No Chickens...YET.

Hey y'all! I've been stalking several threads for MONTHS it seems gather info and ideas...for a bit we had decided to forgo chickens all together..but my children are clamoring for chickens, and they will teach them responsibility as well as provide eggs and a bit of meat for our family.

We are a family of 5 in rural north central Ohio. We have about an acre and a half just out side the city limits of a small village. We home school two of our sons, and the older attends public school just across the street. We have a large garden each year and are looking forward to adding chickens to our property. The biggest challenges we face with chickens are the winter (lake effect snow, anyone?) and coyotes. My husband has a ton of pallets he would like to turn into a coop, and we are looking at a flock of about 6-7 ladies. We would LIKE to free range our chickens, but we also live on a busy road so they very likely will be penned. I would like to eventually have a tractor we can move around the yard.

Thank you so much for the ideas so far. I cant wait to get to know some of you and gather more wisdom from your experiences!

Greetings from Kansas and ! Pleased you joined our community! Sounds like you know your way around BYC pretty well already so I'll just say best wishes to you and your future chickens!

With coyotes around, you definitely want to build a Fort Knox of a coop and run. Have you checked out the many coops, designs on the coops forum? Many people use pallets and recycle other materials to make good, sound coops. I would advise using 1/2" hardware cloth in place of any flimsy chicken wire. It does cost more, it does last much longer, and it does hold up to many predators if securely affixed to a frame (not with plastic ties).

I also advise you check out the predators thread for more advice on keeping them out. If you cover your run with a solid top it will help protect from snow, rain and provide some shade in summer.

If you would like to subscribe to your state thread - just put name in the searchbox and it will come up for you. BYCERS from your local probably have a lot more advice about the weather and preds in your area. Once you get chickens every predator around will want to visit them.

Hi

Glad you could join us here! It sure does sound like you have the plans well underway for your new chicken adventures Drumstick left you some great advise so I will wish you the very best of luck for the future.

Enjoy your time here on BYC and all the chicken chat

glad you have joined us.

You have already been given the best advice about the predator issue. Many breeds do well in confinement as long as you build their home and secured run with plenty of room.

Hello there, and welcome to Backyard Chickens! Glad you could join us, and I hope the coop construction is successful and you have some fuzzy little peeps in no time!

Thank you! Yes...the coys are an issue here. They seem to mainly be around October and November (got a hold of my beagle last fall...she survived some how, but it was a long road). I hear the coons are nothing to mess with, and a family down the road watched one of theirs get it's head ripped off by a mink. Def going to make this sucker Ft Knox. Thanks for the suggestion about construction and the boards...I'm going to go check those out and start forwarding info to my hubs.

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.