Newbie from the NW

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colonel sander

colonel sander

Songster
8 Years
Apr 25, 2011
134
3
101
Vancouver, WA
Hello everone have been lurking for a few and just registered. I am in Vancouver WA and just getting into chickens. Am just looking to get a few for eggs and watch them run around the yard. Nothing set in stone yet still need to decide on coop desighn and what part of the yard I want it in.

I do have a few questions though.

1 How many is a good number for egg production for a family of 3?
2 Those living in the NW do you insulate your coop or not?
3 What is a good family friendly breed to look for in the NW?

Thanks in advance and looking forward to doing this!
 
Hello and welcome from a past WA resident.
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I lived in Bremerton for 3 years and sometimes I really miss it. We currently have 6 layers and get an average of 24 - 28 eggs/wk. Here in NY, I have chosen cold-hearty breeds and they have done great in an uninsulated coop. Although, I DO keep a heat lamp in there for when the temp drops below 20 degrees. That and plenty of warm oatmeal on cold mornings; they are thriving! Not knowing alot about chickens, last spring I used the breed selector tool on one of the online hatchery sites. It asked questions about what was important to you: location, egg production & color, tameness, how they handle confinement, etc. Then it gave me a list of breeds that were appropriate for me. Very helpful.
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from MN!

1. A good number would depend on how many eggs you go through in a week. I have 18 laying hens of various breeds and get anywhere from 12 -18 eggs a day. Though I sale my extra's. I also have 9 silkie hens and we just use their eggs ourselves or sale them for hatching eggs. They will also slow down in the winter time.
2. Being in the Midwest, I don't insulate my coop except for the ceiling or provide extra heat in the winter. We have some winter days where we are below zero and -30 wind-chill for a couple of days to weeks at a time. I just made sure to pick cold hardy birds.
3. There are a lot of breeds that are cold hardy and family friendly. Like mlward suggested, check out one of those breed selector tools. Also think about what color eggs you would like. I wanted a colorful egg basket and get everything from white, tinted, light brown, medium brown, chocolate brown, blue, green, and olive.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you will want to build your coop bigger than you think you need because you will become addicted and need to add more! I sure did. I started out with 7 and have somewhere around 74 chickens, 14 quail, and 15 ducks.

A really bad picture of my eggs.
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Hello to everyone and thanks for the replys:thumbsup I have looked at a few places for the chicks and kind of know what I am after. I really do not want to hatch any eggs so looking for chicks. Also it is the wifes idea to get the chickens and now she wants to take the kids area away from them for chickens:lau I really like the idea but my kids well they will be ticked if there trampoline vanishes:idunno

One more question though what direction is best for the coop to face? Does direct sunlight all day bother them or ?



Thanks again!
 
If you're as rainy as it is here up north of you, - You NEED a south facing coop! They need as much sun w/protection as they can get.


Oh,
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If you're willing to drive on up here, I offer chicks. All the breeds I offer lay amazing colored eggs, are hardy to the northwest, and are very docile and productive.
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