hi! super new enthusiastic chicken family to be {NC/VA area}

HI! {imagine me waving}

i'm 28. Been married to my Mr. Man for 7 years. He's AD in the Navy. We have a dog. he's nuts. I like to cook. I love to bake. I love to sew. I like to craft. a LOT. I enjoy vacuuming- thanks in part to my wonderful Dyson- it rocks my socks. I water down my juice. I drink milk over ice cubes.

If I was going to close all my curtains and dance like crazy I'd most likely be jamming out to...

Whitney Houston, 'dance with somebody' 'how will i know' 'i'm every woman' or Paula Abdul 'cold hearted' 'opposites attract' 'straight up' or Beyonce/destinys child 'nasty girl' 'single ladies' ' 'bills bills bills' 'bootylicious' 'bugaboo' 'happy face' <- may or may not be my have.to.get.the.floors.clean.worst.chore.ever.but. atleast.i.can.jam.out. itunes play list 

We have x3 Princesses. They're all currently in bed for the night (and it's only 7:42pm!) Totally the reason I have time to keep switchin' up my font colors. Ummmmmmmm, what else? Both DH and I grew up in Southern California, we live in NC now. We're hoping to live as self sustaining as possible (and within our stringent HOA rules.) He's promised me chickens by this time next year. He wants a small milking goat. and a pet pig. i have recently fallen in looooooooove with the Great Dane dog breed. So yeah, that's some random things about me. 

Consider me a super chicken newbie. I'm going to lurk and {hopefully use the search engine before i} ask {too many} questions {that have been asked x524356545645652 times before ;) }

We are in NC, near the VA border if anyone has any experience chickening out here. 

MY QUESTIONS:

We want a small flock, about 6 birds- what breed(s) would you suggest that are good family pets & that produce nice sized eggs?

How large of a coop, is best for that breed(s)? how large of an attached run? they'll roam within a large tractor over my raised beds during the day.

here is where i with take note of all your wonderful wisdom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

corlorful egg basket, what breeds lay what

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/so-you-want-a-colorful-egg-basket

cute coop

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/592383/regardless-of-cleaning-still-stinky-new-solution#post_7753914

great looking coop

- http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/653069/the-lotsa-poop-chicken-coop-my-first-one

~ really like the hinged side door for cleaning purposes 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/653069/the-lotsa-poop-chicken-coop-my-first-one#post_8825945

red coop

~ http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-triple-c-the-crouches-chicken-coop

The Egg Plant {most favorite layout} 

~http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/navychicks-page

New Hampshire (flower beds around run}

~http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/new-hampshire-coop-and-run

Coop must haves

-ventilation http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-coop-ventilation-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

needed to move the amonia and moisture in the air out of the coop.  With out ventilation your chickens could end up with respiratory problems. Ventilation(other than the windows) should be placed at the highest points of the coop.

-interior paint

polyurathane or latex based

- poop boards & PDZ

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/621363/poop-board-convert-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures

using "waist high shelf and then added a lip all around and filled it with Sweet PDZ (powder form)..." "Sweet PDZ is a horse stall refresher- it absorbs moisture and smell" "You need a couple inches of PDZ so you can easily scoop it" "As far as the scooper- I use a large cat litter scooper that I covered in Hardware cloth- poops stay in, powder sifts out" "We made the board 24 inches deep so it catches all the poop in both directions" poop boards are 24" deep from the wall and the perch is centered. Roosting chickens have 12" behind them and 12" in front. This is a little larger than most BUT I find that it catches ALL the poops and gives the girls plenty of room to walk around on so they can perch where they want. Our coop is 10x10 and this set up works very nice "

double perch over poop tray

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/621363/poop-board-convert-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures/170#post_8836705

? square feet per bird?

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/654755/need-to-build-a-coop#post_8835847

-for x6 birds " 6x10 footprint (about 10 sq. feet per bird), about 4 feet tall, and make the coop rest up off the ground.  Make your coop like 6x3x2 with a ramp.  You can have nest boxes that stick out of the coop so you can get the eggs - you will only need two for 6 hens.

   You can hang the food and water under the coop."

roosting perch height/length

*Chickens will usually roost in the "highest" roost location.

*it doesn't really matter where you put the roosts as long as they are higher than your nesting boxes (if they are lower or the same height you run the risk of your birds preferring to sleep in the nesting boxes and that means you will have poopy eggs) and away from drafts. Also put them atleast 12 inches from the wall to give your birds enough room.

*just be sure to keep your closest perching bar not closer than 18" from the wall, then the poop can't reach the wall = less cleaning.

run

*hardware cloth on sides, buried under run, chicken wire on "roof" of run

*river gravel on floor of run, cover with river sand, cover with leaves?

tractor {{{ make to fit over raised beds}}} use as day coop so they can till bed?

*large hoop tractor

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/172799/our-hoop-house-chicken-tractor

*wheels TS for $4.88 ea and a thick bolt/wingnut (easy access to take the wheels on and off) as the axles would make even more simple to move. 

*http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/172799/our-hoop-house-chicken-tractor/70#post_2778587

*http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/172799/our-hoop-house-chicken-tractor/80#post_2834648

*small tractor + coop

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/kycklingars-4x10-tractor

coop wish list!

easy to harvest eggs

? drawer style nesting boxes? with a hatch style door? 

easy to clean, get shavings into compost bin or wagon or wheel barrel to then get them to the composter

~ use PDZ powder or granules. again, maybe on a drawer, slide out for annual mega wash? 

~ vinyl or linoleum floor remnant for all flooring? drains? 

~ poopshelf with two washingmachine trays

easy to feed & change water bottles

large enough for 6-ish birds? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by teach1rusl 

 from Indiana!  Doing your homework BEFORE getting chickens (as you're doing) will pay off!!! 

 

thanks for the welcome! i've got a bit to plan & want to do it right; plus DH will be much easier to boss around if i have all my ducks in a row (or is that chickens on a perch, bad dump BING!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1muttsfan 

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4-H chicken mom 

Hi and from Ohio. So glad you joined.

thank you!