New guy wants to by Chickens

[uncledoug]

HI. Name is Doug, Im an old geezer, living life large. Living high in the Mountains of Idaho and going to build a 20 x 20 Chicken coop with a 20 x 20 fenced in yard for exercise. We have very tough weather here and im building the coop part out of a Glass block that has i very high R factor and i plan on putting in the North and East side into the earth for the temp benefit. Im on solar power so i cant afford to run an incubator . I plan on 8 laying boxes with four more dedicated to brooding. Water will be caught on the roof and stored in the working section behind the coop part.

Need some advice on weather i should do a concrete floor or just dirt.
im hoping to buy one austrolop rooster and 5 hens and 20 rode island reds to start out the venture.
The coop will be totally solar powered and heated w/ self feeders and waterers.
We have alot of predators , wolves, coyotes, weasels, badgers, Cougars, and lynx so its got to be pretty stout set up.

Appreciate anyone letting me know where i can buy chicks that are getting ready to lay. After i buy the hens ( austrolops , then i can probably buy chicks.

thanks alot.
Uncle Doug.

 

[KJ6485]

Hello! Welcome I am new here as well so I can offer no advice yet, but I wanted to say Hello

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC, Uncle Doug. Glad you decided to join our flock. I would personally just do a dirt floor covered with coarse river sand or fine pea gravel which drains well and is relatively easy to clean. With the predators in your area, be sure and build your coop like Fort Knox and use hardware cloth rather than chicken wire as there are just too many predators that can tear through chicken wire, or squeeze through the openings in the mesh. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on predator proofing your chickens. I don't know where you can buy laying hens in your area but there is an excellent hatchery in Caldwell, ID, called Dunlap hatchery that breeds Black Australorps and Rhode Island Reds (as well as many other breeds). Even though they normally sell chicks, they might have some pullets for sale or if not may be able to tell you who does so I would check with them. You didn't mention how many RIR roosters you were planning to get, but keep in mind that the recommended ratio of roosters to hens is 1 rooster for every 10 hens. The only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching and 1 rooster can easily handle 10-15 hens in that regard. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Doug and welcome to BYC - good to have you join us. You seem to have things pretty well planned out and i wish you all the best with your impending chicken adventure.

CT

 

[drumstick diva]

Not all breed hens go broody. The broodiest of the bunch I believe are silkies, cochins and buff orpingtons. When hens go broody, they don't produce eggs.

 

[N F C]

Hi Uncle Doug,

If you're wanting to have your hens hatch chicks, RIR's are not known for going broody and from my experience, BA's are hit or miss (out of my 4 only 1 was broody). It sounds like you have already thought a lot of things through so you should do well getting started on raising chickens.

As for where you can buy some, once you have 20 posts you can use the buy-sell-trade forum here on BYC. They have everything from hatching eggs, to chicks, to POL hens. There's also a free re-homing section to that forum.

Good luck with all your plans, I hope everything goes well for you!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

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

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. Good luck with your endeavors!

 

[QueenMisha]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!