So excited to be here!

[TwoChicksChix]

Ameraucanas have a pea comb, which is great for the cold winters with frostbite. Since Ohio doesn’t get that hot, my friends say it rarely gets above 95 degrees, I wouldn’t worry too much about heat tolerate ones.

My ameraucanas are fine in the heat down here, which can get over 95 degrees and a bazillion percent humidity.

Wyandotte’s are also great because they are bigger girls with a lot of butt feathers and smaller combs, allowing them to tolerate cold as well. The blue laced red Wyandotte’s is gorgeous!

 

[jenemal]

So I’d have maybe four hens or so. If you end up getting too many extra eggs you can always give them to your neighbors as thanks for not complaining about chickens. That’s what we do, and our neighbors can’t even hear our chickens

As for breeds, silkies are wonderful and cute to look at. They’re one of the few breeds I have not for standard but for all the unique colors they can come in. Splash, calico, mottled, cuckoo, chocolate, etc. However, they aren’t very good egg layers and they lay smaller eggs. But are super cute to watch, so one or two won’t matter.

For laying purposes, nice breeds that lay pretty eggs are Black Copper Marans and Welsummers for dark eggs. Ameraucanas or Legbars for blue eggs. And Wyandotte’s come in many colors and lay nice light brown eggs.

Is it warm where you live or cold? I live in Florida so I need heat tolerate chickens.

Ah that is good to know! I have heard of Ameraucanas and Wyandottes (my friend also recommended them).

So, I live in Columbus, Ohio which means we get super hot humid summers but also pretty cold winters so I am assuming I would need chickens that could handle both? The last thing I would want is to get a chicken that is ill-suited for the weather and has a low quality of life.

 

[TwoChicksChix]

Don’t worry too much about the hot humid summers. As long as they have plenty of shade and if need be just add ice to the waters.

I have both ameraucanas and Wyandotte’s and they survived the Florida summers. Which are no fun.

 

[jenemal]

Don’t worry too much about the hot humid summers. As long as they have plenty of shade and if need be just add ice to the waters.

I have both ameraucanas and Wyandotte’s and they survived the Florida summers. Which are no fun.

Ooof yeah good point!

Are they both friendly breeds? Also, do you have any recommendations on when to get them/ what source? My thought would to be get 1 Ameracuana, 2 Wyandottes, and 1 Silkie (bc they are adorable and ridiculous looking) to start. Or is that a bad idea?

 

[TwoChicksChix]

That won’t be an issue, most breeds can get along quite well. My ameraucanas and Wyandotte’s are super friendly.

I have one Ameraucana, Ophelia, who likes to sit in my lap and be pet when I go out in the afternoon.

If you treat them well as chicks they should love you. I treat mine with live mealworms as chicks at about 3 or 4 weeks old and move on to other treats as they get older. I also make sure to talk to them a lot to get them used to my voice.

Now when I go outside and make my chicken call I’m flooded by 40+ chickens begging for treats and love.

 

[jenemal]

That won’t be an issue, most breeds can get along quite well. My ameraucanas and Wyandotte’s are super friendly.

I have one Ameraucana, Ophelia, who likes to sit in my lap and be pet when I go out in the afternoon.

If you treat them well as chicks they should love you. I treat mine with live mealworms as chicks at about 3 or 4 weeks old and move on to other treats as they get older. I also make sure to talk to them a lot to get them used to my voice.

Now when I go outside and make my chicken call I’m flooded by 40+ chickens begging for treats and love.

Oh my gosh that is adorable and everything I want!
I have started drawing up my coop plans and cannot wait to get started.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Oh my gosh that is adorable and everything I want!
I have started drawing up my coop plans and cannot wait to get started.

Hi Jen and welcome to BYC! This is a great place to learn and share your chicken adventures. Check out the section on building coops. We also have additional threads for states and there’s one for gardening as well.

 

[TwoChicksChix]

These are some of mine when I come out with treats. Ophelia is in the last photo sitting on my lap.

 

[jenemal]

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These are some of mine when I come out with treats. Ophelia is in the last photo sitting on my lap.

Heart. Melting.

The engineer in me is geeking out looking at all the coop designs on here! Size wise do you think a 5'x8' coop with a 10'x'8' attached run would be enough space? (I definitely would like to have one I can walk in).

 

[TwoChicksChix]

5x8 is a very big coop for your birds. Keep in mind most large breeds only need 3-4 sq feet of coop space and about 10sq I’d run. That’s enough space for 10-13 chickens in the coop and 8 chickens in the run. For a max of 8 chickens a coop of 24-32 sq feet would be enough, so something like 5x5 or 5x6 would be fine.

If the coop is too big, they’ll have a harder time staying warm in the winter.