Dave...actually the biggest issue we had with free ranging chickens was collecting eggs, they were everywhere. Never an issue with them taking the grass down to dirt as it was a large area. They would also fly over the fencing and get into the gardens. I like the basic design of the coop, even though it will take a bit more evaluation I am thinking of reducing the size of the main coop and making the runs a bit larger, probably the same basic footprint. I'll know more as we see how the chickens are doing, right now they are staying in the coop and out of the rain. With the main coop, walkways and one run at a time I am looking at over 900 square foot of space during the day and about 320 square foot of space in the main coop in the evening when they go to roost. I feel pretty good about putting 50-60 chickens in the coop. Shawn
Dave...you may be correct when it comes to conditions and feed provided; but there are definitely differences when it comes to the DNA of the chickens. I'm assuming that a breed that is smaller and leaner will have a different fat content to a standard meat chicken and that should provide a different taste...unless tossed into the hot pot overnight. Many things are still an experiment, and the local chickens are something I'm getting talked into. Probably not the 2nd coop but perhaps the 3rd coop. I've actually read that they can't be coop raised, so we shall see. I will always share progress. Shawn
The chickens have been in the coop for the past 5 days, getting acclimated to their new environment. When it was raining, they have been staying in the main coop. They have been out to the walkway and the one run that hasn't yet been planted with clover. The wife says they seem to be much happier than when they were free ranging; plus keeps them out of the weather. Currently 85 chickens in the coop, though there is around 20 or so that are young roosters (cockerels?) so those will be either sold or processed for the freezer pretty soon. Which puts us at a number I feel good about. We will not start on the 2nd and 3rd coop for probably a month as we look to start some other small projects and continue to evaluate the functionality of this first one. I'm not physically home, so I am going off of pics and discussions with the wife but have a few initial ideas on how to improve the next 2 coops. I really do like the footprint of 44'X44'. The current main coop is 20'X20' (minus the 4'X20' storage area) we are going to build the next one at 16'X16', with a 6'X6' storage area. This adds quite a bit more space to the runs, where they will end up spending a lot of their time during the day. My original design called for the roof to slope from 8' to 6' AFF; obviously not what happened once I left, will be in the next ones. It will minimize costs and just makes more sense to me. I do realize cutting down on the roof height and downsizing the main coop will likely increase the internal temps; but I think we can minimize that with the construction material of the walls (I like bamboo slats) and probably a ridge or roof fan...non-electric, the wind gets it spinning to remove the heat that has risen to the roof. A couple things that would be cool to get some feedback on: we put down 4" of rice hulls in the main coop, the plan is to add hulls as things get compressed a bit. From what I've read I think we should only have to clean everything out twice a year. Imagine the amount of compost we will be able to produce, especially once we get up to 4 chicken coops with 200+ chickens. Does that make sense? Also, as I mentioned, each coop has 4 runs where the chickens will stay for 1 week before moving to the next one. I decided to go with white and red clover as the cover crop. It grows fast and the chickens are supposed to like it. We have clover growing now, but probably a week away from letting the chickens check it out. The plan is to reseed clover after the chickens have left so the clover will have almost 3 weeks to get re-established. Good plan or is there a different cover crop to consider? Thanks! Shawn
