Welcome, ATX! Presume you're in a subdivision with fenced backyard vs rural acreage? TSC has lots of good supplies, depending upon which store you use. Just a few random thoughts about your questions:
--Presume you're constructing your own coop/run and not buying the cheaply made, worthless...
If you decide to reduce flock size you can always post your "gotta go" birds here on BYC. Put in the 'Buy-Sell' forum and be SURE to include at least a general geographic location in the the subject line. Pictures are always helpful. My girls are pure pets so often live beyond their "production...
I've had good success with: (a) good ol' snap traps baited with peanut butter. I slide them (primed and baited) into a small, empty cardboard/chipboard box (canned catfood box, kleenex box, etc) that can open/close at one end. Cut a mouse hole in one of the box sides. This setup is to make...
Cute coop. Ditto the predator proofing. Might depend upon where you're located (heat of summer, etc) but I'd go ahead and hang both a food & water feeder in each side.
IMHO the "question" is what your personal tolerance level is to a given feed/food contaminant, for yourself and/or your chooks.
It is quite possible that, somewhere, individual small farms following true organic practices might be a source for the grains and other ingredients by which you can...
Barbed wire will be more of a problem to mess with for you and your dog than it will for a fox--I personally would not use it. Ditto others who suggest electric poultry fencing or running a hot wire/hot tape along the outside top and bottom of your (fenced?) run space.
I was also going to suggest rat snake based on markings and behavior described. I've yanked a couple of rat snakes out of my coop in years past when I'd do night check at the barn; they were going for the fake nest eggs as my hens watched from their roost. :hmm
Glad your first reaction isn't to...
I have a total of 6 water stations, all except one are the standard white plastic container with the click-turn or screw on dispenser trays. One 'waterer' is one of those large plastic shallow trays that potted plants sit on.
Algae and wild bird poop are the most frequent challenges to keeping...
Chiming in from the Hill Country--do not cut down a healthy, viable live oak, please. Count yourself lucky that oak wilt hasn't affected your live oaks yet--ask me how I know. As for horizontal growth, that's a factor of time, wind, and Mother Nature; we have plenty of live oaks growing that...
Kudos to you for thinking things through for your special needs girl! Your setup in the pic looks good--fresh air, easy access to water/food, in the vicinity and hearing range (?) of other flockmates yet protected from pestering. Only concerns would be preventing predators (including dogs &...
I'll chime in here with only my personal experience from 14 years of keeping pet chickens. I started out with four Meyer chicks, one who lived to age 9. My hatchery girls after that had all lived to at least 4 years old.
My first girls from a 'real' breeder were 3 started pullets (Dominiques)...