- Sep 15, 2012
- 49
- 0
- 23
Oh, sorry. These are all very good questions. Seriously. I believe I asked all of these same questions when I first considered getting chickens. Living in the city, I thought we'd get a nice backyard flock of 4-6 chickens. I knew there were SO many pretty chickens that laid different colored eggs so I tried hard to narrow down my choices. I studied and reshuffled breed pictures, considered all of my choices and finally settled on 8 different breeds. Hmm... a couple more than I'd anticipated. So I hatched some baby chicks of my favorite breeds to add to the POL pullets I'd purchased from some of my favorite BYC breeders, and then had to keep a few more than I'd planned on because I'd hatched them myself for crying out loud and now I'm like their MOTHER, so my flock grew to 10. That was the first year.
I also realized as I was hatching that I would need a grow out coop which would also double as an integration coop so the chickens could see each other without hurting each other until they could join the big flock. So I purchased one of those "kit coops" sold by Garden Sphere. I do not like the quality of the coop and have had to do a lot of jeri-rigging on it, but it's functional. So, now I was up to one large layer coop (8X12 footprint) and the mini coop.
Oh, then my light Sussex went broody that first year, so that small coop also became a broody/nursery coop. Wow, that mini coop is really getting a workout with all of it's uses. Maybe I need to add a third coop to our backyard?
Fast forward to Summer 2012 - VF Coop Building World Tour. Wow. Now I have a beautiful new strongly built coop with a nice 4X4 house and enclosed run. In the meantime I hatched some beautiful little Silkies so now that coop is being used as a banty pen. Huh. I sure don't remember planning on raising banties. I'm not sure exactly when that became a decision.Oh well, I'm hoping when they go broody they can hatch in there and maybe the banty pen can double as a nursery since it's just Silkies... I mean, they're small, right?
Somehow -I have no idea how this happened, my small suburban lot that I thought I could raise 4-6 layers on, has turned into a lot filled with 12 layers, 5 Silkies, and 3 coops! And let's not forget the 2 small Seramas living in a bunny cage in my computer room that are also providing me with teeny tiny eggs... Thank goodness I got rid of those 8 roosters I accidentally hatched this spring. At one point I think there were over 20 chickens at my house.
It's a sickness I'm telling you.
I think we need to get together so I can see your set up! I'm intrigued! Are you IN the city limits with 17 birds?! LOL
Dana - best post ever! Had to read it twice it was so good.
Time for regular meetings...
"Hello, my name is Dana and I've not hatched for 3 months...."
I'm taking a break from work and your post made my day.
Thanks much for the laughs.
It IS a sickness.
HAHAHAHA, Chicken Anon LOL
And with what some of you were saying about square footage, I've modified my coop just a teeny bit. The coop for the chickens will be 40 sq ft (the other 56 sq ft will be for the humans), and the run will be 100 ft... I think I'll do roughly 12'x9'. That should give me enough coop and run for 10 birdies. The idea behind the large coop is that the 'human' area of the coop is where I will have access to the nesting boxes, store all my feed and supplies, and so that the next owner can convert it to a second shed if they wish.
Can the run be 'lined' or floored with small river rock? The entire area back there will be river rock and I'd prefer to keep it that so that it's easier to clean and disinfect (we do this for the dog too - she goes potty on rocks and once a week I just spray it all down with the hose, then disinfect it with a bleach water mix. I go back a little while later and spray it down again.
I'd put hay in the coop, then just sweep it up and bag it once or twice a week - I plan on commercial grade linoleum to line the coop.
Oh, sorry. These are all very good questions. Seriously. I believe I asked all of these same questions when I first considered getting chickens. Living in the city, I thought we'd get a nice backyard flock of 4-6 chickens. I knew there were SO many pretty chickens that laid different colored eggs so I tried hard to narrow down my choices. I studied and reshuffled breed pictures, considered all of my choices and finally settled on 8 different breeds. Hmm... a couple more than I'd anticipated. So I hatched some baby chicks of my favorite breeds to add to the POL pullets I'd purchased from some of my favorite BYC breeders, and then had to keep a few more than I'd planned on [COLOR=B22222]because I'd hatched them myself for crying out loud and now I'm like their MOTHER[/COLOR], so my flock grew to 10. That was the first year. 
Oh well, I'm hoping when they go broody they can hatch in there and maybe the banty pen can double as a nursery since it's just Silkies... I mean, they're small, right? 
I have [COLOR=0000FF]no[/COLOR] idea how this happened, my small suburban lot that I thought I could raise 4-6 layers on, has turned into a lot filled with [COLOR=CC0033]12 layers, 5 Silkies,[/COLOR] [COLOR=CC0033]and 3 coops[/COLOR]! And let's not forget the 2 small Seramas living in a bunny cage in my computer room that are also providing me with teeny tiny eggs... Thank goodness I got rid of those 8 roosters I accidentally hatched this spring. At one point I think there were over 20 chickens at my house.
