2 New chickens, 2 more on the way

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thepurplecoop

thepurplecoop

In the Brooder
5 Years
Aug 13, 2014
33
2
26
Washington State
Hello!

I'm a brand new chicken owner and I am learning as I go, today is day 1 of chicken ownership. I decided to do a personal journal on my ups and downs and also keep track of my chickens progress.

Right now I have a small coop area but I plan to expand very soon. I have a one half acre piece of land with a creek and a small fruit orchard with garden. I hope to meet some new friends who can help me sort things out if I run into problems, which I am sure I will! I've been reading threads, and everybody here seems very friendly and willing to help, an offer really helpful advice.

I am feeding my chickens non GMO, organic grains plus fruits from my orchard. They should do fine on that.

I don't have any fancy breeds, I'm certain the 2 new chickens I will get will be your run of the mill backyard brand. Right now I have 1 Plymouth Rock and 1 Ameraucana. Their names are Ruth and Rachel. I bought them for $5 a piece.

I've attached a photo of The Purple Coop. I painted it myself and even created my own handmade stencils to decorate with.

I'll post another picture of my chickens when I get all 4 of them together.

May God bless you,
Sally

400
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Cute coop! Sounds like you have a cute flock too! Look forward to seeing them!

Glad you joined and don't hesitate to ask questions.
 
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. Your coop is cute and I love the Biblical names of your hens. You can continue with that theme as you get more hens; Sarah, Hannah, Esther, etc. :eek:) Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. May God bless you and your flock.
 
@Mountain Peeps thank you! I'm looking forward to being here. I read a few of your post, you sound like you've been at this a a while. I like your avatar, cute chicken!
 
@Michael OShay Hannah is one of the names I've picked, but the other name is Molly. I really just like the sound of it. Thank you so much - I subbed your page. May God bless you and your flock too!
 
Nothing wrong with the breed you have. I ended up with some BR quite by accident and they have ended up being some of my favorite. They have nice curious personalities and are pretty darn good layers. You probably don't have true ameraucans but rather easter eggers (EE). Your chickens will love the fruit that drops on the ground and rot. They get loaded with bugs so it' like chicken crack. Watch their fruit consumption as it will drop their overall protein, calories and dilute the nutrients to the point your egg production will suffer.
 
@Percheron chick too much fruit will drop egg production? Ok that's good to know, thanks. I'll look up EE's in my chicken encyclopedia. You could be right, thanks!

Just wondering, why don't you think I have a true Ameraucana?
 
I'm guessing one side of your coop is the nest box - it needs a raised lip at the front to keep eggs from rolling out. The other side - your roosting bar is too thin. Most people use a 2 x 4 with the wide side up. Birds can rest their head on their feet that way, and keep warmer during cold spells. Or you can use natural tree branches but they need a wider diameter than your pole for more comfortable roosting.

Incidentally looks like you have hardware cloth on the front of the coop but, behind it appears to just have the chain link fencing. That needs to be covered with hardware cloth also. Lots of predators can reach through or squeeze through the openings in the chain link.

Wish you luck with you flock.
 
@drumstick diva Thanks! I'm not using cloth, but will consider your suggestions on safety and comfort. I know the chicken run needs work. Right now my main concerns are the rotts and bulldogs in the area so that's the reason for the current set up. I hope to make a more safe coop very soon.
 
drumstick diva said:
Incidentally looks like you have hardware cloth on the front of the coop but, behind it appears to just have the chain link fencing. That needs to be covered with hardware cloth also. Lots of predators can reach through or squeeze through the openings in the chain link.
Click to expand...
X2 on the hardware cloth. It has saved many chicken owners a lot of tears.
 

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