A friend of my sister-in-law gave us an Ameraucana rooster (back left in the picture above) and 9 hens (Ameraucana, Red Star, and Black Star) recently. They are a mix of ages ranging from 1 to 3 years. They seem to be very tame and gentle, allowing me to walk up and pick them up without too much problem.
I love hearing the crows of a rooster again and may let a broody hen raise some chicks this summer. Despite the rooster's sharp 1 1/2" long spurs, he seems quite docile. I've "interacted" with a few roosters that were truly mean and would attack humans relentlessly with those sharp spurs. We have young children whose eyes are within easy striking distance of an aggressive rooster, so even though I'm looking forward to having him around, if he shows any aggression towards humans he will wind up in the soup pot.
The house needed a good clean out from the chickens of the previous owner. I shoveled everything out and piled it outside to compost*. I put a layer of fresh pine shavings on the floor and straw in the nest boxes.
The house has roosting bars already in place. These are really important, because chickens like to roost up high while they sleep at night. In the off chance a predator gets into the house at night, the chickens will still have some protection because they are up off the floor. Chickens also defecate a lot at night and this keeps them up and out of that.
Good ventilation is essential for a hen house. Their droppings can produce a lot of ammonia, which can cause all sort of health issues for the chickens if it builds up in the house. The house has two chicken-wire covered windows on one side of the house.
*Never put chicken litter directly into your garden. It has too much nitrogen and needs the composting period to mellow. Also, applying fresh manure to food growing areas poses a risk of bacterial contamination of food.
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