New to the group, new to chickens

[viennaproto]

Welcome to BYC!! Your chicks are adorable

 

[sourland]

Hello, Ryan, and welcome to BYC. The problem with smaller coops arises in the winter when chickens are forced to stay inside and become bored.

 

[drumstick diva]

Chicken boredom can lead to pecking, feather plucking and at extremes, cannibalism!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi Ryan, welcome to BYC. Please don't be discouraged, people are trying to be helpful. I just added some Black Australorps (BA) to my flock this spring and I really like them! I've mostly had Easter Eggers (EE) in the past. My BA will be 12 weeks soon. Calm, personable birds, pretty laid back. Nobody has warned you about an insidious disease we all suffer from, and you should definitely watch out for. We call it chicken math! Basically it means you will soon find out 4 chickens are not nearly enough. They are just too cute and ... well... addicting. Some of us have actually had to move out of town and buy bigger properties because of it. (That is the sound of hundreds of heads nodding!) Welcome to the hen-sanity and don't say you haven't been warned!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Why is that? Its says 6, but done a lot of research online and I see lots of people that do 4. I am building a run for it too. So they will lots of room to run the yard.

You will see for yourself as they grow, those prefab coops always say they are made for more! Good that you are building them a larger run, because maybe four could fit in there just for night time as long as they have a big run for the day. I think if you don’t want problems with your chickens and you want them to be happy, they might need about 20 square feet of run each at least.The more space they have, the happier and healthier they will be! Welcome to the chicken family!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Here are some helpful links:

• Great go-to resource - Articles
• Insightful feedback on how members manage their flocks - Topic of the Week back-catalogue
• How to start a new thread
• Find other BYC members nearby using the links in my signature, below (turn your phone to landscape to see them).
• Hatching / Chick-care

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Ryan and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community!
Best Wishes & Be Well!

 

[chrissynemetz]

Hi and welcome to BYC! We're glad you joined us!