Apparently I'm a farmer now...

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Greetings from Kansas and
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! Great to have you with us! Sounds like you are really going to be busy - and you have chickens to thank for it!
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I saw you mentioned hops...I home brew myself and I'm planting my own hops this year. I have heard hops a person grows aren't good for beer making. We'll see - the variety is Nugget - I know that is a type I buy when I brew so we'll see how it goes. Anyway, best of luck with your backyard plans and your backyard chickens!
 
acsempronio said:
I won't be getting any birds until the county fair in June.  This gives me time to focus on organizing the yard, building fence and shed, installing my water post (for water automation and garden drip system), constructing and placing the coop, and getting the brood box organized.


The coop manufacturer claims the coop is sutiable for 4-5 full birds or 8-10 bantams.  I'm new to the BYC world, but that seems a bit cramped for 5 birds.  I'll probably do 4 full birds.

If I get chicks in June, I anticipate them being capable of handling a mild bay-area winter (Mediterranean climate: dry mild to hot summers and wet, cool winters) outside.


I plan on the following:
Easter-Egger/Aruacana/Ameracauna... The wife wants colored eggs.

Barred Rock... I think this is a classic American chicken look and they're easy to handle (I have a 3-year old who is super interested in chickens now.) They are also dual-purpose.

Rhode Island Red... I understand these to be a dominant species.  I have 2 cats so I would like a more aggressive bird around for them.  Also dual purpose.
Leghorn... This bird has the look of a chicken's chicken and I understand them to be prolific layers.

 
I think this should give me a good and varied supply of eggs as well as a mixture of color and personality in the flock, and eventually, two of them will make for nice meals.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
Click to expand...


Opinions of square footage per bird varies a bit but optimal is considered to be 4 sq ft per bird. Personally, I wouldn't go less than 3 per bird and that would be with plenty of run space.
 
redsoxs said:
Greetings from Kansas and
welcome-byc.gif
! Great to have you with us! Sounds like you are really going to be busy - and you have chickens to thank for it!
smile.png
I saw you mentioned hops...I home brew myself and I'm planting my own hops this year. I have heard hops a person grows aren't good for beer making. We'll see - the variety is Nugget - I know that is a type I buy when I brew so we'll see how it goes. Anyway, best of luck with your backyard plans and your backyard chickens!
Click to expand...

The home-grown hops from a backyard don't match up to the professional backing of commercial hops, but I grew one plant of Galena and made a batch of beer with it which came out just fine. Galena wasn't the best choice for a single hopped beer, but the product was good otherwise. I will be going with Cascade this year which is a better single-hop choice.

When you do grow, expect very little in terms of yield the first year <1 lb per plant. Expect at least 3 times that the second year.
 
Having rhode islands can be like having the top dogs in a prison or a hell's angels gang. They respect each other but have been known to occasionally pick on the weaker and/or new birds. I have them and love them for their heartiness. Not trying to talk you out of them, just sharing my two cents.

I would say if you have a good size run, or better yet, intend to let them free range during the day, you could get by with your coop operating at its intended capacity. IMO you run into problems with overpopulation in the coop more when they have to be "cooped up" in there during the waking hours. If they are just sleeping and laying in there, but getting lots of exercise and freedom during the day, I would limit the number of chickens you have to how many you want in your yard and will fit comfortably on the roosting poles at night (provided you also have good ventilation for them and you clean their coop frequently).

Just saw the pic of your coop. Looks nice, but I retract my input on the number chickens to hypothetically plan for if they are only going to use the run. Not much space there. If the run is just operating as an foyer to the rest the yard, I stand by my original comments. But if they are going to be limited to the run I would only keep 3 birds at most and move the run around the yard daily. Its a pretty set-up though.
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acsempronio said:
I couldn't find an example earlier because I typed the product number wrong; this is what they got me:

http://www.aosom.com/d-327/Chicken-Coop.html

Click to expand...
Hello and welcome to BYC
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I have a similar looking coop-run set-up. It's lovely, but the run area is way too small. The chickens started getting irritated with each other in there, so I free range them now. I've got one RIR hen and assorted leghorns, 4 in total and some other breeds. They are all really nice, even the white leghorn when she's not in a mood, which is often. The brown leghorns are really nice as is the silver hen I've got. They do have a reputation for being flighty and otherwise, but mine are O.K. My RIR hen is a sweetheart. Loves me and runs up to me all the time and she's not overly aggressive to the newbies in the flock.
 
acsempronio said:
The home-grown hops from a backyard don't match up to the professional backing of commercial hops, but I grew one plant of Galena and made a batch of beer with it which came out just fine. Galena wasn't the best choice for a single hopped beer, but the product was good otherwise. I will be going with Cascade this year which is a better single-hop choice.

When you do grow, expect very little in terms of yield the first year <1 lb per plant. Expect at least 3 times that the second year.
Click to expand...

Right - I've heard not to get too excited about first year hop yield. I chose Nugget - supposedly high IBUs - and I'm something of a Hop Head!! We'll see.
Also, on the coop - you might consider burying some hardware cloth around the perimeter to help prevent critters from digging under. Happy chicken keeping and happy beer brewing to you!!
 
I planned on burying some poly hardware cloth as a matter of good practice but the only predators I need to worry about are raccoons but those aren't an issue much since I killed 6 males last year for coming in my house
 

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