Loving the chicken life

[Pharmboy]

Couple of pictures of the coop I built.

howdy all. Just thought I would introduce myself and our birds.

1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
We are new to chickens this year and it hasn’t been a learning experience!! We got our chickens in April and got our first eggs in late September.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Six chickens right now

(3) What breeds do you have?
RIR
BR
2 EE
CQ
RSL

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Eggs!!

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Hunting, fishing, kayaking, fill in the blank outdoors and it is there. Woodworking, and reading.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
NW Wisconsin in town, a 7 year old goldfish named bubbles, I am a clinical pharmacy specialist provider at the local outpatient clinic.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? Found BYC looking for coop designs this spring, and I wanted to be more involved.

 

[FortCluck]

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Very nice coop and pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Make yourself at home here, oh and hop up on the roost bar, we saved a spot for you.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC.

Here are some links to useful resources:

• List of guides on how to use the site - “How to...” guides
• Great go-to resource - Learning Centre
• Good starting point for browsing the site - Articles
• Insightful feedback on how members manage their flocks - Topic of the Week back-catalogue
• Excellent sources of local information - U.S. States thread list

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[ValerieJ]

Hi! Welcome to BYC!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Your coop is very nicely made, but... the run is way too small for 6 birds. And you have no wind proofing around the run for winter.

 

[Pharmboy]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Your coop is very nicely made, but... the run is way too small for 6 birds. And you have no wind proofing around the run for winter.

I appreciate the feedback.

My run is 4’ x 12’ and my coop has a footprint of 4’ x 8’. They have access to both 24/7, and also free range quite a lot as well.

I haven’t finished my winter prep, but on the north end (with the prevailing winds) I have a brown tarp already installed that really takes advantage of the southern exposure and is an excellent windbreak.

I am also almost done making my plastic panels to install on my southern side, and the top of the exposed run along with the and east facing sides. Still figuring what I want on the door side of the run. We haven’t had much snow yet, and the temperatures haven’t been horrendous quite yet.

 

[BullChick]

 

[ValerieJ]

I appreciate the feedback.

My run is 4’ x 12’ and my coop has a footprint of 4’ x 8’. They have access to both 24/7, and also free range quite a lot as well.

I haven’t finished my winter prep, but on the north end (with the prevailing winds) I have a brown tarp already installed that really takes advantage of the southern exposure and is an excellent windbreak.

I am also almost done making my plastic panels to install on my southern side, and the top of the exposed run along with the and east facing sides. Still figuring what I want on the door side of the run. We haven’t had much snow yet, and the temperatures haven’t been horrendous quite yet.

The minimum space needed for happy, healthy chickens is 4sf per bird in the coop and 10sf per bird in the run, and I think it should be more. It will help to have some obstacles and a peach or two in the run, but if you start having problems with chickens feathers being picked out, or fighting in general, you'll know they don't have enough space.

Hope it all goes well for you. It sure is a nice looking coop.

 

[TwoShepherds]

Hello and welcome! I started my flock this spring also. Wish we had gotten chickens sooner. Ours started laying in October.