Introductions

[krock987]

Hello my name is Keith. My wife and our two boys bought some (9) chicks around Easter and I've spent the last moth and a half building them a chicken palace. We live in Mesa, AZ so solo construction work in the heat of June and July was fun. The coop/run is 6'x12' with a 3'x6' coop. I did a ton of Youtube and forum research to design it (I use the term design with a wink.)

Now its time to scour the forums for more info.

Thanks

 

[Frindizzle]

Welcome to BYC, Keith! Have fun filling your brain of chicken info!

 

[mymilliefleur]

Keith!

 

[drumstick diva]

Nice to meet your Keith, welcome to Backyard chickens. Rule of thumb is 4-5 sq.feet per grown bird in the coop(excluding roosts and nestboxes), and 10 sq.feet per bird in the outdoor fun. Chickens get very crabby when they are over crowded which leads to feather plucking, bullying and at extremes cannibalism. Have you checked out the Learning Center?

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[krock987]

Thanks for welcoming me. I am in the process of going through the forums. We have 8 birds and their coop is 3'x6' so I think they should be okay with that. Their run is 6'x12' so that also should be okay. I hope.

Now that they are older I'm looking into clipping their wings and letting them roam around the yard for parts of the day. I have about a half acre lot so I think they'll have fun exploring. I just don't want them flying over the fences.

Thanks again. It looks like there is tons of info for me to peruse.