Hi

Have 21 hens in Connecticut. First time with chickens and just loving it so much. Love this site and it's been a great resource.

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

I know this site has helped me a lot. Glad you joined

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

Welcome to BYC!

You might like to drop in on your state thread and meet other members from CT. For one thing, they will be able to give you tips on how to deal with your weather and winter is just around the corner!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/55/connecticut

It's nice to have you here, thanks for joining us!

We are getting ready for our first winter and have been reading the forums. Our coop in in a part of the garage and the outside walls are insulated. There isn't electricity in the garage, but it looks like the hens will be okay as long as they have adequate ventilation. We have ventilation at the top of the coop, 4 windows on the side that will be closed and one large picture window in the front that will be closed. The guy we bought the chickens from suggested we do the deep litter method in the coop, starting in September because it will generate heat in the coop during the winter, so we did that. I keep reading that chickens can endure the cold if they adapt to it and ours are. I hope we are doing everything right.

Last week we had a scare with a hawk swooping down, but my son was outside and scared it off. The chicken started squawking like crazy and alerted the others and then she took cover in the sunflower garden. We have a 3/4 acre lot that they free range in and the yard is surrounded by a 6 foot vinyl fence and 4 dogs that roam around. We have some gardens around the yard and we let them become overgrown to protect the girls. Now we are putting up some additional shelters around the yard for them to run to in case something comes back. Not sure if this is in vain and we welcome suggestions. They do have a covered run, but they love being in the yard.

I think your idea to put up additional shelters are a very good idea, they will give your birds some extra hiding safe places.

Not sure if this is the place to post, but we added two young chickens in August and one ended up being a rooster who was very aggressive and we took him back to the farm. He was always with the other one, Morgan, and this left her alone. We thought she would integrate into the flock with time, but she has not. She is always on the outside and is is sad to watch. All the rest have each other. She was about 9 weeks old when we got her and she's about 16 weeks old now. The rest aren't aggressive towards her, but she is always alone and on the outside. Any suggestions or should we just leave it alone?