My "coop" will be a heavy duty dog run. My Mom has one and has no problems. She
even taught her dogs not to chase the chickens. Although now the chickens are
confined to the pasture and horse pens. They were making a mess of her barn
area. I will be very cautious with my dogs. And the chickens will only be
allowed out when I am home. That will cut down on the dog thinking chicken. I
found another dog run to look at and am hope that she contacts me back. It is
bigger then the other one at 6' x 4'x 4' so 24 sq ft vs. 15 sq feet. I have hot
weather to deal with here so I have to make sure i have great ventilation and
storm protection for our monsoon season. My Dad weatherized Mom's coop and I
will probably do the same type of thing once I get a basic coop. Thanks for the
info.

Jennifer in AZ

--- In bantamchickens@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <mmontgomery@...> wrote:
>
> Jennifer,
>
> So you are looking to get an ark. Timid around humans may not mean timid
around its prey. You still need to be careful about your dogs. Seems like most
people lose chickens to their own dogs, "Today, spot just decided he would eat a
chicken and then he had one." You might not know you have a chicken killer
until it happens. If your small ark has no bottom, the dog could just flip it
over and snack away while you are gone.
>
> I have never bought a pen, just made mine from ideas from other coops. I am
in the process of making my version of a Stealth Coop for a friend. It looks
like a garbage can next to a compost pile.
>
> Mark in NC
>
> --- In bantamchickens@yahoogroups.com, "Jennifer" <mootilda2007@> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the info. I am actually going today to look at an outdoor cage
that is 5'L x 3'W x 3'W. It does not have a bottom so I can move it around if it
is not too heavy or I'll just see if my Dad can make it movable. LOL. Plus, I
plan to let the chickens out in the evening when I am home and can watch them. I
have 2 dogs that will have to learn to live with the chickens. One is so timid,
that if a hen went after him, that would be all it would take, he would high
tail it to the opposite corner of the yard. The puppy will probably take a
little bit longer but she is smart and listens well.
> >
> > Also looking at the Chick N Hutch to put with it. I don't have any birds
yet. Can't have roos since I live in the city. I did find a feed store that
has banty chicks. Going to take a look this weekend to see what they have.
> >
> > Jennifer
> >
> > --- In bantamchickens@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <mmontgomery@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Jennifer,
> > >
> > > For standards I have been told that it is 4 square feet per bird, but with
bantams you can get away with less square foot per bird. So with this reasoning
a 10 X 10 coop could hold 25 standard birds and more bantams. Personally, I
think that would be too crowded and would probably only work if they were the
same age and brooded together. My coop for my bantam laying flock is a bit
bigger than that, but I felt they were a bit crowded when I had around 25 bantam
hens in there. Also, it is a dynamic flock and I move things in and out,
depending upon what I want close by to look at and removing the noisiest ones.
Some are pullets and some are hens. If they fight too much and don't settle
down, then things are probably too crowded. Also, for two roos, sometimes even
all the outdoors is too crowded for them (there's not room enough in this town
for both of us).
> > >
> > > What kind of coop are you looking at? Are you building it yourself? Are
you thinking of a movable ark?
> > >
> > > Mark in NC
> > >
> > > --- In bantamchickens@yahoogroups.com, "Jennifer" <mootilda2007@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi - I am looking at coops and was wondering if there was a square feet
per bird assessement? Thanks
> > > >
> > > > Jennifer
> > > >
> > >
> >
>