Another newbie has joined the community

nparker76

Hatching
Mar 6, 2016
3
0
7
Arkansas
Hi all!

Everytime I visit may parents I have to bring back eggs, but I only get to do that once every couple of months. So I decided to take the plunge. I've been talking about it for years, and I finally told myself to quick thinking and just do it.

So now I'm into the build phase. I've got it about 3/4 built, and we have a good rain coming this week so I slapped some primer on it to protect the bare wood. Hopefully I can find time to finish in the next couple of weeks. Once it's done, I figure I'll start out with some grown hens that can hopefully produce eggs right way. Then maybe I'll get some chicks and raise myself. I'm thinking I should have room for 8-10 or so birds. The enclosed coop is 24 sqft with an additional 6 sqft of hatching cubes (not sure the technically name for it yet). The pen has about 65 sqft of yard space.

I'm sure I'll be on here quite a bit looking for answers, suggestions, and ideas. Thanks in advance!

From Central Arkansas
400
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! It looks like your coop is coming on really well! I'm sure you will really enjoy collecting your own fresh eggs, there is nothing quite like them. Fingers crossed you get that primer on and your coop gets finished soon :fl

Wishing you the very best of luck with your new chicken adventures. Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat :frow
 
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Looks like you're off to a good start. The hatching cubes you're referring to are nesting boxes. As a rule of thumb, dual purpose birds require about 4 sq. feet of coop space (not including the space taken up by nesting boxes, waterers and feeders) and the run needs to be about 10 sq. feet per chicken. If the chickens feel crowded, you can end up with feather picking and fighting.

Good luck to you, hope you enjoy having your own egg layers!
 
Hi and welcome to BYC - you have some great advice already so I'll just say hello!

All the best
CT
 
Rule of thumb is 4-5 sq.feet per bird in the cook, not counting roosts or nest boxes. In the outside run, chickens should have 10 sq.feet per bird. A run cover can protect them from raptors and climbers, and if the solid type , offer some protections from the elements.
 
Well it's been awhile, but I finally got my first coop finished. My parents have about 3 dozen chickens so they let me adopt 6 hens so I could have some egg layers right away. So far in 3 days they've laid 12 eggs, but 3 of those have broken. They've only managed to lay 1 egg in the nesting box. All others have just been on the ground somewhere. This morning I found 2 more eggs, both of which were broke in half. One of these was in a nesting box. Should I have an concern on where they are laying the eggs, or the broke ones, or should I just give it some more time for them to get used to it?





 
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Hey @nparker76 I am so happy you joined our roost at BYC! When I first got my flock the first few eggs they laid were broke. This is normal because they are just getting used to the coop. Eventually they will be laying the eggs normally in a signified area. The coop looks great by the way. If you find a broken egg just throw it away and hope for the best when the next one pops out! I would like to welcome you with open arms! Yes this site is very helpful for all chicken related things! Since you are new to chickens I will leave you the link to the most prominent learning area on this site our Learning Center a place with updated articles for old and new chicken raisers! https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center I hope you enjoy BYC and make sure to post pictures of your flock and give us updates on how you are doing here https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/40/family-life-stories-pictures-updates I am happy you were able to follow your dream and get a flock of your own that is so nice! All the best of luck to you and your flock!
Justin
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