New here with some questions

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onecrazymamma

onecrazymamma

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Hi all,
We live in southern Maine and are considering a small flock of chickens (3-5) primarily for eggs and pets. We have four small children and two very well mannered yellow labs (who love other animals, including rabbits, etc).

I have done some research over the last few weeks and we have some questions:

1. Is electricity/lighting necessary in the Maine winters? Of course, we would get a hardy bird that would be able to tolerate the cold winters.

2. My husband is especially worried about our lawn. We live on a half acre, all grass, including some raised bed gardens (but, we gate these in to keep my kids out anyways). Ideally, we would like to let them free range as much as possible during the day. Would a small flock be able to ruin a lawn?

I appreciate any insight you all have,
Stephanie
 
Welcome Stephanie!

Ok...here's my 2 cents
1. Electricity - It isn't necessary but there are some important reasons to have it.... supplemental light and heat in the winter. I live in Michigan and only run a brooder heat lamp when it is really cold in the winter. My coop is insulated and If it is below 20 inside the coop I run the brooder lamp to keep the water from freezing. Some folks use special water heaters which also need electricity. Also consider, as the amount of daylight declines in winter, your hens will lay less frequently, which can be by-passed by supplementing with a light in the coop. I have a timer which turns the light on at 6 a.m. and shuts off at 9 p.m. this helps keep winter egg production up. We use an energy efficient bulb with a light sensor on it as well to shut off when not needed. Heavy breeds are very tolerant of cold conditions.
2. 3-5 birds free ranging on a half acre should be fine. Most people experience damaged lawn areas when the girls are confined to one area regularly- think small bare chicken yard. The chickens will scratch and dig bath holes in flower beds if allowed access. Any new plants or flowers need protection from their scratching in the dirt. I put rocks around anything newly planted until it is established.

Good Luck!
Diana
 
Greetings from Kansas, onecrazymamma, and
welcome-byc.gif
! Pleased you joined our community! My opinions are this:
a well-built coop that is ventilated but draft free is good enough - they will be cozy and warm if you have a few birds. Here is an interesting article that discusses that.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/421122/think-its-too-cold-for-your-chickens-think-again

In terms of your yard, I think they will go after your raised gardens more than your yard.

Good luck to you and have fun!!
 
Thanks, ladies! My husband is a bit apprehensive about this whole chicken thing but I think it is great! Another question he has is about poop - would a small flock really trash our yard with "that" much poop?? ;)

He's thinking of a lot of excuses ;)
 
I haven't narrowed it down to the type of chickens yet - still in the earlier-mid part of researching and trying to decide if chickens are for us :)

We do live with woods and wildlife near us. Friends of ours who live a few miles away have been having issues with weasels! We live in the middle of a salt marsh, and our area can be fairly damp. I would love chickens just for the slug eating
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- we have a horrible problem with slugs in our veggie garden. YUCK.

Are there specific breeds of chickens that may be less apt to ruin a lawn? My husband is set on the fact that he does not want to have to redo our lawn. I don't care so much about our garden or plants, we don't have a ton of those anyways.

Thanks!
Stephanie
 
ha ha ha! That's what I was thinking!

I think I've got him close to being convinced.......what about the poop? I can't imagine 4 chickens could really make that big of a mess?
 

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