greetings

[LochErnepioneer]

Hi folks we are Mike & Ruth Quinn, I have just recently retired,at present we live in rural Aberdeenshire, but, we are moving to Ireland in April of next year.
At present we are looking at coop design, size of runs, Breeds of chicken, siting of coops etc to see which would be best for our needs and ultimately what would be best for our chooks. We are hoping to get six point of lay chickens.
Any help or advice would be greatfully received..

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi
Glad you joined the flock. The learning centre has great articles on coops etc for you to check out. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/
Be sure to ask any questions you may have were all here to help. Good luck with your move over to Ireland

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! X2 on be sure to check out the Learning Center Yorkshire coop linked for you! You might also want to check out the Ireland thread if you have neighbors https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730966/anyone-in-ireland/70

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join us. The minimum space required in a coop is 4 sq. ft. of floor space per bird (more is better) and for the run it's 10 sq. ft. of ground space per bird. There are some excellent charts to help you research the various breeds at http://albc-usa.etapwss.com/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf, http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/breed-list.aspx, and http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html. Murray McMurray has an excellent "chick selector" tool at https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_selector.html to help you select the best breed for you. Just be sure and click on "show more characteristics." As for personal recommendations, if eggs are a priority, I would recommend Black Sex Links (they are also marketed as Black Stars, and in the UK as Black Rocks or Rock Reds) which are hardy, friendly egg laying machines. I've raised them for years (along with dozens of other breeds and hybrids) and they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 eggs per hen per year. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Michael has given you good links.

 

[LochErnepioneer]

Thank you to all of you who replied to my intro post , no doubt we will have many questions to ask over the coming months

 

[Michael OShay]

Thank you to all of you who replied to my intro post , no doubt we will have many questions to ask over the coming months

You're welcome.

 

[sunflour]

So glad you joined us. Good luck with your selection.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

So glad you could join our community! You have been give some great advice. If you have more questions along the way, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.