Breed Recommendations and Online Hatcheries

[ssramage]

Build bigger! Your six birds will be crowding that coop, and no more will fit. Also, make it tall enough to walk into it.
Woods coop are the best!
A garden shed type coop is also very good, modified by adding more windows and upper ventilation. A three sided shed, with hardware cloth on the south side, would also work.
Small box coops are NOT the best way to go.
Mary

I could probably go 5x7 in the dog kennel.

My goal is to get up and running as cheaply/effectively as possible. Given that we are moving into summer here and will see 95+ degree days, I think having as much open air as possible would be beneficial.

I could go all out building this coop, but keep coming back to KISS and use what you have on hand. I can redesign/modify once we get some experience under our belt. It will AT LEAST be better than the pre-fab junk at TSC.

 

[Folly's place]

Protection from predators is most important! Make sure it's dig proof, and has no openings larger than 1/2" diameter, and good latches. Also netting over the top of the dog run to keep out raptors.
Mary

 

[Chands]

Ideal is a great hatchery. They have a lot of options and no chick minimum, just a 25.00 order in chicks minimum, if that makes sense. I ordered nine and reached that 25. The shipping is reasonable and they guarantee live delivery. They definitely stand behind their chicks too, as we had a shipping snafu and lost eight of the nine, and they immediately took care of the issue and are reshipping my entire order.

As for chicks, I've heard Cochins are friendly, as well as Brahmas and Orpingtons. I ordered a mixture of those, Easter Eggers, and the Ideal 236 to get a good range of colors and consistent layers.

 

[lazy gardener]

You would pick up more s.f. in run if you attached coop to run instead of putting it in the run.