Minimum stocking help - better social life for chickens, or more space?

Shadrach said:

Hello Eggos.
Welcome to BYC.
Better not to mix Bantams with full sized chickens.
Three would be my choice rather than two for the reason townchicks mentioned.
You don't mention where you plan to get your chickens or what age they will be.
Take your time and if you can, find a breeder with a good reputation who will let you see their birds and how they are kept before you buy.

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Thanks Shadrach!

I've decided to go for three standard sized chickens, I've been perusing for a while for breeders and have found a couple breeders that are quite transparent and are starting to hatch out chicks now (so excited!!) which I plan on raising indoors as I finish off the run while they fluff up for 6 weeks.

Eggos said:

Yes I'm planning on a clear acrylic sheet as the roof

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That won't provide shade.

Eggos said:

and will try to have a dwarf mulberry tree in the run with a lot of pruning!

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Protect the roots or they may tear it up.

aart said:

That won't provide shade.


Protect the roots or they may tear it up.

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Half of the run is actually shaded by a large tree which I was actually a bit bummed out about because I would have loved trying to grow a watermelon vine over the fencing haha

Hm yeah I was thinking putting some wiring around the base of the tree and see what happens

Welcome to BYC.

A quick Googling tells me that Sydney is a warm climate so this is very concerning:

Eggos said:

I'm planning on a clear acrylic sheet as the roof

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Chickens tolerate cold much better than they tolerate heat and the greenhouse effect of a clear roof in a warm climate can turn your coop and run into a rotisserie. Think of how a greenhouse works or a car on a sunny day.

Here's my article on hot climate chicken keeping: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

And my article on ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

I suggest considering an Open Air coop -- which combines coop and run into one. Essentially, a big wire box with a 3-sided shelter on the windward end.

3KillerBs said:

Welcome to BYC.

A quick Googling tells me that Sydney is a warm climate so this is very concerning:



Chickens tolerate cold much better than they tolerate heat and the greenhouse effect of a clear roof in a warm climate can turn your coop and run into a rotisserie. Think of how a greenhouse works or a car on a sunny day.

Here's my article on hot climate chicken keeping: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

And my article on ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

I suggest considering an Open Air coop -- which combines coop and run into one. Essentially, a big wire box with a 3-sided shelter on the windward end.

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Ooh thank you for that, that's a very helpful read. Thankfully I am situated more coastal than inland and summers only get to around 30C instead of 40C (for now hmm).

An open air coop also wouldn't require having to get up early to let them out or spending hundreds on an auto door, I love that idea.

The reason I was looking at clear roofing was so a bit of sun could come through and enable me to transplant a mulberry tree inside the run, I've seen clear polycarbonate panels being recommended for run roofing materials, maybe that could work in conjunction with an open air run/coop since there's a large tree shading half of it

Eggos said:

The reason I was looking at clear roofing was so a bit of sun could come through and enable me to transplant a mulberry tree inside the run, I've seen clear polycarbonate panels being recommended for run roofing materials, maybe that could work in conjunction with an open air run/coop since there's a large tree shading half of it

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Better to put the tree outside the run so that it will grow to shade the walls. Especially if you have room to put it on the western wall since the afternoon sun is usually the hottest.

A tree and the wire cage necessary to keep the chickens from destroying it while it becomes established would eat up a lot of otherwise useful square footage.

3KillerBs said:

Better to put the tree outside the run so that it will grow to shade the walls. Especially if you have room to put it on the western wall since the afternoon sun is usually the hottest.

A tree and the wire cage necessary to keep the chickens from destroying it while it becomes established would eat up a lot of otherwise useful square footage.

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That is a good alternative

It would be really neat though to make the tree work inside the run as the chickens would be able to feast on fallen mulberries! I always see mulberry trees recommended for chicken food forests, it's such a cool idea to me.

I never thought building a chicken run could cause so much decision-making stress haha

Eggos said:

That is a good alternative

It would be really neat though to make the tree work inside the run as the chickens would be able to feast on fallen mulberries! I always see mulberry trees recommended for chicken food forests, it's such a cool idea to me.

I never thought building a chicken run could cause so much decision-making stress haha

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Probably better to feed them the mulberries in controlled quantities so they don't over-eat.

Your chicken housing can either make the job easier or make the job harder. It's worth putting the effort into good design.

Here are some coops I like to help you get the design wheels turning:

Open Air Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

Small Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-little-monitor-coop.76275/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/dallas-urban-coop-single-slope-design.72422/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/yakisugi-coop.76398/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coreys-coop-de-doop.55619/

You can see my big, open air coop in that hot climate article. I don't have a coop page for it yet.

I have a mulberry tree in/alongside one of my runs. More because I built the run using the existing fence and the mulberry grows between that fence and my neighbors'. I tried to prune it to death this spring. Maybe my timing was bad. My husband has gone after it as well and I think the neighbor has even tried to kill it from his side. It is invincible and my chickens have made no impact on it whatsoever. I dont even think they eat the mulberries. But they might not get any chance because the amount of wild birds that inhabit it is obnoxious. I have to be careful where I put my chicken food and what kind of container I use because the wild birds will eat more in a day than my hens!! If you plant a mulberry I would do it outside the run for shade and make sure your fencing is hardware cloth so the wild birds can't get into your run. The mulberry will probably work its way through into the run but as long as you have decent support on your fence it shouldn't be a problem.