I got dragged into this...

[cluck-you]

Howdy! So here it is, my wife and I just moved back home to Michigan and bout an old farm house. My wife became intrigued by the old chicken coop in the back yard, so here I am! I have been cleaning and "remodeling" this thing for a couple days now and she is excited about chickens. Apparently all that matters is the birds must be pretty, and she wants blue/green eggs and dark brown eggs. (Thinking about Marans and Amerucuna) We have a large coop/shed that is 10'X17' with a 10'X17' fenced area with a roof, then I built an all wire "run" that is 12'X31' and that just has fencing for a roof. I still need to build the interior of the shed. So we are just getting started and I will take any advice I can. My father in law wants to buy 50!?!

 

[cluck-you]

50(!?!) Meat chickens to raids and butcher, which is fine. Just need all the info I can get! Thanks!

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and

! Great to have you with us! Sounds like you are going to be very busy real soon. 50 is a lot to start with but manageable. I'm a little usure of the number - you said 50 meat chickens but also a number of hens?? I ask because the 10 x 17 coop size is a little small, at 170 sq. ft. for 50 birds as the recommended size is 4 sq. ft. per bird. But the accompanying run will help. Not sure of the meat bird type you are getting - the most popular is the Cornish X...it doesn't move around as much, preferring to just sit and eat...but what comes in must come out - you will have a lot of poop in the coop. Just some things to keep in mind. Best thing to do is check out the Learning Center link below - it will give you the knowledge you need to be a responsible poultry keeper. Meat birds (at least Cornish X) are a different breed - literally and figuratively - from other chickens and have different needs than the layers you will be getting. I wish you all the luck - BYC will be here to help.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/

 

[BrendaJ]

Hello from Oregon & welcome to BYC There is an overflow of info on this forum - love it. There are tabs above ^ Forum, Learning Center & so on. There is a section on raising meat birds as well as best eggs layers. Sounds like a nice coop - good luck

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!

So very glad you joined us!!

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Hope you check the Where are you - Where am I section for the Michigan thread, stop in and say Hi. Chickenstock is coming in June, great time to get birds