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Nathaniel241 said:
Good evening everyone. My name is Nathaniel. My wife, two kids, and I are getting everything ready to start raising chickens. We live out on the High Plains of Colorado east of Denver. I have been researching off and on for the last year.

I am getting a coop in the next few weeks. It is being built by a local shed making company. Everything seems to be high quality. I definitely spent hours and hours researching coops. I was originally going to buy a kit, but found a local place who makes them. I would love to build one myself, but I have a handful of other projects I need to finish on our house. I'm not the fastest builder and it would take me more time than it would be worth right now. The coop will look very much like the attached picture when it is done. It is being made with an extra window and I will be adding extra ventilation after we get it. I'm not sure what the best options are for ventilation, so if anyone has suggestion don't hesitate to say. It is 5ft wide x6ft long x7ft high. I'm planning on getting up to ten chickens. I know most of what I read is 3-4 sqft per chicken. This will put me right at the 3sqft limit. I will be attaching a 9x12ft walk in chicken run. This should give ample space the hens to wander around in.

View attachment 2490225

Our main purpose for raising chickens is for the eggs. I'm also a fairly practical person, so I've been researching what breeds are the best dual purpose chickens for meat. I'm planning to butcher them when they reach the point at which their egg production drops significantly. I'm not sure if anyone around here has any experience on this subject, but any thoughts would be welcome. I'm planning on getting our chicks from our local ranch and home supply store. I believe they get in Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Light Brahmas, 'Easter Eggers', White Leghorn, Black Australorp, Wyandotte, Silkie, Buff Orpington, and Golden Sexlink chickens. I'm hoping to get some more info from them soon. I know they start bringing in chick in February. They also bring in ducks, Broad Breasted Turkeys, and Cornish Cross Chickens. I've done a little research on meet birds and a tiny bit of research on turkeys as raising both would be of interest to me down the road someday.

The final thing I need to figure out is exactly how I'm going to raise them till they are ready to move outside. I have a brooder heating plate for warmth along with a food and water dish. I'm not sure if my garage is a useable space for this. It is insulated and attached to the house but not heated. I also need to figure out a container of some sort to house them in. I will be researching this next. Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!

I work at a manufacturing company as the bookkeeper. In my free time I enjoy playing disc golf and board games from my large collection. I've been married for over 7 years to my wife Johanna. We have two kids, Colette and Thorin who in March will be turning 5 and 1 respectively. My daughter is looking forward to naming all the birds using various princess names like Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, or Tiana. Lucky me! Either way it will be a good learning experience.

I joined BackYardChickens, because I want to learn more about raising chickens and this seemed like a great place to do it.
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Welcome to BYC!
 
Dobie Lover, that looks like the Chicago snowstorm of '67- I remember it well. Cars were stuck everywhere/abandoned. My sister came to take me home (from my grooming shop) and we nearly got stuck coming home. When we finally did make it, everyone on the block helped each other - shovel out a parking space and got their cars into it.
 

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