New member intro

nibuca

Chirping
Feb 13, 2018
22
55
69
Pacific NW, WA
Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum and new to keeping chickens. We do not yet have chickens but purchased our first coop last weekend. It is a tractor style coop and is approx 4 feet by 10 feet. It is used so we are in the process of cleaning it, fixing it up, and getting it prepped for keeping chickens. We also have young children so are hoping to learn about which breeds are most gentle (I lived in Spain many years ago and have a lot of memories being chased by chickens when I would go down to the garden to collect the eggs). :)
We plan to keep chickens for eggs only. We can have up to 6 currently in our city. We luckily have a large yard (1/4 acre!) for the city. It is fully fenced with a 6 foot wood fence, but we also plan on fencing off a more secure area near the garden for the chickens to roam. We do have a bald eagle family across the street, but so far they have yet to ever bother any of the neighborhood chickens. We have never seen coyotes or raccoons in our neighborhood, and neighbors with chickens have never had issues. I am hoping we aren't the first.
We live in the Pacific NW area, near Seattle, WA. Aside from chickens, we love hiking, horses, gardening, and all kinds of things.
We also have a dog and two cats (indoor).
I know I will have so many questions, and really look forward to reading these forums and learning.

 
:welcome

Hi, it's great to have you here!

Some breeds are less flighty than others but it's good to keep in mind that breed characteristics may or may not fit every bird of that breed.

You might like to chat with others in your area, here's a link to the state threads:
find-your-states-thread.270925

Best wishes on your new venture, it's nice to have you here!
 
:welcome

Hi, it's great to have you here!

Some breeds are less flighty than others but it's good to keep in mind that breed characteristics may or may not fit every bird of that breed.

You might like to chat with others in your area, here's a link to the state threads:
find-your-states-thread.270925

Best wishes on your new venture, it's nice to have you here!

Oh! This is so so helpful. Thank you so much!
 
Hi nibuca, and welcome to BYC!

I live in Washington State, too, up north of you (and I can see a bald eagle sitting in a tree right now as waiting to meet my daughter's school bus).

Anyway, glad you're here!

Thank you! I love our eagles, and oddly I feel like they keep our chickens safer because we hardly have any raccoons. Not sure if it is related. :) Are you in Bellingham? I have family up north, but on the Canadian side.
 
Welcome to BYC @nibuca ! I'm going to link a pdf on a few heritage breeds since you have avian predators around you will probably need to supervise your birds should you free range them, or always keep them cooped. For cooped birds you need calm breeds. The active types usually just waste the eagles time and energy trying to catch them. You have to decide how to approach the issue.

Best of luck!
 

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