Fredericksburg, Va (sposty)

[FxbgChick]

HI there all! I am a newbie... to BYC and to chicken owning. My guys and gals are about 9 weeks old a mix of reds and leghorn. I know a few people in my area who are backyard chicken-ers, but not too many. Would love to meet others!

 

[iwiw60]

Hello from Central Oregon!

 

[iwiw60]

Post a few pics of your little ladies and your coop if you can...I'd love to see!!

 

[aslrebecca]

I am in your area and am looking for new babies myself. Our new chicken coop will hopefully be finished this Wednesday and then we are making a mad dash to find anyone who still has babies to sell. We had some setbacks on the building of the coop so we are far behind, dear me!

 

[FxbgChick]

I hear ya on the coop! We had started our coop and then a friend said that they had leghorn chicks coming that needed homes right away. So, then it happened, we had 12 chicks and no run or coop. Yikes. The hubs got a move on and started working on the coop and its just about done now. I *think* the run is pretty secure, but because I am scared to death my girls will get gobbled by a predator(my brother in law lost his whole flock to hawks!), we are getting a goat too I heard that having a larger animal around keeps predators away? Either way, I am excited to add a goat to our mini farm.

I have to get all the pictures up today too! They aren't on this computer... I have to import...

 

[iwiw60]

Quote: Living in Virginia I know you're aware of predators...lots of predators, not just hawks. I highly recommend that you use 1/2" hardware cloth instead of any type of chicken wire or field-fencing type stuff...just doesn't work against them. An animal such as wild dogs, coyotes, raccoons, etc., can tear right through chicken wire like it was butter. It's more expensive on the front-end but in the long run you'll have more peace of mind for sure. Oh, and "apron" it out at the bottom at least 12-18" to deter the digging scumbags. Just FYI, wishing you all the best in your venture for sure!

 

[FxbgChick]

Ah, I read the post before seeing the pic. Thanks for sharing the pic- totally makes sense now. Our problem with the fencing is that our yard is TOTALLY root covered. So we can dig down maybe 2-6 inches and then massive roots. What we have done is dug down as far as possible and then done hugels (hugelkulture- http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/) layering with trunks and branches. The fence line goes down into that hugel too. I hope that it works well. The fencing is indeed chicken fencing. May have to think on that a little more.

 

[iwiw60]

Well, I hope that works out for you, but I see problems down the road with that setup. Raccoons, especially raccoons, will tear right through that chicken wire easy-peasy. And your fox and weasels will dig down and under that kugel setup I'm afraid...Wishing you all the best and hopefully nothing tries to get in!!