Greetings from Northwest Jersey!

Hiya everybody! I've been kind of lurking around getting information for a while. Finally got my girls on Thursday night, and now that they are here I thought I should join and stop lurking haha. These are my first chickens, and I've wanted chickens since I was a little kid in the city. Only have three so far (but it's a start right??) and can already tell I need at the very least 3 more (hopefully some araucanas and marans!) I have my girls inside the mudroom just off the kitchen. I figured this way I could manage their heat and light and keep a close eye on them to help me get through my first learning winter. They are red sex links, white rock/RIR and very very sweet. I knew chickens had personalities but I had no idea how STRONG those personalities are. I'm perpetually amused and just love them to pieces. Looking forward to learning everything I can and talking to people who don't think I'm as crazy as my family does right now for being so over the moon about my birds.

 

Hiya and thanks!

Yeah, dust and mess is right haha. So far it's not all that bad. The mudroom is an addition and doesn't have its own heat, but it is fully enclosed with lots of windows. I keep a couple windows open unless it's raining or snowing so that they stay acclimated to the cold (especially in case we lose power, I want them to be conditioned to the temps) and the floor is tarped for easy clean up when they are walking around. Their house is a modified Step 2 playhouse with nest box, roosting bar and a solid hard plastic floor with substrate on top of it that keeps them up off the actual floor. All of it is easily broken down for hosing off and clean up. The first day I thought there was no way - it was like I had kept a HORSE in there overnight... - thought for sure they'd be outside the very next day. Things have settled now though and because there's only 3 they're fairly easy to keep up with. I hope to have more in the spring, and then everyone will be moved outside.