Newbies! :)

[shadylady23]

Hi there! Our family just got 6 chicks two weeks ago and we're about to start our coop building. We live in rural NH with predators everywhere. My biggest concern is keeping them safe. Other than making sure their house has a door and closed up at night, burying braided steel along the bottom of the run and coop, is there anything else we need to do to keep them safe? We do not live in a neighborhood, we literally live in the woods. Just don't want to miss anything!

Thanks! And nice to meet you all!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

So glad you could join our community!

Build it like you are going to live in there. If you feel safe, then they will be safe. Don't use any chicken wire on any exterior areas of the coop or run. Hardware cloth only. Make sure things can't dig under anything. So bury things deep, use railroad ties or even wire very deeply. No tiny holes anywhere. Animals smell moving air, even through a pin hole. They are very persistent if they know there is a meal on the other side. They have a lot of time on their hands at night and will work at things until they get in. Use locks on all doors. Coons have hands and will figure things out. So think like a predator. Just build, rebuild and overbuild! LOL I live out in the middle of nowhere and I have everything you can imagine out here. I have never had a break in however and you won't either of you built it well.

Congrats on the new chicks! If you have any questions about them, feel free to ask around the forums.

Welcome to our flock!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock!! Congrats on your new chicks Raising them is a super experience, very rewarding and lots of fun as you watch them grow. TwoCrows has given you some excellent advice on predator safety. It really is better to be safe rather than sorry. Lovely to hear you are predator aware and are researching it before hand. What breed/s do you have?

Wishing you the very best of luck with your coop build.
Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[sunflour]

Glad you have joined us & congratulations on getting your flock


TwoCrows has given you all the must do's.


You can see examples in the coop/run sections. Good luck with your coop fortification.

 

[nj2wv]

Welcome to BYC !!

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens. If you build a true Ft.Knox of a coop and run, you can spend your time enjoying your chickens instead of worrying about them.

 

[shadylady23]

Thanks everyone for being so welcoming! . My husband too builds everything overboard. You should see our house he just finished! No joke I have people wanting to write about what we did. But that's a whole other story. Lol.

Okay, so I think I've got the lowdown. With all these deaths I'm reading about, I may not let them free range and just move around a chicken tractor or something. Even my dog(pitbull) may be a predator for them. Still not sure. She gets very excited to the point of shaking when she sees them. Although so far she remains good, and just lays down (shaking while I have them out, I'm not too sure. She hunts mice and Moles and unfortunately kills them, so We shall see! Rather safe than sorry!

 

[shadylady23]

Not sure what type we really have. We bought them at Tractor Supply. We got four called Pullets, and two unsexted Bantems that supposedly are Silky Bantems the store worker said. I'll see if I can post a picture I took yesterday of them. They're SO cute!!!!

 

[TwoCrows]

Not sure what type we really have. We bought them at Tractor Supply. We got four called Pullets, and two unsexted Bantems that supposedly are Silky Bantems the store worker said. I'll see if I can post a picture I took yesterday of them. They're SO cute!!!!

As for free ranging, you can let them out supervised. And I don't mean you have to linger over them. I can't just open my coop door and walk away around here due to all the things that lurk and fly. But every day I do get them out in a fenced off area while I am out and about in the yard. I do other things and even go inside the house for a while. But I keep my eye on them. I let them stay out there for about 1 hour or 2. I don't leave food or water out there as this attracts wild birds and any spillage of food would attract critters over time. So don't be afraid to get them out when they are older. Chicks have a tendency to run. Adult birds are very easy to catch as they generally squat when you lean over them. Pullets can be called with goodies back to the coop.

As for what breed or genders you have, in a couple of weeks, once they have grown a bit, you can post pics in our What Breed and Gender section for more help....https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this

Cutie pies!