Preparing to begin!

[Jenbirdee]

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

In a climate like yours you will need to worry about heat more than cold. With that much wind, I would highly recommend a walk-in style coop so that you can have lots of ventilation high over the roosted birds heads with some low fresh air coming in. You want to shoot for the following in the coop: 4 sq ft of space, 1 linear foot of roost and as close to 1 sq ft of permanently open ventilation per bird and 1 nest box per 4-5 hens with the boxes all being below the height of the lowest roost. Lots of top-hinged windows to let in the light is a huge benefit in many ways.

The run should offer 15 sq ft of space per bird and should have lots of things in it for them to perch on. Ideally, you will have a solid roof on your run for when the birds cannot leave the coop (like in winter with the severe cold and raging winds).

Don't use chicken wire to enclose anything. Use 1/2" hardware cloth secured with HD poultry staples or screws with fender washers. You can also apply a 2' predator apron around the base of your set up. No need to dig. Just securely attach it to the base of your framing, spread it out 2'+ and secure the opposite side with HD landscape staples. Let the grass grow right up through it.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC, and good luck in establishing your flock.

 

[muddy75]

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!

If you don't have a coop yet, here's our Coop Forum. You can find something that will work well in that climate, keeping @DobieLover's great tips above in mind.

 

[Tookie]

Hello, welcome to BYC! Nice to meet you.