Hello ...from Lake Wales, Florida

[RhondaS]

My husband and I recently sold all our horses and being a "country" girl, I said I had to have some kind of critters...so now I have a nice chicken pen and nesting boxes waiting for a few chickens. We would like good layers and since I know very little about
chickens can anyone help me as to the best best breed and how many for a 10x10 pen?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Welcome! There are a LOT of choices for laying breeds. Do you want brown eggs, white eggs, blue or green eggs? Do you want really friendly and calm birds or do you not care if they are neurotic scardy-birds if you get more eggs?

And they recommend 4 sq ft of coop space per bird plus plenty of room in a run or free range.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, RhondaS, and

! Great to have you in our community!! Which chicken to pick is a tough choice...but a fun choice. You might check out the Breeds link below to help you with your choice. Best of luck to you!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds

 

[sourland]

Hi, Rhonda, welcome to BYC. Decide exactly what you want in/from your birds and access the 'breeds' forum as suggested by redsoxs.

 

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us.

 

[Kevin565]

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Welcome to BYC!! Glad you joined.

 

[RhondaS]

Thanks, all of you for welcoming me to BYC and for the advice. We bought a breeding pair of Black Australorps and two Red Bantam Cochin hens...love all of them. one more question...when the chickens are in the run they scratch dirt in the water and feed, how do I keep it clean?

 

[chickenpooplady]

from Highland County Ohio and God Bless!!!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Thanks, all of you for welcoming me to BYC and for the advice. We bought a breeding pair of Black Australorps and two Red Bantam Cochin hens...love all of them. one more question...when the chickens are in the run they scratch dirt in the water and feed, how do I keep it clean?

Good luck on that! But raising it off the ground helps. I have my waterer up on two large bricks and the feeder is hung in the coop (they scratch less in there). Chickens have a talent for getting things in the water. At least they aren't pooping in it...