New to Chickens

[The Kwiatkowski Family]

my name is Kevan, and my son and daughter adopted 4 9 month old chickens and 2 Pekin ducks from a friend at work. I have been looking for coop ideas so that I can get them a toasty place to hang out built before we get buried in snow. We have what I believe are 2 Black sexlinks (Moonlight and Nugget)a Brown sexlink (Buscuit) and my favorite a Leghorn (Butter). They have become very social pets and enjoy interacting with the kids. The ducks are a male (Scooter) and female (Drake), my friend was told they were both girls, yeah, not the case. Look forward to learning a lot on this site!
Kevan

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Aloha! WELCOME TO PARADISE!
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[Parront]

Lots of great coops on here -- enjoy!

 

[sylviethecochin]

Welcome to BYC!

And here's the information dump!

With six birds (unless chicken math comes into play) it sounds like you have a lot of coop options.

Are you building or buying your coop?

If you're building, there are a lot of articles around here on that, many of which have to do with ventilation (especially if you live in colder climes) and avoiding draftiness. My first chicken coop was a big, refurbished dog-house on concrete blocks and it worked very well.

If you're buying, then be aware that any person selling a chicken coop and telling you that "this will definitely hold eighteen hens, no problem" is talking about bantams. Bantams are tiny. This practice is known as "stretching the truth" and helps TSC avoid lawsuits.

Also, if you have predators, irresponsible neighbors with idiot dogs, or a very close road, you might want to look into a run. Don't use chicken wire. It doesn't last and a predator can rip it apart. There are people here, on BYC, who disagree with that assessment. They live in deserts where rust is not a problem and where raccoons disdain to live.

Also, ducks are perfectly happy sleeping on exposed concrete in -10 weather while it's snowing. I thought I'd save you the pain of wondering about frostbite now. Ducks are apparently immune.

 

[Junochick]

We are pleased you joined us

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Kevan and welcome to BYC We're thrilled that you've decided to join us

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to Backyardchickens.com aka BYC!
We are glad you joined our flock.
Jump right in am make yourself at home.

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you've joined us!

 

[N F C]

Hi Kevan, it sounds like the whole family is enjoying the birds!