Stache
In the Brooder
I've been lurking in the background here for far too long and thought I would at least say what a wonderful site this is. I've learned so much from the advise given here by everyone and all the great articles readily available. This is our first year raising chickens and we received 12 Black Australorp as part of the 4-H Chicken Chain. Sadly the runt didn't survive long after shipping and we lost another to heat but we have 10 of them left doing great. Just went to the fair this last week for the chicken show and my son won GRAND CHAMPION for his 5 bird pen! We bought 15 Ameracauna and got one free Cream Legbar that are about 3 months younger than the Australorps. The Cream Legbar is a cockerel but he is so chill my daughter named him Chong. They are all happy in their coop we built for them. The run is 8' X 20' and the coop is 8' X 8' with 5 nesting boxes on each side. Anyways just wanted to say hi and thank you to everyone!
lots of useful knowledge and advice on here and everyone trys to assist with any questions or queries. 
and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
they do love them. You can kinda see them in these pics... I think the ladder and the barstool are their most favorite probably for the height. I am going to add a gutter system to this coop to divert a lot of water here, it is 100% covered with the tin roof but still is prone to runnoff. We do use and prefer hemp bedding and have plenty, do you think it would be better for the birds and easier for cleaning out the run if we layer some hemp bedding out? If so for our run of 160 sq.ft and 26 birds how often should this need a complete change out?
so my question is what risk does this pose? I mean what are the dangers of not lining the run verses lining the run for cleanout? Also I'll add the factor of removing rain runnoff from the coop to keep it even dryer than it currently is?
