About to be new chicken parents in Vermont

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Joyschickens

Joyschickens

Songster
Jan 23, 2018
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Vermont

Hello! We are enjoying a bit of a warm up at 38 degrees today. Planning our chicken coop in preparation for our 6 chicks to arrive in late April. This forum has been a wealth of information for us - thank you all!

As we plan our coop/run, we have decided to build it ourselves. We live on 10 acres, some field, some woods, with many predators around us, as you can imagine. Nothing that other members haven't encountered, fox that will walk right down our drive way on a regular basis, owls, hawks, raccoons ... you get the picture. We are planning as much as possible to keep our new girls safe, healthy and happy. Any tips?

We have explored may coop designs on BYC - we are taking some of the great ideas from the experts! Our winters have a huge range of temperatures, we have read from several posts that ventilation is number one priority, some say heat lamp for sure - we are not interested in having a heat lamp in our coop, the hazards do not seem worth it. How do you keep your coop at the most comfortable/safe humidity/temperature? How have others dealt with the swing in temperatures we have here in Vermont as far as coop planning? In the summer we could have 90 degree plus days and in the winter -45 degrees with wind chill.

We would rather build our coop as best as we can from the start.

We are so excited to be part of this community.

Joy
 
Hello Joy and welcome to BYC

Lots of advice on this forum - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance.9/ and this - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/predators-and-pests.13/

Here’s a link to the Articles section - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ There you’ll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs.

There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive


You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - Find Your State Thread


Best wishes

Pork Pie
 
Yorkshire Coop said:
Hi :welcome Joy!

Glad you could join us here! Great intro and good luck with your new chicken adventures. I’m sure you will enjoy them very much.

Enjoy your time here on BYC and all the chicken chat :frow
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I am living and breathing everything chicken raising of late - to be expected with the new experience. Thank you for the warm welcome! Best to you. - Joy
 
:welcome

Hi Joy, it's nice to have you here!

Glad to hear you don't plan to use a heat lamp as every winter stories pop up about fires destroying entire flocks due to them. Good ventilation is key to flock health. You may want to insulate your coop...some do and some don't (I live in Wyoming and don't).

Make yourself at home here and always feel free to ask questions. Pork Pie Ken has given you some good links so you'll have plenty of food for thought.

Thanks for joining us and best of luck with your upcoming flock!
 
welcome-to-the-family.gif
:welcome:goodpost::bun:jumpy:woot:highfive::thumbsup
 
N F C said:
:welcome

Hi Joy, it's nice to have you here!

Glad to hear you don't plan to use a heat lamp as every winter stories pop up about fires destroying entire flocks due to them. Good ventilation is key to flock health. You may want to insulate your coop...some do and some don't (I live in Wyoming and don't).

Make yourself at home here and always feel free to ask questions. Pork Pie Ken has given you some good links so you'll have plenty of food for thought.

Thanks for joining us and best of luck with your upcoming flock!
Click to expand...
Thank you for your warm welcome, we are leaning toward insulating the coop. We will keep everyone posted on our progress.
Best,
Joy
 

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