Howdy All! thanx Admin for the invite!
Started doing Chickens about 4 years ago. so im still new to this! Mostly Ive raised "reds" "Americanas" and "Cornish white rocks".....some for egg most the rest for meat.
Have tried various means of "housing" my birds. The first year I let them free range,...they ate my garden and the Coyotes ate them. Two Red hens Survived out of 24 birds
total.
Tried a small wooden tool shed with a fence the next year....was only satisfactory...birds need room to stretch-out to thrive, "specially in the heat and humidity of the south..
Last year I Took an area out back that was a old dog lot from eons ago,and fenced it back in . I left the trees that had grown up there and left most all the underbrush growth as well. Built a simple ledge between 2 trees and built sides back and top and covered it with some old roofing tin,, filled it with hay and left open the front.....no dividers or anything else..built a simple leaning ladder from a small tree-trunk and slats to form a walkway up to the ledge ..
Ive got around 35 birds this year ...some reds...some blacks....10 cornish-white rock meat birds..and about 10 leghorns in that area..(also have a couple turkeys but are in another area down by the goat lot).....my birds seem to love this setup better than anything Ive tried yet......they have dirt,.....trees( two of them a Black Cherry )....bushes....bugs....shade....they love to roost up in the trees....and they are protected from predators now. Seems like my tite-wad approach to coops is working great..neighbors said it wouldnt work....its doing fine!! birds are happy and healthy..
I tend to think of it more as an Chicken Aviary than a coop.
Anyways...glad to be here and would love to hear stories and methods from you other good folks
