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?
Ok so I don’t love whatever this thing is. It gives me creepy basement entrance vibes that don’t fit.
I like ceiling elephant if stuff has to be there at all, but the rest of the cave drawings…
My primary plan is to hatch extra and expect some losses. Wildlife needs to eat, too, and I can’t fault it for doing so, even if it’s inconvenient for me.
However I’ll also employ roosters, which are annoying but do great protecting the flock (even sacrificing themselves to save their ladies). If you can’t/won’t have roosters for whatever reason, a couple geese will help as well, or you can add them to the roostered flock for extra protection, I believe.
Personally, the only way I’d ever shoot something going after my flock would be if it’s a threat to the enclosed run/coop where they stay at night and in bad weather. Or if they were habitual about raiding my flock.
But chickens should be in a coop at night so as long as you have one critters can’t get into, you probably won’t have too many losses.