Hello from Southern Arizona

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tball chicky

tball chicky

Songster
8 Years
Mar 10, 2011
289
0
109
Safford, AZ
Hello everyone. My Gramma has always had chickens, so when we bought some land it just seemed normal to get some chicks.

We have 8 chicks that we got from 3 different people.
One place was adament they were pullets: 2 White Leghorn (Ideal) pullets, 1 Golden pullet.
Second place was pretty sure 1 was a pullet and the other is a mystery chick (possibly an EE hen X Barred Rock or Black Sex Link Rooster).
Last place was an "Ameracauna" breeder and I received 3 chicks from them.

All of the chicks are between 1 & 3 weeks old. I am hoping to find cockeral in the bunch.
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I am still working on the coop design and am struggling a bit with it. I live in southern AZ at about 4600ft, so we get heat & cold. The chickens won't be free range until I get a feel for the predators in the area. How much space do I really need for 8 chickens that will be solely cooped?
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How do I post a picture of my mystery chick for opinions on breed?
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Thanks!!!

Mom to 3 great kids, wife to a house-builder, and sucker for all sorts (3 snakes, 2 bearded dragons, 2 dogs, and 8 baby chicks)
 
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from Mississippi and I would think if they are to be cooped all the time I'd go with at least 80 square feet or 8' X 10' for 8 chickens. Less would work but be cramped unless they have a run and more would be better.
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The rule of thumb is 4 square foot per bird for chickens who have daily access to a run or pen and about 10 square foot per head for full time cooped birds or for a run. You can get by with a bit less, but will get some feather picking and have more smell, work and mess. You can never really have too much space.
Good luck!
 
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Thanks for the welcom. They will have a run & a coop, I figured 80sqft with an elevated coop at one end of the run. That should work I think.
 
Greetings from a fellow southern Arizonan and
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The general rule of thumb is 4 sq. feet per bird in the coop and 10 sq. feet per bird in the run. However, we don't have much winter here compared to the rest of the country. Your chickens will likely spend more time outside than inside the coop, even in the coldest weather we have here. Consequently, I'd shift some of the square footage from the coop towards the run. Be sure to stop in and say hello on our local BYC AZ thread, perhaps more people at your elevation can help advise you on coop design (https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31227&p=972). As a new bycer, you can't post pics until you've made a few more posts. Good luck!
 
Well...I figured out how to get pictures on my page. So...a little progress is better than none.

My girls just love the chicks!!! They want o play with them like little dolls
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