Hi all from Up State New York

Just saying hello before I head off to buy a few basic things to start building a coup/run. No birds just yet, but the chicks will arrive Monday so I have all my brooder stuff ready to go. Looking forward to them getting here!

I haven't broken ground for the coup and run yet and I wanted to ask you folks about location. I have two or three good spots on my little half acre next to the woods in terms of drainage. The climate here is hard to pin down lately, we can have some harsh winters as well as hot summers but MOST of the year its pretty moderate. I could locate the fair feathered ones in a spot that gets about 30/60 Sun and Shade when the leaves are on the trees and still gets good drainage or somewhere that is close to all sun. I also have an option for all shade but I would need to build up the base area of their run with about 3 to 6 inches of stone and gravel to help keep the run well drained. Any input would be really helpful.

Also, my friend just built his run and coup and added a bunch of stone for the run. He used river pebbles he bought by the bag. I have a bunch of brick chips I've wanted to use up. Are they suitable to mix with stone? I was also thinking of getting pebbles from the creek at the base of my property which are mainly your basic smooth grey stone with the odd granite pebble imported by the last ice age (I think)

Oh...raising for eggs not meat. Two Silkies, three Golden Comets and three Speckled Sussex. Going to build the coup and run to
accommodate a dozen birds. Was figuring just shy of 10 square feet/bird in the run and 2square feet per bird in the coup.

Thanks and a big hello to ya'll!