Welcome, Ghost and Mandy. Hope you can make it to Chickenstock
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/michigan-chickenstock-2018.1220286/
Generally you would give each bird 4 square feet of floor space inside the coop, and 10 in the run. So no more than 12 birds in your coop, unless they are bantams. Remember that in bad weather they may be stuck inside for days. Crowding birds leads to issues such as bullying and feather picking.
I did insulate my coop, stays cooler in the summer. As for winter, good ventilation is more important.
My birds do use the run in the winter, the covered part regularly and the rest if I shovel it and spread shavings or hay. Some people enclose their runs in the winter.
Electricity makes life easier in the winter, for a water heater and for lights, days are awfully short here and doing evening chores in the dark is a bummer. I do not use supplemental lighting.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/michigan-chickenstock-2018.1220286/
Generally you would give each bird 4 square feet of floor space inside the coop, and 10 in the run. So no more than 12 birds in your coop, unless they are bantams. Remember that in bad weather they may be stuck inside for days. Crowding birds leads to issues such as bullying and feather picking.
I did insulate my coop, stays cooler in the summer. As for winter, good ventilation is more important.
My birds do use the run in the winter, the covered part regularly and the rest if I shovel it and spread shavings or hay. Some people enclose their runs in the winter.
Electricity makes life easier in the winter, for a water heater and for lights, days are awfully short here and doing evening chores in the dark is a bummer. I do not use supplemental lighting.
