hello,
i am new here and just registered. my wife and i are looking to build and maintain a small coop for approx. 10 chickens,( which i know will probably grow if my past hobbies are any indicator!). we live in the mountains of virginia on the shenandoah river. i was raised in south carolina and my uncles ran commercial chicken operations with around 500,000 chickens. they had a few layer houses with whites, rhode island reds and dominiques. and had several broiler houses too. i had a full time summer job working in the houses but now i want a simpler easier but enjoyable experience with some chickens.
we have looked at buying a small premade amish chicken coop, but $1000 price tag is way too much. i am handy but not proficient with carpentry, ( i am a train mechanic by trade). so i will be building a small maybe 4X6 with 3 nest boxes. i like the design of the amish coops so i will attempting to mimic it the best i can.
iam an animal lover and have been since a very small kid. always had snakes and the like. i recently broke down and sold of my saltwater reef aquariums and i still keep and raise poison dart frogs, which i really love. so i have had reptiles, fish corals, amphibians , dogs and now poultry.
so be prepared for my barrage of questions and please take it easy on me. i probably will be spending the next couple days reading all past posts. and hopefully there are sticky posts about answering basic questions.
also i would not mind meeting someone local that is keeping a small brood of chickens. i am in front royal, va
thanks
gary
i am new here and just registered. my wife and i are looking to build and maintain a small coop for approx. 10 chickens,( which i know will probably grow if my past hobbies are any indicator!). we live in the mountains of virginia on the shenandoah river. i was raised in south carolina and my uncles ran commercial chicken operations with around 500,000 chickens. they had a few layer houses with whites, rhode island reds and dominiques. and had several broiler houses too. i had a full time summer job working in the houses but now i want a simpler easier but enjoyable experience with some chickens.
we have looked at buying a small premade amish chicken coop, but $1000 price tag is way too much. i am handy but not proficient with carpentry, ( i am a train mechanic by trade). so i will be building a small maybe 4X6 with 3 nest boxes. i like the design of the amish coops so i will attempting to mimic it the best i can.
iam an animal lover and have been since a very small kid. always had snakes and the like. i recently broke down and sold of my saltwater reef aquariums and i still keep and raise poison dart frogs, which i really love. so i have had reptiles, fish corals, amphibians , dogs and now poultry.
so be prepared for my barrage of questions and please take it easy on me. i probably will be spending the next couple days reading all past posts. and hopefully there are sticky posts about answering basic questions.
also i would not mind meeting someone local that is keeping a small brood of chickens. i am in front royal, va
thanks
gary