FedUpWithItAll's "broody" thread has inspired me

[Inchworm]

I will have chickens in a few months. Be prepared for silly questions :)

I'm thinking a 4x8 coop with covered run, size undetermined yet, for 4-5 Rhode Island Reds.

I'm bouncing ideas for coop design around at this point. Getting a lot of info from http://www.backyardchickens.com/

Just a heads up :D

:hi:

[FedUpWithIt All]

1. Aww, this makes me really happy.

:hug:

I think you'll be glad you got them. :7 You'll have to show us pictures of your coop as it progresses.

[Inchworm]

2. I will for sure

Last year I bought a bunch of materials for a greenhouse to extend growing season and decided against it, so I have a start. I'm one of those "the planning is half the fun" sort of guys. I'm learning a lot already.

:)

[Denninmi]

3. Excellent. Welcome to the dark side.

Chickens are the gateway drug to all kinds of feathered mischief. This year, I'm going to try some geese. I'll be placing my order to reserve the eggs in just a few weeks, for shipment in late March.

RIR's are good. I've got 3 of those right now. But, last spring, I got 6 Isa Browns, which are a cross between set lines of RIR's and white leghorns. They were developed in France specifically for egg production. I am just amazed at the size of the eggs these birds are laying. I'm putting them into recycled Xlarge and Jumbo cartons, and some of these are so big I literally can't shut the lids on the cartons for fear of breaking the eggs. The Isa Browns look just like a RIR, except that the plumage is has just a little bit of white around the "roots" -- they kind of remind me of an older lady I used to work with who dyed her hair red, but wasn't so good about doing the follow ups, so she usually had gray roots showing.

[Denninmi]

4. Some eggs for comparison

From left to right:

Isa Brown, Rouen duck, Rhode Island Red, and Button Quail.

[FedUpWithIt All]

8. We have a red star that lays jumbo+ eggs nearly every single day.

She has let off this winter since we do not provide artificial light. She is a good little ol' lady. She is not the most social bird in the flock and the others certainly give her a wide berth in spite of her comparative smallness. But she is intelligent, and entertaining and she quickly learned who carries the treats. ;)

Your olive egg is from a duck? The color is lovely. I really love olive eggs.

:hi:

[fasttense]

5. Chickens are the gateway drug to all kinds of feathered mischief.

You're not kidding. I think chickens are also a gateway to farming because they do such a nice job of eating those pesky bugs.

They are very addictive and you get endless hours of chicken stories to share with friends.

[Inchworm]

6. Hehe- I read in many places to plan coop for 2x the chickens you think you want

Because I'll want more :D

I've not actually reserved my new laidies or anything. I want to have house in place first. I'll look into Isa Browns. It is weird around here. I may need to drive 40 miles to go to a proper retail store or restaurant, but according to Craig's List access to chickens is MUCH closer.

Those eggs are huge!

:hi:

[Denninmi]

7. I ate that big one for breakfast.

It was a double yolker, as I suspected.

ALL of the ISA Brown eggs are consistently bigger than my RIR eggs, but not all of them are quite THAT big, by any means.

[FedUpWithIt All]

9. They call it chicken math.

And i have to agree because we're about to build our second coop in as many years :)

[Denninmi]

10. Yup, that's how it works.

I started with 4 chickens in 2008. I got 4 ducks in 2009. Now, I've got 9 chickens, 9 ducks, 6 turkeys, about 65 quail, and 7 doves.

Geese this year. I am planning to order Pilgrim eggs next week from a breeder in MA.

And, I'll probably incubate some of my birds own eggs and do some more quail. I don't need any more ducks or turkeys right now. And, having only hens, I don't see much of a future in incubating any of their eggs.