- Jan 16, 2010
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Hello,
I'm Karen, aka grnthumb30, from kind of north central Indiana.
My first experience with chickens was first as a young girl when my parents would get a bunch in the spring, feed 'em and then we'd have a big butchering day and I had to pluck chickens. ICKY!
Later in life I had about 5 acres so I bought some Araucana's/Easter Egg chicks from a mailorder place and built a makeshift coop. I had an outdoor run -- uncovered that was about six foot tall made of 2x4's and a 1x2 wire mesh. The coop was too cramped, but other than that, for a novice, it wasn't too bad. The second year I added some Rhode Island Reds. Evenings I let them free range some and learned the hard way not to be lazy. Leave the coop open one night and you learn that!
Now hubby and I live in suburbia. We're on a good size lot that has a wooded ravine side and back. A neighbor around the corner has had a few chickens for 2 years now and no one has hollered. We're not in the town limits and as our back yard is fairly secluded, we think we might like to get a few chickens next spring. Right now I'm debating converting an 8x8 gazebo that is in the back corner of our property into a chicken coop. It's directly on the ground, so I'm concerned about that. I thought about making a raised coop inside of the 8x8. Then I could wire in the whole thing with a run off of that. If we were leaving in the evening, the girls wouldn't necessarily have to be locked in the coop, but just in the gazebo area. They would then be safe until we got home later.
Hubby wants BIG brown eggs, so I'm probably going to do Rhode Island Reds, or Rocks and I've been told to consider the Black Stars. I originally only wanted 3-4 max, but I'm starting to think maybe 6 max. Anyway, I want them rather easy going and docile as I have a 3 and 6 year old that will be ecstatic about it. (Grandpa got chickens last spring and then neighbors dogs came over and killed them all in less than 5 minutes!)
If/when we get all that done, I'm thinking of constructing a small portable pen that I could use in the yard when I'm home and can be close by. We have some neighborhood labs and other large dogs that wander by from time to time and I'm going to have to be wary about them.
Looking forward to watching the forums. I have already -- just in the past day -- picked up some great ideas for this project.
Karen,
grnthumb30
I'm Karen, aka grnthumb30, from kind of north central Indiana.
My first experience with chickens was first as a young girl when my parents would get a bunch in the spring, feed 'em and then we'd have a big butchering day and I had to pluck chickens. ICKY!
Later in life I had about 5 acres so I bought some Araucana's/Easter Egg chicks from a mailorder place and built a makeshift coop. I had an outdoor run -- uncovered that was about six foot tall made of 2x4's and a 1x2 wire mesh. The coop was too cramped, but other than that, for a novice, it wasn't too bad. The second year I added some Rhode Island Reds. Evenings I let them free range some and learned the hard way not to be lazy. Leave the coop open one night and you learn that!
Now hubby and I live in suburbia. We're on a good size lot that has a wooded ravine side and back. A neighbor around the corner has had a few chickens for 2 years now and no one has hollered. We're not in the town limits and as our back yard is fairly secluded, we think we might like to get a few chickens next spring. Right now I'm debating converting an 8x8 gazebo that is in the back corner of our property into a chicken coop. It's directly on the ground, so I'm concerned about that. I thought about making a raised coop inside of the 8x8. Then I could wire in the whole thing with a run off of that. If we were leaving in the evening, the girls wouldn't necessarily have to be locked in the coop, but just in the gazebo area. They would then be safe until we got home later.
Hubby wants BIG brown eggs, so I'm probably going to do Rhode Island Reds, or Rocks and I've been told to consider the Black Stars. I originally only wanted 3-4 max, but I'm starting to think maybe 6 max. Anyway, I want them rather easy going and docile as I have a 3 and 6 year old that will be ecstatic about it. (Grandpa got chickens last spring and then neighbors dogs came over and killed them all in less than 5 minutes!)
If/when we get all that done, I'm thinking of constructing a small portable pen that I could use in the yard when I'm home and can be close by. We have some neighborhood labs and other large dogs that wander by from time to time and I'm going to have to be wary about them.
Looking forward to watching the forums. I have already -- just in the past day -- picked up some great ideas for this project.
Karen,
grnthumb30
