Can't believe I've got chickens!

[JulieAdams]

Hi everyone,

I just adopted my first flock of three baby chicks in late February. They are Black Australorps. They're currently living in a brooder in the laundry room while I madly search the internet and local feed stores for coop/henhouse options. They're wonderful. They like to roost on our arms and shoulders, although I imagine that will be harder to do when they are full-sized.

My other interests are writing and editing (for work), cooking, and knitting. We are a family of three (mom, dad, toddler) and we also have a cat.

I look forward to learning more about this new adventure I've practically accidentally embarked upon. A friend was supposed to take these chicks but she couldn't so that's how we ended up with them.

Will be asking advice about coops in the appropriate forum but if anyone reading this would like to tell me about any coops or coop kits purchased online that worked out for them? I've decided we don't want an eglu, but we're just not handy enough to build our own coop from scratch. We're also imagining we may get 2 or 3 more chickens in the future.

Thank you!

 

[jeaucamom]

from Nor Cal. Check craigslist regularly for coop, playhouse, shed etc.... lots and lots of things can used for coops. Enjoy and welcome!!

 

[pringle]

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined. Check out the coop section here. It might give you some ideas.

 

[JulieAdams]

Given the reviews I've found of the pre-fab coops in the lower price range, I do think we may take the plunge and build our own but my family has zero construction experience! Oh my... Any tips on good plans for newbies also welcome. I do like http://www.thegardencoop.com/ but it looks a little fancy?

 

[gryeyes]

I'm a former couch potato, and 56 years old. *I* built an A-Frame coop last year, and then also bought a coop kit off eBay. I am now building a better, larger coop. I had never used a power drill, much less a circular saw until I started on this chicken project of mine. For the big coop (4 ft by 8 ft) I purchased a jig-saw to supplement my new power tools. And I can use it!

I am one of those people who is NOT "crafty" at all - I've been known to glue my fingers together with SuperGlue. A glue gun would be dangerous in my hands. But I am very proud of my newly-acquired construction skills. If a carpenter looked at my coop(s) there might be some sniggering behind hands, or outright pointing, but the chickens don't care if their coops have oddly shaped hatch doors, or don't quite sit level. Ain't pretty, but *I* built 'em.

You can too. MUCH cheaper than buying a coop kit. If, however, you don't have enough time to spend dinking around fixing mistakes, I can understand why a pre-built coop or coop kit would be attractive. It's why I bought one myself, as I was pretty sure my chickens weren't gonna learn how to go up the ramp into the A-Frame coop! (I was wrong. They now use it as their nesting site.)

Oh, and welcome to BYC!

 

[Ehigh57]

Hello from GA!

 

[humm-n-cluck ranch]

from sunny so cal~

 

[Chicken Chaperone]

and

and big congrats on your new babies. I came into chicken 'mothering' kind of accidentally too so I understand where you
are coming from completely! You are going to have so much fun here at BYC learning all about chicken keeping and if your toddler is anything
like my son your little one will want to give input into the choosing/design and construction of your coop! This is a great place to learn and
read and you will find a whole host of folks at the ready to answer any question you can think of- both chicken related and non-chicken related.
But do beware- BYC and chicken keeping are horribly addicting!!

 

[Toast n Jelly]