Coop ventilation for Highveld heat, predator mesh for mongoose and caracal, bedding choices, grit, leg bands for bantams, and getting an incubator or brooder plate ready for the spring hatch. Plain answers from people who keep hens themselves.
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More than most first builds allow. Aim for open vent area above the birds' heads, not at floor level where draughts hit them at night. A ridge gap running the full length of the roof, screened with predator mesh, moves hot air out on a still January afternoon. Shade cloth over the run roof drops the temperature inside by a few degrees without blocking airflow.
Yes. Mongoose push through light wire and dig under a loose skirt, and caracal work at weak corners and door frames. Use galvanised predator mesh with a tight weave, bury a skirt of at least 300 mm around the run, and fit rust-treated hinges and heavy latch plates so a determined animal cannot lever a door open overnight.
Drinkers need a rinse daily and a proper scrub every few days, more often in summer when algae builds up in the water. Feeders get emptied and wiped weekly so old mash does not cake at the bottom. Keep them off the ground on a block or hook to cut down on shavings and droppings landing inside.
Shavings are the easy default: they absorb well, compost cleanly and do not mat like straw. In damp Cape winters, top up more often and check the corners of the coop for wet patches. Some keepers run a thin layer of diatomaceous earth under the shavings to help with mites, but it is not a substitute for cleaning out.
If they range and pick up small stones, maybe not. If they are penned on shavings or hard ground, offer insoluble grit in a small hopper so the gizzard can grind feed properly. Keep it separate from the calcium source, and do not mix it into the feed bin.
You need both, but they do different jobs. The incubator holds temperature and humidity for 21 days with turning and candling along the way. Once chicks are dry, move them under a brooder plate, which gives a warm dark shelter and runs cool on top. Lower the plate as they feather out, and keep them out of draughts for the first three weeks.
Keep the bin off a concrete floor, out of direct sun and sealed between fills. Buy what your flock finishes in a few weeks rather than bulk-buying for a small yard, and never tip new feed on top of old. If you are new to hens and unsure what to start with, a starter kit covers the basics so you are not buying piece by piece.
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