New to all of it

[triciayoung]

Hello BYC peeps,

I'm Jen from north-central Indiana and I'm brand new to everything to do with raising chickens.
I got the itch 4 years ago during the pandemic downtime, and decided against it at that time. Since then, that "itch" has resurfaced many times, and I decided this is the year.

I have several friends who are chicken-addicted and they've given me GREAT advice on many things related to BYC, including telling me that I absolutely MUST join this forum, so here I am.

I live in town, so my chicks won't be free-ranging. Here is what I am planning:
My storage barn/shed is basically used to store a bunch of crap that I don't ever use, or intend to use, so it's all going to the trash. I'm turning the barn into my coop, and building an attached run.
A family member has a goldmine of lumber and old wire fencing that I can have for free. I won't have to spend much money at all to do this - just a lot of labor. I'm pretty handy, so I know I can do it, it'll just take time and sweat. Right now I'm only planning on 4 chickens. That's plenty for starters, and even though our city allows chickens in-town, they do recommend that you keep no more than about 8. Since my barn is pretty big (I think it's 10'x15'), I'm considering walling off half of it to keep it cozy for the chickens.

I'm 58 yr old, unmarried, retired, and have 3 grown kids, & 2 teenage grandkids. My adult son lives with me due to him having extensive medical needs. I have 3 dogs and 2 cats - the cats are indoor cats unless they sneak out.
As for predators, we have possums, raccoons, and my neighbor's "outside cats" to contend with. There is also a redtail hawk that hunts around my house and I see it at least once a day, and hear it frequently. So, while I don't have coyotes or snakes or foxes, there is cause for safety measures.

I'll be quietly reading LOTS on here. I've already learned so much just in the few days I've been here.

Thanks for having me! Pics of my barn-soon-to-be-coop (yeah, it needs painted), and of me and my best girl Josie
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View attachment 3765545

Welcome. With the predators you have, you will want to use 1/2 inch hardware cloth as opposed to chicken wire

 

[triciayoung]

Welcome to BYC Jenny! Josie is absolutely adorable! I have had issues with possums getting my chickens before, in my experience, they climb right over any fences. Between this guys and hawks best bet would be getting a net. Sometimes you do have to duck, but it’s one of the safest routes! Feel free to message me on my profile if you wanna talk, and enjoy this coop! We are glad to have you here.

I recommend a heavy netting. I installed this netting about 16-months ago and it has held up really well, I even hang shade cloth from it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WP82KC6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1.
If this is too expensive, I suggest getting some ocean or sea fish netting.
As far as avoiding crouching, I raise my netting with 6-foot tee posts that have 10-foot 2x2's attached with zip ties, and put a plastic dollar store bowl on the top. I need six of them to be able to walk without crouching, but my netting spans 60x50 feet.

 

[Tookie]

Hi, welcome to BYC! So glad you joined us!