Hi All,
My wife and I have been following threads and reading books for about a year. We received our chicks on April 1 from Meyer... 2 each RIR, Austrolorps, Golden Laced Wyandott
s and Barred Rocks. Yesterday we put them in the run and coop and boy were they happy. We are in Central Florida so weather is not an issue. However, it is unseasonably hot right now.
The girls have done well since we received them so we are very pleased with Meyer. We ordered the chicks in November but with such a small order Meyer would not ship until the end of March when the weather warmed up. The girls were in a 4X4 brood area but were out growing it because I underestimated how tall they would be in such a short time.
Molly, the dog princess, only took a minor interest in the chicks. Probably because she had a hard time seeing over the wall of the brood area. However, now that they are in the run she is fascinated with them. Every time she goes out it is necessary to take a walk around the run so she can see the girls. Molly does not seem to be aggressive toward the chickens just very curious. She is not too much bigger than the girls so that may affect her attitude. Nelly, his eminence the cat, could not care less about the chickens which is a surprise.
So far the girls really like yoghurt, watermelon, apples, strawberries and go 'ape' over mashed hard boiled eggs. Nothing different from most chickens probably.
The run and coop are shown in the photo. The run is 10X20 and totally home made (my first major construction project). The coop was a kit. Not sure how long we will use it... not very impressive. The run should be quite predator proof. It is completely encased in welded wire with hardware cloth from the ground up two feet. There is also welded wire buried 1-2 inches below ground and out 2 feet from the run. Plus the girls are locked up in the coop at night.
Glad to finally be part of the family and looking forward to a lot of great eggs.
Have fun,
Ed and Rose
My wife and I have been following threads and reading books for about a year. We received our chicks on April 1 from Meyer... 2 each RIR, Austrolorps, Golden Laced Wyandott
s and Barred Rocks. Yesterday we put them in the run and coop and boy were they happy. We are in Central Florida so weather is not an issue. However, it is unseasonably hot right now.
The girls have done well since we received them so we are very pleased with Meyer. We ordered the chicks in November but with such a small order Meyer would not ship until the end of March when the weather warmed up. The girls were in a 4X4 brood area but were out growing it because I underestimated how tall they would be in such a short time.
Molly, the dog princess, only took a minor interest in the chicks. Probably because she had a hard time seeing over the wall of the brood area. However, now that they are in the run she is fascinated with them. Every time she goes out it is necessary to take a walk around the run so she can see the girls. Molly does not seem to be aggressive toward the chickens just very curious. She is not too much bigger than the girls so that may affect her attitude. Nelly, his eminence the cat, could not care less about the chickens which is a surprise.
So far the girls really like yoghurt, watermelon, apples, strawberries and go 'ape' over mashed hard boiled eggs. Nothing different from most chickens probably.
The run and coop are shown in the photo. The run is 10X20 and totally home made (my first major construction project). The coop was a kit. Not sure how long we will use it... not very impressive. The run should be quite predator proof. It is completely encased in welded wire with hardware cloth from the ground up two feet. There is also welded wire buried 1-2 inches below ground and out 2 feet from the run. Plus the girls are locked up in the coop at night.
Glad to finally be part of the family and looking forward to a lot of great eggs.
Have fun,
Ed and Rose
