New Member, pre-chicken, need advice

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Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

I would focus on Mediterranean breeds and build an open air coop. Chickens are easy to keep but still require a physical effort. If you find that you have difficulty getting up in the morning, I suggest you build a very large run with a roof, 1/2" hardware cloth walls with a predator apron attached to the coop. You would keep food and water in the run and leave the pop door open all the time so the birds can just leave and eat and drink as soon as they are off the roost instead of waiting for you to let them out.
I would focus on keeping them in dense shade or use shade sails, fans, shallow pans of ice to help keep them cool.
 
Kinzkey said:
Hello! I'm pretty excited to be here! You can call me Kinzkey (pronounced kinz-KEY, like what you call family + 🗝️ )

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I am so new to chickens! I've raised a pet rabbit, as the closest experience I have to chickens. Really trying to find out if chickens are right for me!

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Zero! 😆 I'm thinking maybe 3 or 4. We live in the suburbs and aren't allowed many by zoning laws.

(3) What breeds do you have?
I really need advice on the best hot weather chickens. The last thing I want is to lose 4 pullets to 110°+ heat in the summer.

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
I want to raise chickens for eggs and have them for gardening! I'm vegetarian, so I'm not planning on eating my feathered friends.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I love to craft and paint. I keep failing at gardening, but I keep trying!

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I have 2 indoor only cats and a husband with asthma and scoliosis, so chicken raising will be a just-me activity. I am disabled and have trouble getting out of bed, some days, so it's possible that raising chickens isn't for me. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ Regardless, I want to be as self-sufficient as I can be.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I've known about this community for a few years, but haven't been ready to ask serious questions until now.
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Depends how cold it gets, but for that hot of a climate, you might want something like a Naked Neck. As the name suggests, they don’t have feathers on their neck, and are known to be heat resistant.
 
Welcome!
While we don't get as hot here, temps around 100 are normal here and it's a humid heat
The breeds I have are easter eggers, lakeside eggers (Meyer hatchery designer easter egger) and a buff Orpington. Despite being a heavy fluffy breed, my buff Orpington, Juniper handled the heat the best out of everyone. I suspect it's 'cause she has the largest comb (everyone else has a pea comb) and she has wattles (everyone else is bearded and beards and wattles are mutually exclusive)

That said, more important than the breeds you choose, you need to plan your coop and run to deal with hot weather. That means deep dark shade and lots and lots of ventilation. I would advise an open air coop so they get as much air flow as possible. I also like to provide foot baths since their feet are one of their few exposed areas

If you want to pick breeds that are heat hardy (I didn't, but I am a sucker for bearded breeds) you want light bodied breeds with large combs such as white leghorns. Naked necks are also good but if you have your heart set on a particular breed, with a few exceptions it's likely doable
 
Hi and welcome to BYC. Chickens are a good 'hobby' but do require daily care, fresh water, fresh feed, pick it up and take it in at night so as not to attract critters. An auto door is nice but the time needs to be adjusted for the change in daylight hours.

We also live in a very hot climate, humid, muggy. Buff Orpingtons are both a cold and hot weather bird. Ours have done well. They are usually gentle and more docile, friendlier. Ours jumps up in my lap to sit and follows me everywhere.

Red Sex Links (RSL) are a production breed, meaning they pop out a lot of eggs and do well in hot weather also and are a lighter, smaller bird. They do not live as long as heritage breeds given their DNA for high production, so there's that. They tend to have reproductive issues so that is a consideration if you don't want to be replacing birds every couple of years.

We have an open air run, meaning, all wire. Fully tarped on the top as the roof all year round for shade. Place the coop and run near or under trees if you have any. If no trees, then on the north side of your property if possible. You will need tarps for rain / wind cover and to provide shade. Ventilation is still key when it comes to tarps, so not all over the run, just to provide shade on the south side.

Chickens are therapeutic, just to sit and watch them. The eggs are definitely a nice bonus. Given the small number you are allowed, you wouldn't need to build a huge coop or run. The rule of thumb is 10 sq. ft. per adult bird for the run, so for four birds, depending on the breed you choose at adult weight, you would need at minimum 40-50 square feet for a run. Plus you would want to add a perch or two, a stool works fine, maybe a cut log or tree branch. Something of interest so they can perch during the day.

The amount you want to invest will also be a consideration. Start up costs can quickly become more than intended. For an open air run, if you and your husband are unable to build something, you can order prefab units and put them together without too much effort. Search on Amazon but do not choose chicken wire. Critters can easily rip through the wire.

We chose the Omlet.com coop and run, fully enclosed and it has worked well for us in this climate. More $$ than we wanted to invest but well worth it and we have no regrets. The girls are safe and we don't have to worry about them. Very little maintenance is required, clean up daily of their poops is easy peasy; we're done in ten minutes.

We too struggle with disabilities and debilitating issues so could not spend eons of time building a large structure (also county restrictions). Wood tends to rot in hot climates and attracts bugs, lice and mites. We do not have any issues with these insects given the plastic design of the coop.

If you decide to let your chickens out to free range every day, you will need to be out with them to watch for vultures and hawks and other potential hazards.

We jumped in head first a year ago and have not looked back. Challenges? yes. Rewards? On many levels.
Good luck with your chicken decisions.
 
Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow

We've got ours set up that provided I've got no eggs in the incubator or chicks in the brooder, we could easily be gone for a few days, perhaps a week or two even.

The chicken doors aren't automatic, but we will be down the road. Now, the neighbor farmer opens them up in the morning and shuts them at night. An automatic door could save you those trips.

Each feeder is a 5-gallon bucket with PVC ports. We usually only keep most of those half full so they're getting fresher feed, but if we go anywhere, we fill 'em up. They could go weeks on that.

We have 5-gallon nipple water buckets in most of the coops. We put 1/2 teaspoon of RV water freshener in so it won't get scum or algae (hard water). That could last each pen/coop practically a month.

I know you can make this work for you, and wish you the best! Be sure to ask if you have any questions!
 

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