Continuing her series on raising backyard chickens, Cathy Isom gives you some important things to consider for your backyard chicken coop. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
For anyone who decided to take the plunge and bring home those cute baby chicks, after about six weeks you’ll need housing for them that’s a little more solid than a cardboard box.
Whether it’s something elaborate that will require some advanced carpentry skills, and possibly a couple of weeks. Or, something simple you can build in a day. Just remember that all coops require two main components. An enclosed space for sleeping and laying eggs. And, an open air “chicken run” for roaming around during the day.
Find your location, preferably near a tree so its shaded during the heat of the day. If a tree isn’t an option, find a cloth to shade the coop during that intense summer heat. And, consider the size of the coop. A minimum of 2 to 3 square feet per bird inside the coop and 4 to 5 square feet or more per bird in the run. The more room, the better, to prevent your soon-to-be egg laying friends from getting their feathers in a bunch.
I’m Cathy Isom…