Middle GA chicken lover here!

[angnic22]

Hi all! I grew up on a farm in Indiana and moved to middle ga over 3 years ago. We have a great 3 acre lot out in the country. For the past couple years I have been wanting chicken but have a fear of roosters (great childhood stories there!) told myself if I still wanted hem in 2 years I'd go for it so I read a lot and here I am!

I've got 12 at the moment. All are 2.5-3 weeks old but I can tell the gender on a few. 3 each: Barred rock, red ranger, buff comets and bantams. One of the Rangers is a boy and he's my favorite. Hoping raising from chicks will help ease my fears and so far it's working. Just learning to be more assertive will help, I'm sure.

The 2 male rocks are hilarious. They are the most curious and adventurous. The Rangers are huge but laid back and calm. The buffs are all female and not sure about them yet. The bantams, aside from being small and cute, are entertaining. Watching the mystery of gender and breed unfold is amazing!

My boyfriend is extremely handy and helpful, but says I talk about chickens 24/7. Lol. I can't help it! It's a lot of work, but I love it!

I'll post pics when the pen/run is done but here's some shots of my brood. I built a small outdoor run to use while they are small. We spend about 30 minutes or more outside in the sun and they all seem to love it.

I converted a huge dog kennel into their present home. So far it works great. As you see, one of the rock Roos loves to perch on the water tower while a couple others favor the makeshift roost. There are 4 who have started to use it regularly.

Well, thanks for welcoming me and for all the help I've received on this site! Y'all don't know how useful you've all been and I'm glad to be a part of the BYC family!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and

- glad that you have joined us here. I'm glad your confidence is growing with your little fellas - they can be a bit of a handful at times i know.

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 thread will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area, which can be helpful (just type the name of your state in the search box).

Now you've joined us, you can give your BF's ears a rest with all the chicken talk (I get the same comments from DW

) and blab about chickens to your heart's content here!

All the best
CT

 

[angnic22]

Oh. Here's a pic of the coop with the outline of the pen. It will be 16x16 with 7 foot tall, treated wood walls covered in poultry netting and buried about a foot deep to deter digging under. The roof will either be the mesh netting or greenhouse panels - haven't decided yet. The coop is actually pretty roomy and has 4 nesting boxes and will be partially inside the run: I can access the door from the outside. I may build an extension to the coop. There is a water line behind the big fence that will be extended to the coop and set on a timer to disperse into a watering system. Electric is out there too but will need more time. Should have it extended to the coop well before winter.

 

[Pork Pie]

Looks great! You may wish to consider using hardware cloth as opposed to poultry netting - some critters can be very determined little buggers!

CT

 

[angnic22]

It's already bought and some panels are already done. We're getting a wildlife camera to set up out by the coop - boyfriend is determined the make it a fortress. I work from home so I can check on them often. Not that that is a guarantee but every little bit helps.

I used hardware cloth on the little run so they can't stick their heads through it. After using it on that, I wished I had bought some for the run

Funny story though. When we originally set out for supplies, boyfriend bought 6 foot netting. Later decided he wanted the smaller size so he sent me to store to get 4 ft. Said to get 4 rolls, so I did. Each roll is 150 ft. The 6 ft roll was only 50 fr. I only needed 150 ft! Lol. So I've got 450 extra feet of chicken wire. Lol. If I can find my receipt, I'll take it back but I'm sure we'll find things to use it for. Also plan on putting wire on the inside of the big fence so they have large place to free range with at least some protection.

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Pork Pie]

You really have got all your bases covered -brilliant work!

Keep hold of the hardware cloth - you'll be amazed how handy it comes in. - especially if you make the free range area for them - they'll be chicken royalty for sure!

CT

 

[N F C]

Nice introduction and pictures.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

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

 

[angnic22]

Thank you so much for the nice words!

 

[Pork Pie]

You are most welcome

CT