Look out!! Yet another newbie

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fargosmom

fargosmom

Crowing
15 Years
Dec 27, 2008
670
70
301
Pasadena, CA
Hi! I've tried to read as much as I can absorb before my first post, and I'm sure you all get tired of this question in all its various forms, but here goes:
I'm inching my way closer to getting a few hens for our backyard, and I'm trying to approach it cautiously to avoid any disasters. The area I have to devote to a coop and run is about 18'x4' , and it's against the east wall of our backyard. Not up to municipal code but I'm going to try to get away with it - none of my neighbors seem too concerned about legality. I'm thinking of a coop around 5'x4', elevated, so the entire space would also be the run (the area under the coop should provide some extra shade in summer). I'm thinking of 3-5 hens max. Does this sound adequate? They'll have to stay in this space most of the time, since our two dogs are serious hunters, and I can't afford to have any escapes into neighboring yards.
Question 2: I just came across a site referencing a Dr. Woods who wrote a book in the 20's about open-front coops - anybody using this plan? I like the idea, since summers here are pretty hot and winters pretty mild (we live in Pasadena CA).
Sorry to go on and on . . . just trying to get all my chicks in a row, so to speak. Thanks for any input.
 
First of all
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to BYC. Recomended floor space per chicken is 1.5 to 2.5 square feet. So you should be all right. We have a couple openfront coops, and they seem to work really well. Hope this helps you some.
 
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3-5 hens should be ok in that size. I did not see that article, but I think that's what I have, open-front coop. It's not really a coop at all what I have, just part of my pen has solid sides and solid roof, with roosts at different heights. My temps get down into the 30's at night and during the summer months I'm usually only in the 60's daytime, although it occasionally gets hotter.
 
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Phew! What a relief! I thought perhaps I was going to be too crowded after reading some of the space discussions. I'm still in the process of designing the coop and run, which we have yet to build, before we get any chicks. I'm trying to keep it all under about 5' since that's the height of the wall, so my neighbor doesn't have it in his line-of-sight from his kitchen window. This means the coop area will wind up about 3 1/2' to 4' tall - how high should I place the perches?
Gosh I'm starting to get excited . . .
 

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