Here is the site we are thinking would work best for a chicken enclosure/coop. We have irrigation so it would have to be built up with railroad ties and earth. We plan to make it about 4' x 12', still discussing the size because we have dogs, cats, a garden and a pool in the back yard. We want to make sure the chickens to have enough room if they can't get a lot of free range time on the grass. Eventually we hope to let them roam for an hour or two at night if possible so they can clean up bugs and stretch their legs, but we are worried about the pool - are they prone to falling in? Does this size sound about right for 4 or 5 chickens? It will be a walk in yard and we are thinking the coop would be about 4' by 3', so the cleaning door and the nest boxes will open to the outside of the enclosure. The small tree in the picture is no longer there, and the enclosure would extend about a foot or two beyond that. We thought that the large tree would give good shade in the summer (even though the yard will have a roof) and the position of the sun in the winter would be below the branches and give some warmth to the yard. There will be room underneath the coop for the chickens to forage as well. On backyardchickens.com under small coops there is an enclosed yard with a white door and slanted roof we are modeling this after but I can't figure out how to link the picture. ;0) Comments and suggestions welcome!
We will be getting chickens too. I was looking to copy the small coop with chicken run here:
We are planning 4 chickens with a 4'x4' coop with about a 4'x6' "run" does this sound about right, or should I plan on having only 3? How big should the nesting boxes be? It would be nice if other people could post their coops so we can see what kind of space they have.
FYI, to link a picture you can click the little blue/green box above the comment box and navigate to the photo on your harddrive, or paste the url. If you right click any photo online you can usually click "save picture as" and save it to your desktop.
Thanks for the help with the picture Ben...Your choice seems like a very functional coop (also really nice looking) - I like the fact it has a big door for cleaning and the windows can be propped open for a breeze - I am concerned about heat in the coop in the summer, especially if it is small. 4 chickens seemed about right to us too as beginners - we don't want to get overwhelmed and we really only want eggs and fertilizer for the compost and garden.
I would also love to see some pictures of coops in Phx to see how the heat issue is addressed. Here's the coop we liked... http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1629-
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We are planning 4 chickens with a 4'x4' coop with about a 4'x6' "run" does this sound about right, or should I plan on having only 3? How big should the nesting boxes be? It would be nice if other people could post their coops so we can see what kind of space they have.
FYI, to link a picture you can click the little blue/green box above the comment box and navigate to the photo on your harddrive, or paste the url. If you right click any photo online you can usually click "save picture as" and save it to your desktop.
I would also love to see some pictures of coops in Phx to see how the heat issue is addressed. Here's the coop we liked...
http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1629-