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TwoShepherds said:
Congratulations on your new farm and your soon-to-be chickens. You have room for a lot more than 8 on twenty acres! ;) Just kidding! Be sure to keep us updated on your chicken journey. This is a great place to learn, lots of knowledgeable people. I've had my little flock for a year now, and I know BYC has kept me from making some rookie mistakes. Are you planning to get any other kinds of livestock or animals on your farm?
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"...more livestock..." that's a great question that we talk about every week. We've had horses before and would love to have them again, but they are a lot of work and we also have an RV - want to go camping! We have a nice old 5 stall barn, that needs some renovation and clean up to really make it usable. Because we have some fenced off pasture areas from previous property owners, we have thought about goats or sheep. Several neighbors have goats, that run away all the time, but on the plus side they keep the grass and weeds down in the pasture area. One neighbor has sheep and thinks they are a great solution for eating grass - they don't run away. Not wooly sheep, hair sheep like Dorpers or Katahdin. Not sure yet. We also have quite a few predators like coyotes, foxes, and even a wildcat or two. A lot to think about. Since my dear hubby is about 2-3 weeks away from actual retirement, we're trying to take it one step at a time. (he doesn't even have time to build our coop yet...) Thanks for asking! Do you have any advice for other livestock or anything else?
Oh and we also have an old chicken coop that we don't even consider usable, and it's in back of the barn so we can't see it from the house - don't like that! We may figure out a way to put a camera in the new coop to keep an eye on any potential predators. We're putting the new coop closer to the house where we can see it, where there is a lot of grass for them to scratch and peck in the run. Big run, we want about a 20 ft run. Too many hawks and birds of prey to let them free range.
 
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JustAnotherChickie said:
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"...more livestock..." that's a great question that we talk about every week. We've had horses before and would love to have them again, but they are a lot of work and we also have an RV - want to go camping! We have a nice old 5 stall barn, that needs some renovation and clean up to really make it usable. Because we have some fenced off pasture areas from previous property owners, we have thought about goats or sheep. Several neighbors have goats, that run away all the time, but on the plus side they keep the grass and weeds down in the pasture area. One neighbor has sheep and thinks they are a great solution for eating grass - they don't run away. Not wooly sheep, hair sheep like Dorpers or Katahdin. Not sure yet. We also have quite a few predators like coyotes, foxes, and even a wildcat or two. A lot to think about. Since my dear hubby is about 2-3 weeks away from actual retirement, we're trying to take it one step at a time. (he doesn't even have time to build our coop yet...) Thanks for asking! Do you have any advice for other livestock or anything else?
Oh and we also have an old chicken coop that we don't even consider usable, and it's in back of the barn so we can't see it from the house - don't like that! We may figure out a way to put a camera in the new coop to keep an eye on any potential predators. We're putting the new coop closer to the house where we can see it, where there is a lot of grass for them to scratch and peck in the run. Big run, we want about a 20 ft run. Too many hawks and birds of prey to let them free range.
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How fun that you have fences and outbuildings already on your property! We are in the process of having more appropriate fencing put up on our 5 acres and since we can't (or don't want to learn how to) install it ourselves, it is $$$. The only fencing on our property was barbed wire, so we're replacing it a bit at a time.

Hair sheep have been recommended to us as well. I have been told that goats can be hard on trees and that sheep are better grazers (while goats browse). Also I have heard sheep can be easier to contain than goats. It makes a lot of sense for us to get sheep, I want goats though. We plan to take the plunge next year. I would love to get dairy goats but I am holding off while I figure out if I can make that big of a commitment. This year, we have the opportunity to get a small breed of pig (guinea hogs). The fencers are outside finishing their enclosure as I type this. Yikes, this will be our first foray into any kind of livestock (other than chickens). So I should be asking if you have any advice! :)

We had an old strange coop in our backyard as well (at least I assume it was a coop). I could have probably used it, but it was an odd design and would have been back-breaking to clean. I listed it for free on craigslist and had tons of people wanting it. I was amazed. Guess I should have asked money for it, haha, but it was simply a relief to have it gone. I thought I'd have to pay to have it taken away. We had a shed company deliver a coop and then put up about a 62 ft x 20 ft chain link fence "run" that I covered with bird-netting to keep out the hawks. I lost pullet early on to something. I think a hawk breached my netting. I have since reinforced the netting and it's been about a year with no losses or problems. Game cams are a great idea and would be interesting to see. At any rate, I hope you enjoy your new coop and chickens. Be sure to keep us updated on your adventures. We have been having so much fun with our chickens. And so far they have been fairly easy and low maintenance--at least once the coop and run were set up.
 

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