Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

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paspar said:
Hello local chicken lovers :)

I am a complete newb and just starting to read up and research local resources for growing chickens in my smallish urban back yard in Brooklyn NY.
The challenges that I face from the get go are: getting the hens themselves, and getting supplies for them - thats it (
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)

I was hoping to buy or adopt egg laying hens the 1st time around to make things simpler (youngsters seem to have lots of issues that I am not knowledgeable enough to deal with,yet) - I dont think those can be shipped, so does anyone know where I can buy them locally?

I am pretty handy and plan to build a small 3-4 hen coop myself, I can mail order the accessories needed to make it a "home". The ongoing need for feed will also be an issue - not sure where to get that... no one sells bails of hey locally... Wood chips are sort of cheap in home-depot although they are mostly shredded and colored ...

any advise from locals here would be appreciated.

PS: Mother-in-law who raised chickens in the "old country" told me I am in for a rude awakening with the smell a coop will create in my back yard. If I keep things clean, and create enough ventilation, I think I should be ok - what do you think? any tips on this topic? if I let these guys out of their run one in a while and let them roam the yard, will my grass suffer?

thanks for the info

Newb.
Click to expand...

Major lurker here :<, but thought i'd pop in. I live in Queens, and I go to the Hicksville Agway to get all my supplies since it's a 20 min drive from where I am. I've frequently seen posts for chicks, feed, and hay on Craigslist in Brooklyn so maybe you can check that out. I have 7 I got from a hatchery, but that's about 4 too many for my yard. Why? Because they've started eating each other's feathers.. one of my poor chickens has barely any feathers on her belly/butt area while the others mainly have a small patch missing from the butt area. I have tried making chicken diapers, using literal diapers, all to no avail because they hate them and jump and hop and ultimately wiggle out. Blue kote and nu stock aren't much use either.

And regarding the smell.. like magsrags said, avoid getting the area they're in too wet. The run my chickens are in is pure mud, despite my attempts to add gravel, sand (probably not enough) so when it rains or I get all this snow melting, it's not very pleasant. I do let them out to run around the rest of the backyard, and have accepted that the grass outside their run is starting to die from their pecking and pooping.. something my dad is not getting over :x

Hope my little rambling helps.
 
Hi Everyone!

Dahlisgrams : Congrats on your sweet six baby chicks
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Stoopid: Thanks for my laugh of the day
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Newb:
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Do some more research.
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Forget the hay, use pine shavings from the Chestnut Vale on Duffy Road in Hicksville just by the LIRR station. They have feed and shavings and some supplies. I got most of my other supplies from the catalogs.

When building your coop / run. hardware cloth although expensive will prevent predators, rats and mice and sparrow from getting in and endangering your chickens. I found great plans on YouTube. The Reverse Wichita Cabin Coop , The Best Chicken Coop gave me loads of information. Also be sure to put hardware cloth underneath the base of the run.

You did come to the right place. The people here are very knowledgeable and sooooo nice.
 

I used the basics of the Reverse Wichita for the run. Purchased the coop because I needed to roll the coop up and around and down in the backyard. BTW, I am a 60 year old woman and carried all the wood and cut every piece of lumbar with a jig saw, used clamps to hold pieces in place of another set of hands. My husband is not the handy-type. LOL
 
Most of the upcoming shows and fairs will have started pullets available for purchase. You should also check the buy/sell/trade area on the BYC forum. Please be careful getting hens from auctions and craigslist unless you can be sure they are not spent or carrying a disease of any kind (that goes for all sources including breeders). I have heard horror stories about people rescuing hens only to have them infect an entire flock. If you do use those sources, be sure to quarantine for a while to be sure they are healthy.

It is recommended that you have 4 square feet per bird in the coop and 10 square feet per bird in the run. So a small 4x4 coop (great floor plan because it requires very little cutting if you use 4x8 sheet goods) should work well. I am building 2 of them myself this season (4 ft front wall sloping to 3 foot back wall, with swing out doors for the back wall, and large vents on top of the front and sides). run would be 10x4 (if you elevate the coop, you can count the area underneath and it makes for a good place to hang the food and water). If you provide enough space there should be very little feather picking, fighting, and odor etc. For a run that small you can gravel and sand it, but I would wait until they destroy the grass and do the gravel and sand on a day where the ground is really dry. It will need to be several inches thick, otherwise the birds will work the gravel and sand into the mud. They love to scratch.

If you design your coop with a poopboard (in my design it will be angled from under the roosts so I can scrape it right out of the back doors into a wheelbarrow), you will save on bedding, mess, cleaning time, and smell. It has the added benefit of providing pure manure for composting.

I agree with everyone else: chicken yard/coop + moisture=stink AND chicken yard/coop + moisture + heat= super stink. I have been using the deep litter method since November and I have to say that it does not stink out there. I finally got the right combo of bedding/poo/moisture. It seems too moist to me, but no smell, no frostbite. Looks disgusting though...
sickbyc.gif
 
Welcome newbies, you have come to the right place for great info and laughs...
I live out in Suffolk county so I can't help with supplies.i started with 3-4 and had them penned . In no time they ate all the grass to the soil in the 12x 20 run. They only go in that area at night now. Otherwise they roam the back yard. 100x110 . Grass is fine although my flower gardens have suffered . I just think of them as deer with feathers.
Check Craigslist for young hens. Keep things dry not only for the smell but for fungus and bacteria.
I love raising chickens for dummies.great starter book.
Good luck.

Roberta ; I feel terrible for you. I think some kind of exorcism is needed for your bad mojo of late. I hear tequila works wonders....

Congrats on the hatch.
 
definit said:
Major lurker here :<, but thought i'd pop in. I live in Queens, and I go to the Hicksville Agway to get all my supplies since it's a 20 min drive from where I am. I've frequently seen posts for chicks, feed, and hay on Craigslist in Brooklyn so maybe you can check that out. I have 7 I got from a hatchery, but that's about 4 too many for my yard. Why? Because they've started eating each other's feathers.. one of my poor chickens has barely any feathers on her belly/butt area while the others mainly have a small patch missing from the butt area. I have tried making chicken diapers, using literal diapers, all to no avail because they hate them and jump and hop and ultimately wiggle out. Blue kote and nu stock aren't much use either.

And regarding the smell.. like magsrags said, avoid getting the area they're in too wet. The run my chickens are in is pure mud, despite my attempts to add gravel, sand (probably not enough) so when it rains or I get all this snow melting, it's not very pleasant. I do let them out to run around the rest of the backyard, and have accepted that the grass outside their run is starting to die from their pecking and pooping.. something my dad is not getting over :x

Hope my little rambling helps.
Click to expand...
http://www.uncle-jimmys.com/products/pecker-recker
Def, I am from upstate and lurk here as well. Have you tried pecker recker? It may give your chickens something to do besides peck each other. good luck!!
 

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