All of us at one point need to set up a coop and run from the ground up. One resource that has been great for me has been the BYC forums and recently the BYC FB group. That being said I see a lot of posts move past with beginners that want advice to get started. This post is dedicated to them.
A little background about my situation first. The first flock I helped start was a joint affair with a friend on her property. Not realizing how life changing chickens would be for me we started with 3 girls, chicks we ordered from My Pet Chicken that came to us in late October. We are located in Scottsdale, AZ, so our weather is temperate or scorchingly hot most of the year, with our cold weather still being shorts weather for northerners or mid-westerners. We lovingly ordered our coop, a prefab number from My Pet Chicken and we ordered a 10 x 13 run to put over it, picked the shadiest corner in the yard and set it all up. We attached some hardware cloth to the base of the coop then concreted it into the ground to keep things from digging in. As time went by we added a smaller 6x9 foot Omlet run with an Eglu coop next to the main run in case of illness or for introduction of new birds (which happened because we had two deaths in the first 8 months, more on that in another post).
There were a lot of lessons learned that first year. The first is that our heat is very difficult for chickens. We had Orpingtons and no good way to cool them off. We had our runs and coops in a low spot in the yard, we had unknowingly put them in a place where water pools when it rains. Concreting our run into the ground was not exactly a bad idea, but it did cause some issues with the placement of the run and with the water issues. I ended up ordering my own chicks for a personal flock that live on the same property, and I had plans to move them to my house eventually and as I have been planning this move I realized I had a set of considerations I needed to look out for.
1. How many chickens are you planning on having? You really should plan in chicken math numbers. Want 6? Plan for 12 to 24. I promise, this is important. Thinking about what type of community you live in is important too. I'm in the middle of a suburb. I can't have roosters and we do have predators, coyotes, hawks and bobcats. Chances are they are going to be in the run a good amount of time. This is important because a run should be big enough that there is about 10 sq ft/bird. A coop should be about 4 sq ft/bird. I sort of broke the coop rule because it gets so hot here that my birds hate the coop and for the most part refuse to sleep inside. I definitely planned the run to be big enough for 13/14 birds though, even though at the time I only had 6.
2. This is a good segue into breeds. If you are planning on keeping the girls inside the run often you should look for docile breeds that do well with confinement. Not taking that into account makes for unhappy chickens that will pick on the other members of their flock.
3. Coops. So much to say here. The prefab ones aren't very good. They just aren't. If you can repurpose a shed or playhouse it will probably serve you much better. If you do go with a prefab from Wayfair or MPC or Tractor Supply make sure and use a measuring tape to give you an idea of how big it might be. Look at all the features and read the reviews. You can also hire people to make you custom ones and one day I may go that route.
4. What is the climate like? How do I plan for heat/cold protection? If I need misters, how do I provide water and power if a pump is necessary? Do I have enough outlets for an evaporative cooler? Fans? If it's cold, how do I keep their water liquid in the winter? How do I insulate their run if necessary?
5. Rodents. Enough said. It's very stressful to have rats and mice. Having proper food containers and ensuring that they can't dig and get to any food areas is very important. Planning ahead for this is very important and remembering that if you bring an excess of rodents to your property they will probably try to inhabit your roof at some point because it's close to their food source. So keep your soffits patched and keep the food secure, otherwise it becomes somewhat difficult to sleep with the night time rodent stampedes.
6. What is going to be on the ground? Sand? wood chips? Plain ol' dirt? That's where forums or the FB group is super helpful. Having people from all over being able to chime in and post pictures about what they use and why.
7. Cameras. I have a lot of cameras on my girls. It's about peace of mind. Here we have coyotes, hawks and bobcats. Yes, we are in the city, but they are city dwellers as well and an easy meal is an easy meal. Having the cameras can help you understand what you need to do differently because you can see the predator. It also is just fun to watch the girls from time to time. Sometimes I even put one in the coop to see who lays what egg.
8. Where will I feed and water? What containers will be best? Thus far I have been using these Lixit waterer/feeders in both sizes they offer (32 and 64 oz) and they work fine. As waterers they are a bit labor intensive as they need to be changed every day and the girls get dirt in them constantly. As feeders they are prone to messiness. I have one Grandpa's feeder which is my favorite, not messy, a lot fits in, but it's expensive. Put some thought into your feeding situation and watering, there are so many ideas out there, some in books, some in forums, but do your research and don't be afraid to change if something isn't working for you and your chickens.
9. Quarantine area. Is there a place for sick chickens? How do I keep them separated? This is something I am actively contemplating right now. I have thought about a separate sick chicken pen, something that will be far enough away that they will not be in direct contact, but can still see each other. I am guessing I will eventually need it.
10. Nest boxes and dustbaths. My experience with our girls has told me that even with 14 girls there are two nest boxes that get used. I provide 8 but it seems that is a bit much. In the new setup I will provide 4 and with 10 girls coming home with me that should be more than enough.
11. Perch areas. Consider the height of your perches and what they are jumping down onto. If they are jumping into rocks make the perches low. Hitting rocks or hard chips of wood can be a main cause of bumble foot.
For my home project I decided on an Omelet run, mine is about 9x15, so about 135 sq ft of space. My coop is a smaller one, with room inside for probably 6-8 birds, but most of mine like to sleep outside so I doubt very much it will be used for anything but nesting. I bought it because it has mesh all over it. It's so hot here, I don't need girls suffocating inside while they are trying to lay. I have 2 different perch bars for different areas of the run, and I have a new 5 gallon waterer that I am going to try out. For now I am going to try to use the Omlet feeders inside the coop and use an auto door to keep the rats out and the girls in. My coop will be up on pavers to keep rats from digging in and I will probably invest in a grandpa's feeder as well. My run is elevated on concrete blocks and I bought 3 tons of washed mason sand to fill it in. The top will be tarped and the edges will have misters for summer either on a high pressure system or on an orbit hose timer (more likely for this year).
I'm really trying to use all the lessons I have learned from my first few years to streamline things for the years to come. The challenges here in AZ are very different than most places and chickens really seem like something I should not have embarked on, but they bring a lot of joy and my personal flock is one that leans toward heat tolerance. Once I am finished there will be an evaporative cooler at the back of the run and one on the side too. I will have a ring of misters around the top of the run to take the heat down a bit in the day. I am fortunate to have a big tree for shade so the girls won't be in direct sun any part of the day. Here's to hoping their first summer home isn't a bad one!
