few quick questions...?

[cosmomcnugget]

How big of a "yard" do standard breed chickens need? I have 5 little ones. The house is on the smaller side, 15 sq ft. I want to give them plenty of room to be happy!

How deep should the fence be burried? I live in a small city, I think the biggest threats come from a possible racoon or opossom.

Should the feeder and waterer be kept inside or can it go in the outside run? Does it matter? (obviously I will need to keep the water from freezing either way in the winter)
Do the food and water need to be both kept in the same place relatively?

Thanks so much!

 

[Wes in Tx]

That size coop will be OK for 5 birds as long as they have lots of outside space. I have one pen that is 40x20 and has 13 birds and they do pretty good in it. Most recommendation say 10 ft outside space per bird but I am a big believer in the bigger the better. I say at least 20 sqft per bird and more if you can.

You don't have to bury the fence unless you really want to. A great work around is to lay a piece of 2ft wide hardware cloth on the ground and attached to the bottom of the fence and you can either leave it like that or cover it with mulch. Those of us that live in parts of the country that only have 2-3 inches of dirt don't even try burying our wire(any more in my case.) Did that once and dug a 6 inch trench, around a 25x25 run, in solid limestone. Took me nearly 2 weeks of digging 2 hrs a night after work. Never again, I say NEVER again.

Unless the coop is elevated like 3 ft off the ground so you can get under it I keep my feed inside the coop and water outside. I do have one pen with the food outside but that pen has a tin roof and the sides around the feed are covered with tin to the top of the pen.

I keep all my water outside except when brooding chicks in the coop. If you can keep the feed from getting wet outside that is really the best place cause it helps keep mice and such out of the coop.