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JINTZ

JINTZ

Chirping
Mar 10, 2018
28
40
55
Roland, Oklahoma
Hello, I'm Sheila. I'm 57 years old and going to be getting about 10 young chickens soon to put in a coop / run that will be coming out of my enclosed shed. I've NEVER raised chickens and a lady I'm talking to breeds many kinds, told me to come here. She's helping me tons but this site will help keep her sanity intact from my constant barrage of questions. SO MANY QUESTIONS lol

I live in what used to be the country, but I have neighbors, where we can see each others houses now so... :( We had game chickens dumped out here last spring. We went from 5 chickens running the neighborhood to over 40 with all the young and then more chicks... until.... they started getting picked off. Not fun anymore. My husband knew they started a fire in me, wanting my own eggs and chicken meat but like this. Yesterday he finished my chicken enclosure. :) I'm still terrified things are going to stalk and kill my babies.... (it's different if I kill them or have them killed for food).
I have 8 dogs and 4 cats, they never bothered the chicks or the adult game chickens as the chickens came through our FENCED yard.
I'm hoping to learn so much here. Our enclosure is said to be able to hold minimum 20 adult chickens, (not wanting but 10-12 tops). I have nesting areas inside the shed / house that will allow 9 hens to lay, again, not planning on that many but all those areas have roosting ledge... shelf... not sure what to call it, but they can roost or lay in there. TONS OF HAY, lots of dirt outside. Going to pick up some kind of watering system and feeding system tomorrow.

Wow I rambled on didn't I? :)
 
JINTZ said:
Hello, I'm Sheila. I'm 57 years old and going to be getting about 10 young chickens soon to put in a coop / run that will be coming out of my enclosed shed. I've NEVER raised chickens and a lady I'm talking to breeds many kinds, told me to come here. She's helping me tons but this site will help keep her sanity intact from my constant barrage of questions. SO MANY QUESTIONS lol

I live in what used to be the country, but I have neighbors, where we can see each others houses now so... :( We had game chickens dumped out here last spring. We went from 5 chickens running the neighborhood to over 40 with all the young and then more chicks... until.... they started getting picked off. Not fun anymore. My husband knew they started a fire in me, wanting my own eggs and chicken meat but like this. Yesterday he finished my chicken enclosure. :) I'm still terrified things are going to stalk and kill my babies.... (it's different if I kill them or have them killed for food).
I have 8 dogs and 4 cats, they never bothered the chicks or the adult game chickens as the chickens came through our FENCED yard.
I'm hoping to learn so much here. Our enclosure is said to be able to hold minimum 20 adult chickens, (not wanting but 10-12 tops). I have nesting areas inside the shed / house that will allow 9 hens to lay, again, not planning on that many but all those areas have roosting ledge... shelf... not sure what to call it, but they can roost or lay in there. TONS OF HAY, lots of dirt outside. Going to pick up some kind of watering system and feeding system tomorrow.

Wow I rambled on didn't I? :)
Click to expand...
welcome-group.gif
It is normal to ramble on about chickens here! That is what we do

It is good to have you here
 
Welcome. Space recommendations are: 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run per bird. Even more space than that is even better. Nesting: 1 nest box at least 12 x 12 x 14" for every 4 birds. Perch: should be above the height of the nest boxes, 1 l.f./bird, 12 - 15" away from back wall, with at least 6' in front of the perch so the birds can safely jump down. Ventilation: 1 s.f./bird or = to 10% of floor space. Natural lighting: your birds will thank you for that! Also, remember that chicken wire will keep your birds in, but it will not keep predators out. In order for your coop to be safe, you need to cover all openings that you could push a quarter through with 1/2" welded hardware cloth. The feral flock that visited you last year has confirmed that the predators in your neighborhood are alive and well, and waiting for the chicken buffet to open back up in your yard.
 
G’Day from down under Sheila :frow Welcome!

This is a great article: How Much Room Do Chickens Need

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

Including your general location on your profile will assist others. Location, climate, season etc can be important factors when members are responding to any questions you may have and vice versa.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello.

BYC has a Learning Centre and also Topic of the Week discussions which I have found to be a great resource, informative and sometimes entertaining; so definitely worth checking out. These two may be of particular interest to you:
Topic of the Week - Getting Started, Keeping Chickens
Topic of the Week - Keeping the Flock Safe from Predators

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out ;)
 
JINTZ said:
Hello, I'm Sheila. I'm 57 years old and going to be getting about 10 young chickens soon to put in a coop / run that will be coming out of my enclosed shed. I've NEVER raised chickens and a lady I'm talking to breeds many kinds, told me to come here. She's helping me tons but this site will help keep her sanity intact from my constant barrage of questions. SO MANY QUESTIONS lol

I live in what used to be the country, but I have neighbors, where we can see each others houses now so... :( We had game chickens dumped out here last spring. We went from 5 chickens running the neighborhood to over 40 with all the young and then more chicks... until.... they started getting picked off. Not fun anymore. My husband knew they started a fire in me, wanting my own eggs and chicken meat but like this. Yesterday he finished my chicken enclosure. :) I'm still terrified things are going to stalk and kill my babies.... (it's different if I kill them or have them killed for food).
I have 8 dogs and 4 cats, they never bothered the chicks or the adult game chickens as the chickens came through our FENCED yard.
I'm hoping to learn so much here. Our enclosure is said to be able to hold minimum 20 adult chickens, (not wanting but 10-12 tops). I have nesting areas inside the shed / house that will allow 9 hens to lay, again, not planning on that many but all those areas have roosting ledge... shelf... not sure what to call it, but they can roost or lay in there. TONS OF HAY, lots of dirt outside. Going to pick up some kind of watering system and feeding system tomorrow.

Wow I rambled on didn't I? :)
Click to expand...

Ramblin is good here Welcome to Backyard Chickens great to have you, we have 3/4 of an acre and 30 birds 4 dogs 8 cats
 
Purina Flock Layer

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