Small town flock

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321burch

321burch

Hatching
May 20, 2015
2
0
9
Iowa
We have a flock of 6 adult hens that includes 4 black sex links and 2 barred rocks that we started when our daughter was an 11th grade FFA member. Our "big girls" are in their 3rd summer now and they are still very productive. We have a large, 2x4 constructed coop in our backyard that is insulated just like an Iowa house with an attached and completely caged in "yard". This spring I started adding to our flock and acquired a small A-frame coop made of metal roofing, chicken wire and wood. It is a perfect in-between coop for our little chickens to get out of the brooder and outside whole letting them grow big enough to hold their own with the big girls. I love these sweet birds. My daughter went away to college, but I'm hooked on her "project". :)
 
Welcome to BYC!
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Your story makes me think of the kid that shows up with a puppy and want to keep it, promising to take care of it. Of course, mom ends up doing that, lol.

What breed are your new little chicks?

It's nice to have you here!
 
Maybe I am misreading something but, a 2 x 4 coop sounds very small for 6 grown chickens. Rule of thumb is 4-5 sg.feet per bird excluding nest boxes and roosts, and 10 sg.feet per bird in the outside run.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided join our flock. When you say a 2 X 4 constructed coop, I'm assuming you mean that the coop is constructed out of 2 X 4s, not that its floor area is 2' X 4'. Black Sex Links are my favorite chickens; friendly and hardy egg laying machines. I've raised them for years (along with dozens of other breeds and hybrids), and they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 eggs per hen per year. You should get loads of large, brown eggs from those four girls. :eek:) Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
The large coop is built with 2x4s- but it is 6' x 8' with a 6'x8' attached yard. Our young pullets are Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas and a Rhode Island Red. They are in a separate coop for now. We need to expand the yard in the main coop while the pullets are growing so there's enough space for them mid-summer when they are big enough to go in with the big girls.
 
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321burch said:
The large coop is built with 2x4s- but it is 6' x 8' with a 6'x8' attached yard. Our young pullets are Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas and a Rhode Island Red. They are in a separate coop for now. We need to expand the yard in the main coop while the pullets are growing so there's enough space for them mid-summer when they are big enough to go in with the big girls.
Click to expand...

Definitely expand your run before they get much larger. Right now your run only has 48 sq. ft. of ground area, and 6 hens need a minimum of 60 sq. ft. of ground area (10 sq. ft. per bird). More is better as overcrowding can quickly lead to aggression, fighting, biting and feather plucking, and even cannibalism.
 

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