Hello BYC

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ChickenLovers1

ChickenLovers1

In the Brooder
Mar 18, 2016
14
0
40
North Central Ma.
Hello
So my daughter, myself and wife have been wanting a small flock of chickens for awhile and have decided to get into it. I raised chickens a looooong time ago. We are in the process of building a 4' x 10' coop and run. The hen house will be elevated about 26" off the ground so they will have 40sq. ft. to run around in. We are planning on 6 chickens the hen house will be 4' x 5' I figured 20 sq. ft. should be good for 6 birds. Now for the problem finding chicks I new I should have but I did not pre-order plenty of places around me that sells them but had to pre order or be lucky and be there when they are delivered in which sometimes they have extras so anyone have any ideas where one can get chicks in North central Ma or Southern NH?? Looking for good egg layers. All the local TSC have are ISA Browns that are sexed we were looking for a variety...
Thanks
Mike

Also have 3 cats and an English Mastiff
 
Hi and welcome to BYC - glad to have you onboard.

The Learning Centre is a great resource, even for experienced chicken keepers - loads of info on anything chicken. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Joining your state / country thread will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area, which can be helpful - maybe they can point you in the right direction for hatcheries in your area.

All the best
CT
 
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The size of your coop and run could be a bit tight for 6 dual-purpose chickens, especially if they are going to be confined inside. The rule of thumb is 4 sq. feet per bird in the coop (not counting room taken up by waterers/feeders/nesting boxes) and 10 sq. feet per bird in the run. That's just a guideline, I wanted to point it out because overcrowding can cause some pretty nasty tempers among chickens.

Good luck to you, thanks for joining us.
 
Thanks for the info from you and NFC the coop and run mysteriously grew when my daughter and I started to do the construction today. Unfortunately I could only increase the hen house to 5' x 5' the run is 10 x 5 the nesting boxes will be accessed from outside so they will not take space up in the house and the ladies will have access to the run and house all day they will only be cooped up at night.
Now I just need to find some young ladies to occupy the house
Thanks again
Mike
 
ChickenLovers1 said:
Thanks for the info from you and NFC the coop and run mysteriously grew when my daughter and I started to do the construction today. Unfortunately I could only increase the hen house to 5' x 5' the run is 10 x 5 the nesting boxes will be accessed from outside so they will not take space up in the house and the ladies will have access to the run and house all day they will only be cooped up at night.
Now I just need to find some young ladies to occupy the house
Thanks again
Mike
Click to expand...

You're welcome Mike, hope you find the girls you want soon!
 

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