newpeep
Hatching
Hi, my name is Danielle. I am in SW Virginia and have been thinking about keeping chickens for a while. I grew up with my grandmother who kept chickens and my mom has been keeping chickens for about 3 years. We moved out to the country in December and I started thinking more about keeping chickens. I have been reading through the forums, reading Chickens for Dummies and Chicken Health for Dummies since we moved to a place where it is possible to have chickens. I have already checked with my county and I am in an agricultural area so there are no restrictions on chickens or roosters (or apparently any farm animal I might want) and I don't need a permit for my coop so I know I'm all legal.
My mom has several baby Gold Laced Wyandotte chicks that were born the first week in June so my husband and I talked about it and decided we were ready for chickens. We have looked at coop plans and decided on a simple but hopefully spacious and secure enough coop, marked off the secured run area to surround the coop and he has started digging the trench for the foot of hardware cloth that will need to be buried. He will start on the coop next weekend when he will have a friend who can help him. The coop we are planning will be about 2 feet off the ground, 4x5 with hardware cloth at the vents and windows. We plan to start with 4 or 5 girls. The secured run area we have marked off will be 10' x 15' wrapped in hardware cloth and covered since we have hawks and vultures and we have plans to add a fenced foraging area off of that that will be another 15' x 20' where they can roam around and I plan to put a little garden in that area for them and a bench for me to sit and watch them. The run area gets shade from a deciduous tree so it should get sun in the winter for warmth and shade the hen house in the summer. My whole yard is a slope so when it rains, the water shouldn't pool in their area and it is well away from our well. I will be able to look out my kitchen or dining room area and see the hens. I am very excited!
I just wanted to say hello and I am thankful for all the information on this site and I am looking forward to keeping chickens!
My mom has several baby Gold Laced Wyandotte chicks that were born the first week in June so my husband and I talked about it and decided we were ready for chickens. We have looked at coop plans and decided on a simple but hopefully spacious and secure enough coop, marked off the secured run area to surround the coop and he has started digging the trench for the foot of hardware cloth that will need to be buried. He will start on the coop next weekend when he will have a friend who can help him. The coop we are planning will be about 2 feet off the ground, 4x5 with hardware cloth at the vents and windows. We plan to start with 4 or 5 girls. The secured run area we have marked off will be 10' x 15' wrapped in hardware cloth and covered since we have hawks and vultures and we have plans to add a fenced foraging area off of that that will be another 15' x 20' where they can roam around and I plan to put a little garden in that area for them and a bench for me to sit and watch them. The run area gets shade from a deciduous tree so it should get sun in the winter for warmth and shade the hen house in the summer. My whole yard is a slope so when it rains, the water shouldn't pool in their area and it is well away from our well. I will be able to look out my kitchen or dining room area and see the hens. I am very excited!
I just wanted to say hello and I am thankful for all the information on this site and I am looking forward to keeping chickens!
and Welcome To BYC!
