Greetings from Northern Michigan!

Will chickens destroy my flower garden

  • They’ll eat every sprout. Good luck.

    Votes: 20 95.2%
  • Their nibbles won’t be too noticeable.

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • The flowers will be fine and benefit from compost and bug control.

    Votes: 1 4.8%

  • Total voters
    21
Hello there and welcome to BYC! :frow

Definitely be careful with the dogs. Most dogs see chickens as a meal and will kill poultry. You may need to build a large run on to your coop to keep the birds safe not only from dogs but from other predators. I can only let my birds out supervised due to the large amount of predators in this area.

Good luck with your coop build! If you run into any issues, feel free to ask questions, we are all ears! :)
 
Hi!!! I live in North Eastern MI :)
Congrats on your wedding! I'm still rather new to chickens but I'll share my first year experience.
We started off with 4 in the Spring of 2018, free ranged and lost 3 before they started laying. We got 12 fertilized eggs from a friend, hatched 11, continued free ranging, lost 3, including the last 1 from the original flock, we butchered the 4 roosters that we had and in March 2019 we had a weasel get in to the coop and killed 4 of the last 5.

In April 2019 we got 6 more chicks, stopped free ranging but allow outside time when we are in the yard or they are supervised. I'm happy to say we have all that have survived LOL along with 1 from our second flock.

So, we're on flock 3. I'm working on converting a shed to a new coop so they'll have more room, they definitely don't like the snow. Our run has a good roof and I had Dollar Store purchased, clear shower curtains around the run to keep the wind and snow out.

We also have a lab, we were able to train her and she is highly bird driven. She knows to leave the chickens alone :)

Good luck! Keep predators in mind, build a bigger coop than you think you'll need and keep your run covered.

ETA: make sure you go for breeds that don't have a large comb. It gets cold enough for frost bite up here. Ventilation is critical.
 
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Hi!!! I live in North Eastern MI :)
Congrats on your wedding! I'm still rather new to chickens but I'll share my first year experience.
We started off with 4 in the Spring of 2018, free ranged and lost 3 before they started laying. We got 12 fertilized eggs from a friend, hatched 11, continued free ranging, lost 3, including the last 1 from the original flock, we butchered the 4 roosters that we had and in March 2019 we had a weasel get in to the coop and killed 4 of the last 5.

In April 2019 we got 6 more chicks, stopped free ranging but allow outside time when we are in the yard or they are supervised. I'm happy to say we have all that have survived LOL along with 1 from our second flock.

So, we're on flock 3. I'm working on converting a shed to a new coop so they'll have more room, they definitely don't like the snow. Our run has a good roof and I had Dollar Store purchased, clear shower curtains around the run to keep the wind and snow out.

We also have a lab, we were able to train her and she is highly bird driven. She knows to leave the chickens alone :)

Good luck! Keep predators in mind, build a bigger coop than you think you'll need and keep your run covered.

ETA: make sure you go for breeds that don't have a large comb. It gets cold enough for frost bite up here. Ventilation is critical.

This is so helpful!! I feel like I just saw my future hahaha. I spend so much time outside anyway that maybe supervised free ranging combined with a tractor or chicken tunnels will work just fine.

Great to hear your dog experience. That’s what I see happening. They learn what we want and don’t want very quickly!
 
Thank you! I do love everyone’s encouragement to get more chicks and I most likely will.

10 of the 30 acres is across the street, so if the dogs were bad enough, they could be separated. In their older age, I *think* I can convince them that they are too old to play with chickens. Maybe.

Winters will be tricky, but I’ve started to plan that way ahead of time because it will take some thought. As I look harder at it, it seems like a summer coop and a winter coop would be great but I’m not making two!
Build one coop that works for winter and summer. So, basically just build a winter coop. Definitely build a secure attached run. That doesn't mean you can't allow them to free range, but you will want a secure place for them when you cannot be watching them. If it is large enough, in the winter they will be able to stay in the coop and run. BTW, basic rule for space is 4 sf per chicken coop space and 10 sf per chicken for run space. IMHO the run space should be twice that, but you can improve it by adding lots of obstacles and perches.
 
Build one coop that works for winter and summer. So, basically just build a winter coop. Definitely build a secure attached run. That doesn't mean you can't allow them to free range, but you will want a secure place for them when you cannot be watching them. If it is large enough, in the winter they will be able to stay in the coop and run. BTW, basic rule for space is 4 sf per chicken coop space and 10 sf per chicken for run space. IMHO the run space should be twice that, but you can improve it by adding lots of obstacles and perches.

I definitely can’t go wrong with bigger coops or runs! I’d like them to have a big run anyway in the even I need to be away for a weekend and can’t move the tractor for whatever reason. Thanks!
 
We are so happy to have you here! I hope it goes well with the labs! :fl
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Hello!

I am so new to chickens that I don’t even have them yet. The idea of raising chickens has always been sitting in the back of my head, but I finally have the opportunity. My husband and I are newlyweds and are settled into a beautiful property with 30 wooded acres. I work a desk job from home, so I’m in the perfect position to keep and eye on my flock!


My husband is not so excited about this adventure and rolled on the floor laughing when I said I was going to build the coop, but I am way more capable (and determined) than he gives me credit for. He finally agreed to give me a shot and that’s all I want.

I plan on starting with a Golden Buff, Black Australorp, Ameraucana, and Golden Laced Wyandotte...maybe a silver too! I’d like 4, but I’m thinking about purchasing 6 chicks just in case.

I’m really hoping to free range them as much as possible (if not, they’ll at least be in a tractor). I am an avid flower gardener and we have an insane amount of bugs for them to take care of...especially the earwigs!

My biggest anxiety about chickens is getting our two labs, Molly and Red, to not kill the chicks. Molly is ruthless, but I’m hoping that a little training will save my flock. My second biggest anxiety is chicken math. And my third biggest anxiety is keeping them happy in the winter since our winters are very long and very snowy.

I found BYC because you cannot google any chicken question without BYC showing up in the results. And I joined because it got me so excited!

I’ll post again when I’ve got my new babies. I’ll be documenting my journey on instagram and possibly a blog that I haven’t decided if I’m starting yet :)



Welcome to BackYardChickens! So glad to have you here in our wonderful community of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people!
 

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