Solitary chicken - need advice

[LAB]

Hello! I'm totally new to the chicken world! I've been reading and researching for several months and am about to hit the order button on a cube and walk in run for 6 chickens. I live in the Rocky Mountains and up on a foothill area. We get lots of snow and wind. The way the wind drifts the snow away from the house, the logical place for my chickens would be under 6 feet of snow in the winter. Against the house, and protected from the porch, gets next to no snow. So I'm wondering, can I not put the skirt on the run and slide it right up to the house on that one side? I am planning on zip tying hardware cloth on the bottom on the run (to keep out the ground digging animals) and probably using sand to cover it. We get snow, but very little rain and no humidity. It seems like it would work. Then the cube would be at the bottom of the stairs and not too much shoveling to get to the chickens to care for them in bad weather. Plus I have an outside outlet right there for a way to keep water from freezing. I'm a lot tight on space as we have a large swingset structure on that side of the backyard for the kids. I wasn't planning on chickens when we bought the house and planned the layout of the backyard! Now I'm trying to squeeze them in!

[Cat tails]

Squeezing in chickens is what we do best here!

 

I would reconsider ziptying the cloth to the bottom of the run. Chickens dig and not sure if it will hold up or one will get caught in the cloth. Also doesn't sound like it will be easy to clean/muck out.

 

A good alternative is placing your run on (congrete) slabs. It will prevent anything from digging their way in and you can hose it down, if necessary.

I actually dug a few tiles in the ground and covered it with dirt. My tiles do not meet and let water (and worms) through, but it isn't a predator resistent measure.

 

Not sure about not attaching to skirting. Is there any way you could anchor the run to the house?

[LAB]

I might be able to get pavers for under the run. Right now its grass. I figured that chickens would tear it up quickly and then I could put in like 3-4" of sand. Maybe a little deeper. It seems to be a popular option in the US. The hardware cloth under it was just a precaution. I know that we have digging/burrowing animals in the area. I've never seen one, but then I've never had anything tasty in my yard before to attract them. We have racoons, skunks, hedgehogs (not sure if they are a predator), porcupines, owls, eagles, hawks and cyotee. The wild turkeys seem to be thriving though. Its funny to see them perch on a neighbors trampoline! The neighborhood might offer some protection for the turkeys. I'm not sure how they are able to survive, but every year there are more adults spotted. I'm literally a couple of houses away from wild mountain wilderness. Great for hiking enthusiasts! It's nice to feel like you are always camping, but with all of your stuff! Every window is a mountain view or a valley view.

 

I was going to ask the hardware store to bend rebar into a U shape and pound those stakes into the ground with a sledge hammer to secure the run and cube in place. That's how the neighbors keep trampolines in their yards for the yearly, hurricane force, wind storm we seem to have. This area is the best protected by the house, porch and swingset. Our swingset is built in an L shape. We are the only family that hasn't had a swingset taken down. The popular straight sets topple right over in a big storm. Every year someone looses a side of fencing as well. It would be harder to secure the chickens home to the ground if it was on pavers though. I'll brainstorm ways to secure it to the house. If it was bolted to the house itself as well as the ground, it should be extra secure!

 

Many people have chickens up here. The biggest predators seem to be not supervised children with pet dogs that let chickens out of the runs to play with the dogs or dogs that escaped their houses and are wandering around attcking free ranging chickens in someones yard. I don't think that any chickens have been hurt by any wildlife! I plan on using a bicycle chain and padlock system to keep wandering kids out. Our close neighbor kids come play on our swingset daily, but they are all nice kids without dogs. I'm a little freaked out trying to figure out how to protect these chickens!

[Cat tails]

I'm a little freaked out trying to figure out how to protect these chickens!

 

With that you are definitely not the only one around here!

Although not many of us have to outsmart coyotes and porcupines...

 

Grass will not last long. But plain dirt works for mine. I don't really do much about it, apart from an occasional hose down. And the ladies like to dustbath in it. But like I said, I have very little threat of predators.

 

If you go for paving slabs, most here top it with either woodchips or aubiose.

[Luvachicken]

Welcome from me in the UK.

 

It sounds like you live in a beautiful place

Please can we see some photos of your scenery ?

 

There is always room for some chickens in a garden.

I agree with Cat tails that putting the run on slabs stops any critters getting in.

 

I read about all the things you have been making for your children - they sound fab - you must be very busy.

[LAB]

I'm crazy busy. Spent the afternoon getting my oldest ready to sit for her math final. I do not like graphing! I'm probably crazy to be adding chickens to this mix, but my local small hatchery is doing their last run before the summer, so its basically now or figure something out. I work best under pressure. My DH pointed out that I keep humming the Indiana Jones theme song. I think I've been running on adrenaline for too long. I told the kids that we could adopt 2 kittens from a friends litter, so we are waiting for them to be old enough to add to the chaos!

 

It is very beautiful here. In a couple of weeks the wildflowers will start blooming. Every month a different type blooms and changes the colors. Then in the fall we have beautiful oranges, reds and yellows with evergreen trees. Then we get way too much snow, but without the freezing temperatures of Northern areas. It rarely gets into single digits at night (F).

 

I'll talk to my DH about putting down slabs at dinner. We are going to do something similar between our garden raised beds. We quickly put down black plastic to solarize the area.

 

I'm still left wondering if its possible to put the wall of the run right up against the house with the apron/anti dig skirting removed or even flipped inside the WIR? That 6" is going to count!

 

I need to go out and measure again, but I might be able to get an even bigger length run if I go over a basement window well. The well is covered by a metal grate so kids (and animals) can't get down there. It might be a nice perch for chickens and give them more space. I need to think on that one. That well is a fire escape for the basement (1 of 2) so I'd need to have a key or something for the lock on the run available.