Hi From Edgewood NM

[Commish63]

I am new to the forum and to backyard chickens. We live in Edgewood NM which is at about 6500' elevation just east of Albuquerque on the east side of Sandia Mountain. I am currently in the planning phase for the coop and run. For the coop we are looking at an elevated 6'X6' or 6'X8' coop with a shed style roof, enough room for me to stand in so it will be 7' on the high side, a 4/12 or 5/12 pitch metal roof and four nesting boxes. The run will be 6' wide and 16' long not including the space under the coop. I figure to start with 8 birds. I hear Rhode Island Reds and Golden Comets are good birds to start off with. We have soil that has a lot of Caliche in it so would love to know if I should add anything to it to make the run more bird friendly. For those that know about caliche it be very dusty when dry but when it is wet turns to a sticky muck then dries to a concrete block. Probably why it is good in making adobe bricks. It does get cold here in the winter (I had one February that dropped to -30 over night) with an average night time temp of 10-25 degrees with day time temps 30-50 degrees. Sumer it gets up into the 90s during the day but and be between 50 and 60 at night. We do not get a lot of snow but it can dump 12" or more in one shot. The nice thing it is mostly all gone in a few days. What ever advise you can offer is welcome. Thanks for reading

 

[SilverBirds]

Welcome to BYC! Thanks for joining us.

 

[N F C]

Hi, it's nice to have you here with us! @TwoCrows come say hello to a fellow-New Mexico member!

 

[BeefQuesoritto]

Hey welcome! I'm in New Mexico too, near Tucumcari. I used to live in Albuquerque, and used to drive through Edgewood pretty often.

There's a thread for New Mexico here, too!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

Here here, down in the south central mountains of New Mexico!! Sounds like a good plan for a coop and run. I use mulch in the coop and run and on those roasting hot summer days I wet everything down and then turn on the turbo fan. The evaporative cooling effect cools the floor and air by 8 to 10 degrees.

Enjoy and welcome aboard!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

 

[Blue Raptor]

I am new to the forum and to backyard chickens. We live in Edgewood NM which is at about 6500' elevation just east of Albuquerque on the east side of Sandia Mountain. I am currently in the planning phase for the coop and run. For the coop we are looking at an elevated 6'X6' or 6'X8' coop with a shed style roof, enough room for me to stand in so it will be 7' on the high side, a 4/12 or 5/12 pitch metal roof and four nesting boxes. The run will be 6' wide and 16' long not including the space under the coop. I figure to start with 8 birds. I hear Rhode Island Reds and Golden Comets are good birds to start off with. We have soil that has a lot of Caliche in it so would love to know if I should add anything to it to make the run more bird friendly. For those that know about caliche it be very dusty when dry but when it is wet turns to a sticky muck then dries to a concrete block. Probably why it is good in making adobe bricks. It does get cold here in the winter (I had one February that dropped to -30 over night) with an average night time temp of 10-25 degrees with day time temps 30-50 degrees. Sumer it gets up into the 90s during the day but and be between 50 and 60 at night. We do not get a lot of snow but it can dump 12" or more in one shot. The nice thing it is mostly all gone in a few days. What ever advise you can offer is welcome. Thanks for reading

Welcome to BYC!!

 

[GreenJay]

Welcome to BYC! Howdy from south Texas !

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[Grammy60]

Hello and welcome to BYC We are excited to have you here.