Good evening everyone,
My name is Aaron Anderson and this year my family has taken on the task of raising chickens as well as ducks for meat and egg production for our family as well as the possibility of generating revenue/paying expenses of chicken keeping. Right now we have 5 Ameraucana hens/1 rooster, 8 Barred Rock Hens/2 roosters (the extra bird sent must have been a rooster, only ordered two) that are 5 weeks old and are now in their coop. Today I purchased 5 Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets and 4 Khaki Campbell (SR) ducklings. We also plan on purchasing three or four guinea fowl as soon as a friend of a friend starts hatching them. The guinea fowl will conclude my bird purchases for this year.
To date we have only lost two birds; one died a few hours after delivery and the other died due to my ignorance. The 16 we moved into the coop are doing great. They were moved in last Sunday, 3-30-2014, and have thoroughly explored their new 8x12 home. We used manufactured sand for the floor and used sturdy green pine branches for their roosting poles. The building sits atop an old potato dairy which saves us from having to worry about something digging in.
The only construction that we have left to do is to install an automatic watering system, construct/install nesting boxes and build the run which is going to be 8'x22'. I am considering going to 10'x22', but not decided yet. We plan on letting them "free range" in the evenings a couple hours before sun down. Only while we are home and can keep watch. I am hoping that training my dogs, 2 three year old Australian Shepherds, won't be much of a hassle and I can count on them to help keep watch over the flock.
More about myself: I am 28 years old, married to the most amazing woman I have ever encountered and we have two young boys; our eldest is 7 years old and the youngest is 10 months. We live in Southwest Virginia and our seasons are not to terribly harsh. My wife and I have used these forums on multiple occasions to acquire information we were seeking and have not been disappointed. So, not wanting to feel like a mooch, I decided to sign up and maybe what little we have learned may help someone else later on.
My name is Aaron Anderson and this year my family has taken on the task of raising chickens as well as ducks for meat and egg production for our family as well as the possibility of generating revenue/paying expenses of chicken keeping. Right now we have 5 Ameraucana hens/1 rooster, 8 Barred Rock Hens/2 roosters (the extra bird sent must have been a rooster, only ordered two) that are 5 weeks old and are now in their coop. Today I purchased 5 Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets and 4 Khaki Campbell (SR) ducklings. We also plan on purchasing three or four guinea fowl as soon as a friend of a friend starts hatching them. The guinea fowl will conclude my bird purchases for this year.
To date we have only lost two birds; one died a few hours after delivery and the other died due to my ignorance. The 16 we moved into the coop are doing great. They were moved in last Sunday, 3-30-2014, and have thoroughly explored their new 8x12 home. We used manufactured sand for the floor and used sturdy green pine branches for their roosting poles. The building sits atop an old potato dairy which saves us from having to worry about something digging in.
The only construction that we have left to do is to install an automatic watering system, construct/install nesting boxes and build the run which is going to be 8'x22'. I am considering going to 10'x22', but not decided yet. We plan on letting them "free range" in the evenings a couple hours before sun down. Only while we are home and can keep watch. I am hoping that training my dogs, 2 three year old Australian Shepherds, won't be much of a hassle and I can count on them to help keep watch over the flock.
More about myself: I am 28 years old, married to the most amazing woman I have ever encountered and we have two young boys; our eldest is 7 years old and the youngest is 10 months. We live in Southwest Virginia and our seasons are not to terribly harsh. My wife and I have used these forums on multiple occasions to acquire information we were seeking and have not been disappointed. So, not wanting to feel like a mooch, I decided to sign up and maybe what little we have learned may help someone else later on.
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and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like you have a nice colorful flock and a really nice set up for them. Sorry about the birds you lost. Good luck with the rest of the coop and run build. 
