Greetings from Finland!

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Tervetuloa! I am also new to this site and raising chickens this year. I have two 7 week old chicks. One is a Barred Rock, I'm still not sure what the other one is. I am hoping that they are both hens. I live in Erie PA, and we have very similar weather to what you experience in Southern Finland (138" of snow this winter). We passed through your town on the way from Turku to Helsinki this past August, and have several family members in Finland. My chicks are in a temporary pen right now, while I am building a small coop and run for them. I am trying to keep it lightweight and fairly easy to transport so that I can move it closer to the house and have it more protected for our harsh winters. It will also make it easier to get out to feed/water/clean them without walking through a lot of snow. Good luck with your coop, I look forward to seeing more pictures.
 
BeckyPA, Ours are pretty much the same age then :) Are yours starting to sound like chickens allready? Ours seem to be tweeting less and less and moving to more cackling sounds. I have loads of more pics in the coop design section, or you can just click the "My Coop" link under my avatar.
 
Mine are still peeping for the most part. I have started hearing a different sound once in a while from them. I try to ignore that, in hopes that it is not one of them starting to try to crow like a rooster. LOL I did check out your coop pictures after I posted last night. Wow, your chickens will be living very nicely! Mine is a much smaller scale, my limit is 3 chickens (self-imposed limit). I am using repurposed old kitchen cabinets for my coop, with a small secure run under the base. It is not going to be insulated for now, but as I get more time over the summer, I will refine the design and add my nesting box and some insulation. It is going to also start out with a temporary flat roof, but will have "real" one in place before fall, and the winter snow. I just needed to desperately get them out of my bathroom two days ago, as they are getting much too big and dusty. I will be picking up an old swingset frame this week that I will use for my daytime run for them. (http://thehomesteadjournal.com/2014/02/what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-obsession/). They have to be more secure at night here with the fox, raccoon, coyote, mink, skunk, etc., that would like to have them for dinner. Daytime, typically the only worry is the hawks and possibly a stray dog.
Becky
 
BeckyPA, the swing looks like a cool idea... I'm thinking of just letting the little cluckers roam free in the yard, but will see how often they run off to the neighbours. Predator wise we're a bit luckier here, hawks and foxes are probably the biggest concern.

Yeah, the coop is maybe a bit more complicated that we originally planned, but I thought its better to just build it as big as possible in the beginning, otherwise my better half would probably have me building another one in a few months when she goes even more crazy with the chicken-obsession.

Next time we hatch some more I think 3 weeks will be the absolute maximum I'm willing to keep them inside, we just finished cleaning in here and the dust was everywhere. And don't worry if one turns out to be a rooster, it will make a very efficient wake up system =P
 
Yes, you are smart in building big the first time. We only have one acre of land, live next to a busy road, and have one very close neightbor, so letting the chickens free roam is not a good idea here. The neighbors would probably not like a crowing rooster, either. Although, as I listen to their Shih Tzu that is tied out endlessly barking, a rooster might give some competion and payback. I had chickens years ago, and have wanted them again for many years. My husband, the practical Finn, is tolerant of them, but not overly excited to have them. So I have tried to keep things as simple and economical as possible,so that I could do most of the work myself. (However, building from scratch would have been easier in
hindsight).
 
BeckyPA, Just give him building tasks, and if he complains, you can say "Parempi tossun alla, kuin taivasalla." ;)

We have neighbors quite close to us as well, but luckily all of them have taken a positive attitude to our craziness, most of them keep asking when they can get some eggs. The kids around here love the chickens, and we've gotten to know many of the neighbors a lot better thanks to this project. Really seems to be bringing the community together. Many have even started bringing food scraps to our little flock.
 
Vehve, unfortunately, even after three visits to Finland, my Finnish is very poor. I am pretty sure I get the idea of what you are trying to say. :) However, I must tell you, the Google Translator and Bing Translator leaves a lot to be desired. We have had some pretty interesting (humorous) translations of notes sent by my husband's relatives. After my first visit, I was very intent on learning foods. No kala for me! Kana is good. :)

I am happy for you that your neighbors are so inviting of chickens. For the most part, mine are also. I'm just not sure that they would be so welcoming to a rooster's wake up call. Only time will tell. :)
 

From Ontario Canada!!

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