New to chickens, help?

[shanorkee92]

I'm thinking of having a chicken coop with about 6 hens. I found a coop on this website that I want to build, but I'm not sure if it's big enough..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coop-de-la-villes-chicken-coop

Also, I want to have free range chickens for eggs and compost, but I don't know what the best breeds are for that.
I want them for their company too, I hear they're funny!

I don't know much and would love any tips!! Thank you guys so much.

 

[conny63malies]

Its just big enough for 6 chickens. But the way it looks you should easily be able to ad 2ft length to the coop. That would give you a bit more room.

 

[shanorkee92]

To the Inside coop or outside?

 

[conny63malies]

I was talking about the coop itself. You know instead of 6 ft make it 8ft. But you can also make the outside larger to if you want to. It looks like a beautiful coop.

 

[bnjrob]

In my research, I found the "magic numbers" of 4 sq ft /chicken for house size and 10 sq ft/chicken for run size, to prevent overcrowding and the bad behaviors that causes.

As far as what chickens to get, think about what other chicken traits you want. Where do you live? Do need a more cold tolerant or hot tolerant chicken? How much room do you have for them to "free range" and on what type of land (manicured lawn with terrific turf, weedy yard, garden area, pasture)? How much work are you wanting to put into the chickens? Are you looking for Heritage Breed chickens?

Here is a link that has some selection parameters to plug in and get some info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds

Here's some other links too: http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/as/as-518.pdf

http://www.almanac.com/blog/raising-chickens-101-choosing-chicken-breed

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Best-Chicken-Breeds-For-Backyard-Flocks.aspx

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/raising-rare-breeds-livestock.aspx

My husband and I chose a Heritage Breed chicken - partly because of what our needs/wants were, and partly because we wanted to keep chickens going that were in danger of becoming extinct. I finally was able to locate a breeder that had our choice of chicken still available and managed to order our first batch today. Waited too long last year and missed out, but we weren't willing to settle for a chicken that we weren't in love with.

There are tons of choices and lots of info to go through. Check out the links and you can start to get an idea of what is important to you - that will help guide you to the right chicken. Poultry husbandry books are good too as well as talking with your county extension agent and see if they have any tips, tricks, etc. for your neck of the woods.

Good luck!