Jenn86 - Newbie from Wisconsin

[007Sean]

Howdy, Jenn 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 Jenn and welcome to BYC So happy you have joined our flock.

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your Plans. And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska!

 

[Blue Raptor]

Hi! everyone. I'm working on my chicken plans for next year, and still trying to convince a reluctant husband. We bought our house/property a year and a half ago and it has an old dog pen (enclosed with a chain-link fence) which is 25 ft. x 75 ft, - new chicken run. The old dog house is on a 6.3 ' x 8.5' cement slab we plan to build the coop on top of. This year has been working on the garden, hubbie put in 15 (4' x 8') raised beds, including a 8'x16' horse shoe bed (that will be finished into a green house) and a 8'x18' L shaped bed of strawberries and asparagus. We live on 2.5 acres that has a 60 foot pond (for the geothermal system). Our goal is is to be a self sufficient as possible.

Welcome to BYC!! Good luck with the DIY!

 

[swampfox440]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Jenn and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[WIchickMama]

Welcome from Western WI! Sounds like some amazing garden beds you got going on! Good luck withe the coop build-took me 4 years to convince DH to get chickens

 

[N F C]

Hello, best of luck with all your plans!

 

[Jenn86]

Hi Jenn, welcome to BYC. If you put your coop on a concrete slab, be sure you use deep bedding to protect your chickens feet.

Plan on building 6'x8' coop s

Hi Jenn, welcome to BYC. If you put your coop on a concrete slab, be sure you use deep bedding to protect your chickens feet.

Plan on building a 6'x8' coop, raised 18" with 4"x4"s, details still working on...

 

[Boppo]

Glad to meet you, Jenn. Best wishes getting hubby along for the bird ride. Chickens are a lot of fun, but you probably are not going to save money if you keep them fed well. You do have a nice set up already, but it will need improving to keep predators out - half inch hardware cloth is your friend. Here is an article on improving protection, and another that is my favorite intro to chicken keeping. Congratulations on your new home, and lifestyle. I hope you get your birds!

(PS, coturnix quail are also very easy to keep and much smaller than chickens, and start laying at 7 weeks, lay a small egg a day. Very cute birds that make much less noise and mess). See the Quail forum. You would still have to do the predator protection, but they are tough little birds, and easy to keep. I find them adorable (can you tell?) though I also love my hens.