Hey, y'all!
I'm currently residing in central NC, by way of Charleston, SC.
On April 26, we will bringing home our first attempt at backyard chickens; we plan to get 2 Ameraucanas, 2 Cuckoo Marans and 1 Buff Brahma, ranging from 1-5 weeks old at the time of pickup (we opted to purchase from a local hatchery). The BB will be called Sunny, and the other four will be Scrambles, (mc)Muffin, Omelet and Bacon. We'll let them pick their own names once their "chickenalities" develop.
After doing a little bit of research, we decided to do a playhouse>coop conversion. We're in the midst right now; at this point, we have most of the hardware cloth up and have the frames for the roosting boxes built as well; this is about 16sqft, giving the hens about 3.2sqft/bird. The coop is enclosed by a 200sqft chainlink run (with a chainlink cover as well), so the girls should have about 36sqft/ea outside of the coop (minus the area for their coop). We have plans to reinforce the run with hardware cloth as well (we are going to have it about 36" up the outside, and about 12" out past the run, to prevent intruders from digging in). I'll post photos one of these days!
So far, the cost has been minimal. We got the playhouse free from a coworker, and the dog runs came with our house. A friend just brought over a huge tub to raise the babies in, and I have other "nursery" supplies to borrow as well. I think that we're right at $100 out of pocket so far, including the cost of the chicks.
Anyway, I've thus far enjoyed BYC and hope to keep learning!
I'm currently residing in central NC, by way of Charleston, SC.
On April 26, we will bringing home our first attempt at backyard chickens; we plan to get 2 Ameraucanas, 2 Cuckoo Marans and 1 Buff Brahma, ranging from 1-5 weeks old at the time of pickup (we opted to purchase from a local hatchery). The BB will be called Sunny, and the other four will be Scrambles, (mc)Muffin, Omelet and Bacon. We'll let them pick their own names once their "chickenalities" develop.
After doing a little bit of research, we decided to do a playhouse>coop conversion. We're in the midst right now; at this point, we have most of the hardware cloth up and have the frames for the roosting boxes built as well; this is about 16sqft, giving the hens about 3.2sqft/bird. The coop is enclosed by a 200sqft chainlink run (with a chainlink cover as well), so the girls should have about 36sqft/ea outside of the coop (minus the area for their coop). We have plans to reinforce the run with hardware cloth as well (we are going to have it about 36" up the outside, and about 12" out past the run, to prevent intruders from digging in). I'll post photos one of these days!
So far, the cost has been minimal. We got the playhouse free from a coworker, and the dog runs came with our house. A friend just brought over a huge tub to raise the babies in, and I have other "nursery" supplies to borrow as well. I think that we're right at $100 out of pocket so far, including the cost of the chicks.
Anyway, I've thus far enjoyed BYC and hope to keep learning!
and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with your chicken projects, sounds like the coop will be nice!
