Greetings, folks! This is my basic intro to everyone...
My name is Thom, and from the 1990s through about 2006 I raised chickens (and sheep) continuously. I used to keep about 36 layers, rotating each year getting 12 new ones: Buff Orpingtons (my absolute favorites), Barred Rocks, and New Hampshires. I also raised 150 Cornish X Rocks at a time for meat, and did all my processing myself (along with my 6 kids, who used to kidnap a particular Buff Orp and put her to bed in their doll's crib...once I arrived at the beach with the kids to find they had smuggled a chicken along...)
Any way, I've been living in apartments since 2006, with no critters :-( But that has now changed! My husband and I purchased a home on 3 acres in the Green Mountains of Vermont, complete with fruit trees, berries, a trout pond, and walnut trees - but no chickens - yet. We are planning on bringing 12 Buff Orps to the homestead this spring, and as I was perusing the web looking for coop plans and ideas, I found this site ( I figured I should do something productive while we're waiting for our hard cider to age...)
Glad to be aboard!
My name is Thom, and from the 1990s through about 2006 I raised chickens (and sheep) continuously. I used to keep about 36 layers, rotating each year getting 12 new ones: Buff Orpingtons (my absolute favorites), Barred Rocks, and New Hampshires. I also raised 150 Cornish X Rocks at a time for meat, and did all my processing myself (along with my 6 kids, who used to kidnap a particular Buff Orp and put her to bed in their doll's crib...once I arrived at the beach with the kids to find they had smuggled a chicken along...)
Any way, I've been living in apartments since 2006, with no critters :-( But that has now changed! My husband and I purchased a home on 3 acres in the Green Mountains of Vermont, complete with fruit trees, berries, a trout pond, and walnut trees - but no chickens - yet. We are planning on bringing 12 Buff Orps to the homestead this spring, and as I was perusing the web looking for coop plans and ideas, I found this site ( I figured I should do something productive while we're waiting for our hard cider to age...)
Glad to be aboard!
Presently have 4 Buffs, the lagger laid her first egg today
Someday hope get get some Lavenders 
Glad to have you aboard 
Happy to you have join the family. Enjoy your time here!
Best wishes! 
