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Welcome to BYC.

When figuring your coop square footage, it should not include nests. The roosts in prefab are almost always too close to the walls and each other. The ventilation is not adequate. (You need 1 sq foot per chicken always -open and above their heads ventilation space, especially in the winter.)
Your run needs 10 plus square foot of chicken and additional room for the feeder and waterer.
If you must use that coop, stick with smaller breeds.
 
Welcome to the coop! I use the Forums and Articles tabs at the top of the page to do research. You can get lost for hours. It's nice to know you are minutes away from getting help with questions and emergencies! I always check in the "What's New" section as well at the top of this page. This way I can read how I may have a similar question or help give some advice.
 
Idaho Chicken Bungalow said:
Welcome to the coop! I use the Forums and Articles tabs at the top of the page to do research. You can get lost for hours. It's nice to know you are minutes away from getting help with questions and emergencies! I always check in the "What's New" section as well at the top of this page. This way I can read how I may have a similar question or help give some advice.
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I have been a member of other forums and I realize that most questions have been asked before. Sometimes it’s tempting to be lazy and ask to be spoon fed the info that I am looking for but it also allows for social interaction So I will do both! I know that there are years of accumulated knowledge here! And thanks to everyone who has taken the time to welcome me here.
 
South Dakota Guy said:
HI everyone. I just joined today as this seems a great site to learn about chickens. I am 61 y/o and I live with my wife in South Dakota. My wife has been wanting to raise chickens for a while so I am doing my best to support her in her new hobby. We live in a small city near Sioux Falls but we are allowed to raise up to 6 hens in our backyard. I will follow the accepted format from here on out.

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Yes, we are new to chickens. So new that we don't even have a coop (on order but not delivered) and no chickens yet. My wife watches a lot of YouTube channels that are done by different people with farms and rescues etc. My wife is very nurturing and she loves animals and children. She raised 4 kids (all grown) and now we have 4 dogs. Coincidence? I don't think so lol. We have had Guinea pigs and various fish and currently have one Russian tortoise.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
0 chickens. It looks like we will probably have 4 chickens as that is what the coop I ordered will hold according to the guidelines that I read here. Our coop will be 16.5 sq ft and the run will be 38.5 sq ft. The manufacturer listed it as holding 8 to 10 chickens.

(3) What breeds do you have?
Obviously we have none at this point but I think the breed that interest us the most is Barred Rock followed by Rhode Island Red. WE need cold hardy birds that will do well in our harsh winters where temps often get below 0 and sometimes as low as 20 below 0.

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Unknown at this point but we are looking forward to having fresh eggs.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
We enjoy fishing, cooking, NFL and relaxing at home watching a movie or one of our favorite shows.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
My wife has 4 children from a previous marriage and they have blessed her with 10 grandchildren. I have one daughter who has blessed me with 4 grandchildren. We have 2 Cavachons (king charles cavalier spaniel and Bichon mix) and two Morkies (Yorkshire terrier and maltese mix). One Russian tortoise.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? :D
I found BYC while doing a web search for sexing chicks. I did a little reading and decided that BYC would be a good resource for learning about raising chickens.
e in a small city
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Welcome to BYC!!
 
janiedoe said:
Welcome to BYC.

When figuring your coop square footage, it should not include nests. The roosts in prefab are almost always too close to the walls and each other. The ventilation is not adequate. (You need 1 sq foot per chicken always -open and above their heads ventilation space, especially in the winter.)
Your run needs 10 plus square foot of chicken and additional room for the feeder and waterer.
If you must use that coop, stick with smaller breeds.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I did not appreciate your post at the time that you made it. I have been on other forums and it seems that there are always people that are super critical of other people who do things differently than them. This seems to be even more prevalent on forums dealing with pets and children (do we animal lovers even draw a line between the two?). That said, you sent me in a search of more information along with other responses on my thread. My lovely wife did not accept my newfound concerns about the suitability of our prefabricated coop for our chosen chicken breeds and the ultra cold winters that we experience here in South Dakota. Fast forward to about three weeks ago and my lovely wife (Chicken Momma and THE minder of our young flock) finally realized that six large (and growing) Wyandotte chickens cannot live comfortably in that small prefab chicken coop that was advertised as being suitable for 8 to 10 chickens but in reality would be a tight fit for 3. We will finish our new coop tomorrow which is 32 sq ft with a 98 sq ft run. This is for six Wyandotte chickens. So each chicken will have more than 5 feet of coop space and more than 15 feet of run space. We are limited by the city we live in to 30 sq ft of coop space and 60 sq ft of run space but we are slightly exceeding those numbers. We have our coop elevated by two feet and enclosed it with hardware cloth to expand the run by 32 sq feet under the coop to maximize the run space. I will open a thread under Coop Design soon to show how we built it. Anyhow, thanks janiedoe for splashing cold water in my face. We would have realized later rather than sooner that our coop was inadequate. Our chickens thank you as well.
 

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