I live in NW Ohio and I'm strongly considering raising a few chickens for fresh eggs and maybe meat if I don't get to attach to them. I am really looking for a little guidance on what type birds are well suited for this area. I want high producers and large eggs, not really to concerned about the color but I'm leaning more towards brown. I am figuring on starting out with 7 to 10 birds unless someone suggest otherwise, which I am very open to any suggestions. I have an out building that was previously used as a chicken coop but I will need to do some basic restructuring i.e. patching holes, prepping the floor etc. I can provide pictures of the building if that will aid in any guidance to how it should be structured. So I am petitioning for any knowledge and direction that can be provided so I can get off to a good start. Thanking everyone ahead of time. Ochickadee
welcome to BYC. The Learning Center (above) is the best place to start. Then I recommend you go to "where am I, where are you," in the social forum. There you can find and post on your state thread. That will give you the opportunity to learn what are the best breeds for your area/climate that would meet your needs. You can also click on "coops" to see what a good coop should have and the need for ventilation as well as draft free quarters to keep the flock healthy, etc.
Drumstick Diva is sending you to the right places. Here are the links to the learning center and coop pages to get you started.... https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops Great to have you aboard and enjoy BYC!
Hello and Welcome To BYC! X3 on the BYC Learning Center and Coops forums. You may want to start a thread and post pictures of the coop you want to renovate on the Coop design forum https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance Chicken wise, number wise the most productive brown egg layers are probably the various commercial red sex links, they go by various names depending on the hatchery, Red Stars, Golden Comets, ISA Browns etc, they are bred to produce a lot of eggs for about two or three years then be culled/ replaced with new birds...most feed stores that sell chicks in the spring will carry some version of these. Some other good brown egg laying breeds are the Australorps, RIR/ production reds, and Plymouth Rocks... two others are Orpingtons which are rather broody and Wyandottes that come in a lot of neat colors.
Welcome to BYC! We're glad to have you. I agree with the other posters, definitely check out the Learning Center for information on chickens!
