Hello from Birmingham

[eggcentric]

Hello, we are new to the forum and to keeping chickens. Just researching what we need and then we will bring in some chickens. We're using the Omlet site as our primary source of chicken run and coop equipment. Any initial help, hints and clues for newcomers very welcome.
eggcentric

 

[Marigold]

Hi eggcentric and welcome to the Forum.
(Your username comes up on my auto spell as egocentric, but never mind)
Do have a good read of the threads in the Coops, Runs and Equipment section. There are quite a few threads from people like yourselves, setting out as new chicken keepers, and discussing ideas about what will suit them best and what is really useful to get.
Have you actually bought from Omlet yet? There’s a big range of plastic coops available nowadays, some of them less expensive yet just as good as Omlet in many ways, to consider. Do start your own thread, let us know how much space you have, what sort of run you’re thinking of getting or building, and how many chickens you hope to get. Chickens are undemanding and rewarding family members, if you get the basics right in the first place.

 

[eggcentric]

We now have our coop and run all set up ready for our hens who arrive today! We're lucky enough to have an enclosed run of about 5 meters by 2 meters, with a raised plastic coop inside. We're having six hens. It's in a nice shady and quiet part of the garden and we have woods behind. We hope this is the start of a happy life for our hens and of course we are looking forward to our first eggs!

 

[chrismahon]

Hello Eggcentric and welcome. I used to work in Birmingham, commuting from Lichfield by train and then buses- I remember the 1a and 1c service which should be every few minutes but usually I had to wait half an hour and then 6 would arrive together!

Well worth making sure your run is entirely fox proof, as I'm sure there will be some living in the woods and making daily trips into neighbouring gardens looking for a meal. Enjoy your eggs. Always interesting to weigh them, because they start fairly small and get larger in the first few months. To give you an example, ours started tiny at around just 40 grammes but are now averaging 70, which was a bit of a relief as it took ages for them to get bigger and we initially thought we had made a mistake buying them.

 

[eggcentric]

Hi chrismahon, we live in Bournville. Know Lichfield quite well. The run is secure and is covered, and we've tried to minimise the possibility of burrowing. Yes, we have foxes in the garden all the time so are wary of this. So far - so good!