Rain at home and in Houston where I am.
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Thanks! Glad to be here!Welcome, ATX!
Yep, fenced in backyard on a 1/4 acre corner lot in Austin.Presume you're in a subdivision with fenced backyard vs rural acreage?
Current thread for proposed build . Unfortunately did buy a SnapLock coop and a large poultry pen, but now realize the chicken math hit me hard and those items are too small for 10 fully grown birds. Trying to incorporate the pen has made construction more difficult since everything is now mixed materials and having to learn 2 ways to attach hw cloth, 2 ways to attach a roof, etc. About to return hog rings pliers to Amazon since I realized they are the wrong size. Maybe I'll just use the pen for alligators or something (kidding!).--Presume you're constructing your own coop/run and not buying the cheaply made, worthless, pre-made doll house coops from TSC. Good plans, photos, advice, etc here on BYC for building your own coop and run--make that investment up front. Predator protection and shade are priorities in Cen TX. Build bigger than you think you'll need, too.
Friends just built a stock tank pond in their front yard. They are still within the city, but in a slightly more rural part of the city if that makes more sense. I was planning on having it inside the run and fed with rain gutters off the chicken coop which would mean it is wholly surrounded by 1/2" hardware cloth and aprons, so things that can't get to my birds, can't get to the fish, but I hear you. More of a long term daydreaming question than an immediate planning one.--Fish pond: great to attract wild birds but also pulls in chicken predators like raccoons, skunks, possums, foxes even in a suburban environment. Also can be high maintenance. Ask me how I know. We have a Frog Pond at our house, not at the barn where the chickens live. We do love the FP, as we're birders, but would not recommend one unless you're outside a typical subdivision environment.
--Our hens drink well water. Our humans drink rainwater (10K gallon rainwater tanks, two of them)
Hmm. I see so much conflicting advice on sand. Will have to do some research. Maybe I'll setup half the run with sand and half with a deep litter setup and just see what seems to work for us.--My chicken run is sand (horse arena sand not playground or beach sand). Easy on the feet, dries relatively quickly, easy to pick out poop.
Why insulation? There's a decent amount of shade cover from trees and just about everything will be open air.Use an appropriate insulation underneath the metal roof, it will be worth the effort/cost.
Definitely plan to cross reference everything as I have a plan to also redo non-chicken related plants around my property, too.--Go native if you are putting in new plantings.
Some of the herbs are intended for dual-purpose insect repellent and cooking, of which I do a lot.Herbs are fine but probably take up more space if in the run than provide real benefit for chickens.