this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2024
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Backyard Chickens (and Other Birds)

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[Were you a mod of backyard chickens on Reddit? Message me if you're interested in modding here.]

This is a community for people who keep chickens in their back yard. This includes pets, layers, and meaties at levels that are sub-industrial. Family farms and homesteads are included.

EDIT

The Fediverse is small. There probably aren't enough people here to make up a community for every type of bird that someone might keep so for now, everyone is welcome. Bring us your ducks and geese, turkeys and quail, Guineas and Peacocks, emus and parrots. The community will be focused on chickens but until there are enough of each bird community for their own community they will find care and comfort here.

/EDIT

There may be discussions of animal processing. This is part of chicken keeping. If you don't like it leave and block the community.

You may also be interested in:

Homestead

Parrots

Cockatiel

RULES:

  1. All Lemmy.ca rules apply here.

  2. Everyone (see rules 4 and 98) is welcome.

  3. If you've seen a question 100 times answer it the 101st time or ignore it. Even better, write a complete, detailed answer and suggest that the mod(s) pin it to the community.

  4. There will be ZERO tolerance for shaming, brigading, harassment, or other nonsense of those who keep and process chickens. You will be permanently banned the first time.

  5. No, it's not a calcium deficiency. Wrinkled eggs are the result of insufficient or insufficiently viscous albumen. Tiny eggs and missing shells are misfires. They happen.

  6. If you post a picture that includes a dead animal or blood mark it NSFW. We're not going to tolerate the militant anti-hunting and anti-farming bullshit here but we're also not going to tolerate people rubbing their hunting and harvesting in people's faces. See rule 98. If you post blood, gore, or dead animals and don't mark it NSFW it will be removed and you might be banned.

[Did you actually think there were 98 rules?]

  1. If you present something as fact and are asked to provide proof or a source provide proof or a source. Proof must be from a reliable source. If you fail to provide proof or a source your post or comment may be removed.

  2. Don't be a dick. Yes, this is a catch-all rule.

  3. The mod(s) have the final say.

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Building a coop - question about size (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/backyardchickens
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Greetings! I’m new here!

I just got notice from the city that a chicken license (one of 10 for a town of 15,000 people) came up and I’m first on the waiting list! So exciting! Please excuse the excited tangents.

We had chickens when I was 8-14, so I have a rough idea of the care involved, and am not overly concerned about the long-term maintenance. Since that was like 20+ years ago, however, I’ve been doing a lot of looking, just to brush up. Ultimately tho they have been kept for most of human history so I’m sure I can manage. :)

However, my experience, and most resources, are for larger flocks than I’m allowed, as well as more… comfortable climates.. so I’m here to ask some questions and learn.

This question is about the coop, because the run and access to various things is pretty well handled, but building it right is going to be important. I’d really rather not wake up after a snowstorm to clucksicles.

The location for it is going to be next to the garage, on the northeast side near the back, close to the warehouse behind me, and my house shadow falls there in the morning, garage afternoon, so the coop itself will be blocked from direct sun year round (there’s nowhere I can put it in the sun and be compliant with city regulations). They will have a huge run in full sun, however, and this location, coupled with the warehouse behind my property, is an effective wind block for the direction wind usually comes from.

I live in usda hardiness zone 4 (coldest temp between -20 and -30 f (-28 to -34 c)), and will be choosing a breed with that in mind, but I want to provide them with a really good shelter, too. I don’t want to use a heat source, so I’ll be insulating it quite heavily, but since I’ll be hatching them myself and interacting with them heavily, I’m not opposed to bringing them into the basement if the weather is looking really bad.

So my question given that I can have up to 6 (so I’ll have 6) and it gets really cold sometimes is this: should I build a full size coop I can walk in, so that if it’s amazingly cold they can comfortably exist inside for however long they want? Or should I build a smaller elevated coop with space under it for them to use, so they have a smaller space to warm up with body heat? Can they be trained to use doggy doors?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Chickens are pretty dumb I wouldn’t expect them to understand a doggie door.