

2. Common mistakes & how to fix them

3. Ventilation (important to chicken health), with helpful links to coop designs organized by climate (because what is just right for my New England hens won't work for my brother's Arizona chickens)

3(a). Farmers Almanac on Building Coops (Includes size requirements!) Allowing plenty of space for chickens is really important because, even as chicks, they will start pecking each other or plucking their own feathers, or become unhealthy if they are overcrowded. Here is a link to Colorado State Extension's publication on space and temperature requirements for chicks as they age.

4. Predator protection for new & existing coops

5. Dealing with a muddy coop and run

6. Gardening for chickens

7. BYC Lists of Chicken Ailments and Cures

To look for articles on your own:

A. Use the SEARCH button, but use the Advanced Search choice, and select ARTICLES at the top of the box. Just enter your keyword(s) and scroll through your results!

B. I find it helpful to notice the rating and reviews. All articles are by BYC members, and all the reviews/ratings are as well. The ratings help a newbie like me sort the most useful and reliable articles.

C. You can bookmark the articles or posts you think you want to refer to again using that bookmark icon at the top of articles or posts. You can find them again by clicking on your own avatar and looking at the list of bookmarks you have built up!

Notes about where to put a coop:

1. As far as you can, put a coop and run on high ground, that drains well, so you won't have so much muddy coop problems. Chickens need to be dry, dry, dry.

2. As far as you can, put a coop with the ventilation lined up with your prevailing breezes, and away from the direction of your storms. If you are not sure of these (who is these days?), check with your local National Weather Service website.

3. As far as you can, arrange for some sort of shade over your coop and run. Preferably deciduous so the girls will enjoy winter sun, but summer shade.