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speckledhen said:
Welcome to BYC! I was raised in Decatur, lived in Gwinnett county for years before moving to the mountains (after my husband's 20 year stint in the Air Force). I didn't know that Stockbridge was chicken friendly. We were just there not long ago for a surgical procedure, crazy traffic! I'm out of practice driving around Atlanta. As long as you have used a stronger wire than chicken wire, cover windows with properly attached hardware cloth, and have a dig barrier on your pen and look at any weakness at "predator level", you probably won't lose any to predators. It takes a lot of thought and good materials, but then, you're set.

I live in the mountains with every predator imaginable but have never lost any to them, even free ranging. Of course, my roosters and good cover from the skies are credited with that and I will eventually lose someone to an animal attack, but not likely inside their barn. Prevention, as they say, is worth a pound of cure, and it certainly goes for building a strong chicken fort! You'll enjoy your Buff Orpingtons. I loved my Golden Girls, though they've all passed on now.
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Small world! This past Sat was the first time that I witness the Stockbridge traffic since moving, I didn't know this town could have traffic like that! Stockbridge is very chicken friendly but I would think there would be HOA issues in those newer neighborhoods. I'm sure there are rules in those type of homes but we stay in a old neighborhood (home built in 1978!). I did read in a ordinance that due to our land size, we couldn't have a roo. I'm okay with that because I never cared much for my grandma's neighbor's roo growing up haha. The houses outside of my neighborhood have chickens along with goats. Actually, lots of people have the whole goat to chicken thing going on here. I must have missed that memo when I moved here.

I went into full predator mode when designing our coop/run. I'm laying down hardware cloth on the floor, our yard is completely fenced in but I'm not taking any chances. It would be hard for me to see any predator coming from a distance due to how the foliage is outside of our yard's fence so I know the chickens would have a hard time seeing as well. The whole run will be hardware cloth basically. Thanks to BYC for teaching me that chicken wire wouldn't be good for the run/coop btw! I do know that my dog (even though she is in the house) is very alert and sleeps in the sun room facing the yard at night. She let's us know when any creature comes in the yard. Her level of alert matches the level of creature basically. She gets more fussy when it's more than just a cat. She has been successful at already scaring away the three tom cats we had that would stop by our yard when we first moved in last month.

I've also made friends with a neighbors dog that stays outside in a yard behind ours but right by the chicken coop. I know that will deter most predators with so many loud dogs around (seriously, once one dog starts the whole street starts sounding the alarm) but I'm not chancing a thing! That's why I made the run big because I once saw a dog in our yard. That dog gets out ALOT in my neighborhood and I've yet to figure out how he got in our yard when it has no holes or loose pieces.

Our run houses our coop. It's an open (and cheap) coop design that will help with the crazy GA heat but also is adjustable to add any insulation for the cold. Speaking of which, I've read alot about how the folks in northern regions protect their chickens but is that needed in our climate? I'm a sucker for cold so to me GA gets "cold weather" but I know we don't get truly cold weather that often. I know it's probably more cold up in North GA but what did you do for the winter season? Does that breed need anything extra since they are cold hardy?
 
AfroChickens said:
Small world! This past Sat was the first time that I witness the Stockbridge traffic since moving, I didn't know this town could have traffic like that! Stockbridge is very chicken friendly but I would think there would be HOA issues in those newer neighborhoods. I'm sure there are rules in those type of homes but we stay in a old neighborhood (home built in 1978!). I did read in a ordinance that due to our land size, we couldn't have a roo. I'm okay with that because I never cared much for my grandma's neighbor's roo growing up haha. The houses outside of my neighborhood have chickens along with goats. Actually, lots of people have the whole goat to chicken thing going on here. I must have missed that memo when I moved here.

I went into full predator mode when designing our coop/run. I'm laying down hardware cloth on the floor, our yard is completely fenced in but I'm not taking any chances. It would be hard for me to see any predator coming from a distance due to how the foliage is outside of our yard's fence so I know the chickens would have a hard time seeing as well. The whole run will be hardware cloth basically. Thanks to BYC for teaching me that chicken wire wouldn't be good for the run/coop btw! I do know that my dog (even though she is in the house) is very alert and sleeps in the sun room facing the yard at night. She let's us know when any creature comes in the yard. Her level of alert matches the level of creature basically. She gets more fussy when it's more than just a cat. She has been successful at already scaring away the three tom cats we had that would stop by our yard when we first moved in last month.

I've also made friends with a neighbors dog that stays outside in a yard behind ours but right by the chicken coop. I know that will deter most predators with so many loud dogs around (seriously, once one dog starts the whole street starts sounding the alarm) but I'm not chancing a thing! That's why I made the run big because I once saw a dog in our yard. That dog gets out ALOT in my neighborhood and I've yet to figure out how he got in our yard when it has no holes or loose pieces.

Our run houses our coop. It's an open (and cheap) coop design that will help with the crazy GA heat but also is adjustable to add any insulation for the cold. Speaking of which, I've read alot about how the folks in northern regions protect their chickens but is that needed in our climate? I'm a sucker for cold so to me GA gets "cold weather" but I know we don't get truly cold weather that often. I know it's probably more cold up in North GA but what did you do for the winter season? Does that breed need anything extra since they are cold hardy?
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Sounds like you did a great job! Kudos to you for doing your research! You know, chickens do cold much better than heat. The important thing is to have TONS of ventilation for summer that is also predator proof. As long as they are not in huge drafts in winter where they sleep, they should be okay. Drafts are low, ventilation is high is a simplified definition of the two.

ETA: Mine were locked up every night, no mouse could even get into the coops. Now, we have a 20x24 steel barn where they are all housed in one place, better for winter chores for us, living on mountain land where a slope and ice can cause not-so-great accidents, such as the one that broke the heck out of my ankle a few years ago. And by the way, lovely photo in your avatar!
 
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Yikes. That sounds scary (the slope that is). At least you didn't hurt your ankle digging post holes. I like outdoor work but outdoor work doesn't like me so this happens alot haha. Glad to hear they will be able to handle that cold better than I imagined. Thank you! I felt like I was spending too much time on BYC but it's honestly saved me from some costly mistakes. I've learned so much. Now I don't feel too bad about my open coop design for my chickens. Glad it will help since it's going to add a nice bit of ventilation inside. I also will have them in a extremely shaded area but we all know that shade doesn't equal squat in that GA heat. I'm also putting a tented clear-ish (I forgot the material's name) on the top for the roof to add more shade but also to let in light. I'm going to have some heavy duty tarp on the side for those windy rain days (even though the all trees that are near the coop/run holds down the rain. Also going to be using the tarp to block off the winter wind when we have some. Or IF we ever have a true winter again here in GA.
 
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Hey there! I work in Lithonia too and still frequent there. My 4 buff orpingtons will be arriving next week! I'm going to be off all next week from work so I thought it would be a great time to bond with my new flock. I'm an animal whisperer and never had issues with birds so I'm excited. I ordered my started pullets from Murray McMurray Hatchery. What do you have?
 
AfroChickens said:
Quote: You may end up adding a 4th side if you go through a bad winter, or a partial side. I'm at 2000 ft elevation and we occasionally have single digit nights in winter and have dropped to at or slightly below zero on one or two winters that we've lived here (will be 15 years in June). My across the street neighbor had two Golden Comet hens and they had a coop that was mostly open, but badly situated so winds sailed right into it. She ended up putting a sheet or two of foam board insulation on the outside of the hardware cloth wall. But, two little hens in an open coop in winter can't keep very warm. Your Orps are fluffier and having four of them, they'll be better off than hers. Here was her coop. Her hens are gone now, one from a fox and one from sheer neglect and ignorance, sadly. She had a tiny closet-like thing in the back left corner and never cleaned out the poop; I mean, NEVER. It was piled a foot high. But, that's another story. The coop was not adequate in the way it was on her lot, not for two small-bodied hens. After she put up the wind barrier on one side, it was better, of course. But, your climate is much warmer than ours so your focus should be keeping them cool in summer.

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Tabasco Jack said:
You candle eating eggs to look for blood spots, meat chunks and cracked shells. And every egg has to be candled. It's a hassle, but if you are going to sell anywhere other than from the farm you have to do it.

The class is ok. It's informative and you candle a bunch of eggs with a partner.
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Does candling help at all with really dark eggs (Maran)? You can see spots in white and lite brown - but you can't see anything in the really dark ones.

Just curious.
 
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I had the same problem relative to the dark eggs and candling so I bought a 350 lumen flashlight and have had no problem since.
Give it some thought.....
 

Welcome!

So you're getting Buff Orpingtons. Good choice! Orpingtons are favorite breed. I have buffs, blue/black/splash, buff/australorp mix, and I have crele and jubilee orps currently in the incubator. I also have chocolate Orpingtons. Here are a couple of photos I just took of the chocolates in the juvi brooder:




Orpingtons are eating machines, so be prepared, but they are such sweet birds and lay beautiful extra-large light-brown eggs, so they're worth it.
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JoshFig said:
Does candling help at all with really dark eggs (Maran)? You can see spots in white and lite brown - but you can't see anything in the really dark ones.

Just curious.
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Maybe a need to get a better candler, but FBCM eggs have been a real challenge for me to candle. I told my wife that candling a FBCM egg was like going on a blind date; you have an idea of what's coming down, but you don't really know for sure until the day arrives.
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