Newbie From Maine

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SherryHV

SherryHV

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Apr 23, 2020
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Hi from Maine!!

I'm so happy to have found this site. I purchased my first laying hens 6 weeks ago and so far I'm having so much fun with my girls. I wanted hens already laying and they were hard to find and more pricey. I found only one farm selling them within an hour drive from my house. In my research, I decided I wanted Barred Plymouth Rocks or Lavender Orpington breed. Well, I couldn't find either that are already laying. I ended up with Red Sex Link, 3 laying and 2 that will be laying by May. The 3 layers have consistantly been laying 3 eggs per day!! Can't wait until I have 4 or 5 per day!! So far my experience has been great. I have been researching - already thinking about Maine winters - to see if we should insulate our coop. This is how I found BackYard Chickens. Looks like insulation isn't needed from what I read and if we do, lots of ventilation will be needed in the roof/rafters.

I have learned so far.... 1) chickens do not like windy days. It isn't real warm here yet and not too may sunny days, yesterday was sunny and windy in the afternoon so I opened up the door to the run and nope, they didn't want to be outside. 2) The 3 older chickens snub the 2 younger chickens (even though they are the same size, they were raised on the farm in different coops). They are not fighting but they will not let the younger ones to the new food until they are done. 3) I'm addicted and looking up chicken everything (lol...) 4) They love the evening Mealworm treat. 5) They love to follow us around outside when we open up the run.

My next step is chicks!! I have found Barred Plymouth Rocks and Lavender Orpington chicks to be hatched in the next 1-2 weeks. I'm on a waiting list. Excited that I can raise these chicks together and they will be use to one another by the time they go to the hen house. I have also claimed a storage shed that my husband is storing our snowblowers in and this will be a new coop. I will move the Red Sex Link's once I get it ready for chickens. When the chicks are ready, they will go in the existing, smaller coop.

This is the beginning of my journey with laying hens. Thanks for listening and I'm sure I will have lots of questions. I will be going to the Q&A section to see what is already out there for info.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Your younger pullets that are not laying yet will not be fully accepted into the flock until they start to lay.
You are going to want a coop large enough to house ALL the chickens when the PBRs are ready to be outside. You need 3.5 to 4 sq ft of space in the coop.
It's a shed to coop conversion so you will be able to walk in it at that is a very good thing! There are lots of shed to coop conversion articles you can look at in the Articles sections. Mine happens to be one of them. They will give you lots of ideas on how to lay out the shed to make it into a coop.
Good luck with the build and raising your chicks when they arrive. Which reminds me, use a brooder plate or a momma heat pad instead of a heat lamp for your heat source. It is far closer to the way a mother warms her chicks and the chicks tend to not get pasty butt.
 
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