Hello, I just joined. I have recently convinced dh in the chickens. I have been reading and researching, Hoping to get a small flock of 3 and a tractor in the spring. Would love to know what set up I will need for winter protection in GA? I am zone 7b for cold hardiness. Will chickens be ok in a tractor w plywood enclosure? Do I need a sturdier and bigger coop for winter? Any best breeds for laying and forage for our climate or breeds to avoid? Do I need to look for both heat and cold or just heat on the breed selectors? Thank you in advance for all the help!
Hello there and welcome to BYC! So glad you could join our community! You might do best if you chat with your chicken neighbors in your state thread about our climate and best breeds for your area...https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/240/georgia-here-too Have you stopped by our learning center yet? Lots of good articles on getting started with chickens, building the coop, raising the chicks and keeping your adult flock happy, healthy and safe from predators....https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center Here is our coop pages as well...small, medium and large coops as well as tractors that will give you some ideas...https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops Here is a nice chart on all the breeds and how they fair that may help you pick out your breeds...http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html Enjoy this new journey you are on and if you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. TwoCrows has given you some good advice. A couple of other good charts you might want to consult with regard to choosing a breed are found at http://albc-usa.etapwss.com/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf and http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/breed-list.aspx. Also, Murray McMurray has an excellent "chick selector" tool at https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_selector.html to help you select the breed that is best for you. Just be sure and click on "show more characteristics." If you're looking for personal recommendations, I would suggest Black Australorps which are an extremely hardy breed. I've raised them for years, both where winter temperatures dropped to 30 F below zero, and where summer temperatures frequently reached 117-118 F (123 F once), and in both climate extremes they came through like troopers. Black Australorps are also calm and gentle birds. My children, and now my granddaughter (pictured in my avatar) made lap pets of them. And Black Australorps are the best layers of the standard brown egg laying breeds. A Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while none of mine have ever reached that level of production (and likely never will), I've still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Whatever breed you decide to get, good luck with your flock.
Welcome! And yes if I get either of my cockerals on the farm, I was thinking I'd need to get him a tractor here by spring LOL
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help. I almost think you will need a sturdier coop then just a tractor. If you have high winds, large, cunning predators or plan to keep lots of birds then tractors are defiantly not a good idea. Here are two links to help you figure out which will work best. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-tractors-versus-permanent-coops-the-pros-and-cons https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/tractor-vs-permanent-coop-the-pros-cons Cold hardy breeds include the big, heavy ones. Orpingtons, autralorps, barred rocks, wyandottes, cochins, faverlloes, dorking, sussex, rhode island reds, brahmas, easter eggers, production reds and buckeyes are just some examples of the cold hardy breeds. Avoid light, bantam breeds such as sebrights, polish, leghorns, dutch, campines and andalusians. My personal favorite is the buff orpington. They are extremely affectionate, great layers, good foragers and very cold hardy. Orps, australorps, barred rocks, wyandottes, sussex, rhode island reds, easter eggers, brahmas and buckeyes are all good foragers. Here are some helpful links concerning this issue https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/things-to-and-not-to-do-during-winter https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds/page/40 https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures Good luck!
Welcome from a fellow Georgian. I'm in Macon, and our weather is just a little warmer than yours. Here summers are of more concern, they all are quite cold hardy. But do need an enclosure to roost at nite for protection from the elements and predators. In making your tractor vs coop/pen decisions, make sure to look at how you plan to protect from digging and reach thru predators and if you have enough land to move it around. There's loads of experience on the forums and in the learning center. Good luck on your decisions.
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and the great advice and links. I appreciate the list on breeds, very helpful! And the links on tractor vs coop. Will be reading and going to the appropriate forums w my follow up questions, also posted on the ga site. Thanks again!