Newbie taking the plunge in OH

[R9RFarms]

Hi all,

So, about us: Family of 5; myself, my wife, 3 kids (boy 13, boy 12, girl 9). Always figured we'd have chickens when we moved. Well, just moved to 5 acres in Eastern OH, so....here we are

I should probably update all that in my signature. I'll put that on the to-do list.

So, thanks to all the fantastic information here, I've got our first coop/run/enclosure built. Just finished a few days ago. Also stole the bucket feeder idea from here (PVC L into the bucket). Our neighbor made a deal for a dz or so birds, ~a year old, already laying, last weekend so we're bringing them over any day now

At any rate, I suppose this is the official "hi how ya doin" thread! And again a big thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences and projects, it helped me (hopefully) thoughtfully design the coop I had started!

Coop, 90% finished. It's done now, but this is currently the only picture I have in the daylight lol:



Welded wire, with 1/2 hardware cloth around the bottom 2' of perimeter.

Finished, with ramp & pop door:


Side note - I'm proud of my hillbilly engineered pop-door, though the idea was shamelessly stolen from many posts here

When closed, it nests (

) into the panel at the right to keep potential predators that may penetrate the wire from being able to swing it up & open. Same for the guide on the left of the door opening. I can get a more detailed pic, maybe. Maybe it'll even be daylight!!

Other side with next boxes, 3 boxes @ 12x12 each


The large plywood side w/o the nest boxes is hinged to swing up for access/cleaning/whatever. I have barrel latches on it, as well as the people door. Hasps on the nest box lid (hinged to swing up), and swing up plywood side, that will accept a carabineer or similar.

We'll see how it goes. Happy to be part of the adventure!

-Randy & Jennifer

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Randy and Jennifer, and

! Pleased you joined our flock! Looks like a nice predator-proof coop! One word of advice...keep a close eye on how the birds are treating each other. I can't really tell how big your coop and run are from the picture but the standard is about 3-4 sq. ft./bird in the coop and 10 sq. ft./bird in the run. With a dozen hens it may be a little crowded. Birds can get a little testy with each other if they are too packed in. I wish you well and the best of luck with your flock!

 

[Eggsakly]

Hi, Randy and Jennifer! Congratulations on getting going. Fresh eggs are so wonderful, and I enjoy caring for my chickens. Keep us posted on your girls when you get them, please. Would love to know how it all goes. I'm jealous that you have grass there. I'm in Alaska, and we are in a snow-mageddon here. I keep telling myself it cannot last long now - being the end of February and all.

 

[R9RFarms]

OK that's my bad. Between the neighbor and us we're splitting the dz hens, so we'll only end up with 6 or so. The run is 6x9 and coop is ~4x4. I think even 6 is pushing it some but we'll see how it sorts out.

And Alaska - wow. I've visited there a time or two and loved it

But this winter has been very odd here in OH, minimal snow and some cold, some bitter cold, but it's almost 70*F today. We're gonna pay for that later

Plan is in the next week or so after the girls have been "home" for a bit and know where home (read food & water) is, probably let them free range through the day and close 'em up at night. My wife is a stay at home Mom so she can keep an eye on them for the most part

The coop is right next to where we're planning kind of our outdoor relax area with benches and fire bowl/ring so maybe we'll end up sitting around with the chickens! Tho probably not with the fire going...

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[vachick15]

Welcome to BYC! I hope you like it here!

 

[N F C]

Thanks for joining us!

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Randy, Jennifer & Family

Welcome!

Very exciting! Please do let us know when you get your gals and share some pictures.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. As you have probably already worked out, 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. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends

 

[R9RFarms]

So, brought the girls home last night. 6 of them. Was working on getting dark. Put them in, and when it started getting really dark, 4 of them headed right up the ladder into the coop!

The other 2 were nestling down by the feeder, I put them on the top of the ramp and helped them into the coop part lol. This morning the wife reports we got our first egg!

Probably a tad overly excited about that, but at least everything seems to be working "as normal" lol. I have no idea what kind of chickens they are, I have to ask the neighbor if they do lol. And another "almost dark" picture lol. If it's not storming when I get home maybe I'll get a daylight pic tonight...

 

[Eggsakly]

Oh, boy! What fun, and an egg the very next morning! Yummmmmm. Show us pictures during the day, pretty please.