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Bruce

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Welcome @Lereg :thumbsup

Since you are starting from scratch, I would try hard to follow the advice of some of the smarter people here and fence the perimeter first. Now that may not be the entire 20-30 acres, depends on the makeup of it. For example there may be some forest for cordwood or hay fields where you don't expect to house animals. You can cross fence after to make pastures as you start to bring in animals. And if you are new to all these types of animals, it probably would be a good idea to start with one or two types and once comfortable with their needs and demands on your time and wallet, add another.

Chickens are an easy first choice since they don't really need anything from you but food and water. No hooves to trim, teeth to file, piles of poop to pick up. I have a lot of pine shaving depth in my coop, just rake through it every morning. The chickens hang out in the barn alley all day if they don't want to go outside (ie, if there is white stuff on the ground out there). Otherwise they are outside all day as they please and go back to their coop of their own volition at night. I have lost a couple to foxes, near the end of April in the later afternoon. I'm thinking that is when their kits are born up here but there isn't an abundance of their natural food yet. They had to get pretty close up to the house and barns to get the hens. I also lost one to a coon (my fault!) and ASSUME its 'sister' was taken by a coon when we weren't home.

My girls stick to about 100' from any building and they do seem to prefer areas that have been mowed rather than tall wild plants. Maybe they feel safer if they can see some distance. HOWEVER, I have had some wander into tall weeds looking for tasty bugs so it isn't a given that they will stay in shorter vegetation. But another HOWEVER, they are still within about 100' from a building, their preference.

My understanding of sex links is they lay like machines but burn out fast, I've not had any. I don't know if some of them are decent dual purpose crosses for eating (cockerels) or making soup when they stop laying. If you are planning to keep your flock up by breeding your own replacements remember that sex links will not breed true since they are by definition a cross between 2 different breeds to yield a sex linked chick. You can, of course, make your own by choosing the proper rooster and hens.

Regarding chickens and runs: The generally accepted MINIMUM for a run is 10 sq ft/bird and that doesn't come close to suggesting "free range", just enough for the more dominant ones to not beat up too much on the less dominant ones. For 30 birds that would be a space 10'x30'. Looks big on paper (and the budget!!), not so much on the ground. They will decimate anything growing in a permanent run of that size in short order if that is the only outdoor space they have. You can get portable electric netting for chickens and move them around as you please. There is still a threat from avian predators but otherwise they should be fairly safe out there during the day and they can have a much larger area than they would with a permanent run. They will also fertilize more of your land ;) You can have a permanent run attached to the coop for times you want them confined but not stuffed in their coop.

Again :welcome
 

Lereg

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Welcome @Lereg :thumbsup

Since you are starting from scratch, I would try hard to follow the advice of some of the smarter people here and fence the perimeter first. Now that may not be the entire 20-30 acres, depends on the makeup of it. For example there may be some forest for cordwood or hay fields where you don't expect to house animals. You can cross fence after to make pastures as you start to bring in animals. And if you are new to all these types of animals, it probably would be a good idea to start with one or two types and once comfortable with their needs and demands on your time and wallet, add another.

Chickens are an easy first choice since they don't really need anything from you but food and water. No hooves to trim, teeth to file, piles of poop to pick up. I have a lot of pine shaving depth in my coop, just rake through it every morning. The chickens hang out in the barn alley all day if they don't want to go outside (ie, if there is white stuff on the ground out there). Otherwise they are outside all day as they please and go back to their coop of their own volition at night. I have lost a couple to foxes, near the end of April in the later afternoon. I'm thinking that is when their kits are born up here but there isn't an abundance of their natural food yet. They had to get pretty close up to the house and barns to get the hens. I also lost one to a coon (my fault!) and ASSUME its 'sister' was taken by a coon when we weren't home.

My girls stick to about 100' from any building and they do seem to prefer areas that have been mowed rather than tall wild plants. Maybe they feel safer if they can see some distance. HOWEVER, I have had some wander into tall weeds looking for tasty bugs so it isn't a given that they will stay in shorter vegetation. But another HOWEVER, they are still within about 100' from a building, their preference.

My understanding of sex links is they lay like machines but burn out fast, I've not had any. I don't know if some of them are decent dual purpose crosses for eating (cockerels) or making soup when they stop laying. If you are planning to keep your flock up by breeding your own replacements remember that sex links will not breed true since they are by definition a cross between 2 different breeds to yield a sex linked chick. You can, of course, make your own by choosing the proper rooster and hens.

Regarding chickens and runs: The generally accepted MINIMUM for a run is 10 sq ft/bird and that doesn't come close to suggesting "free range", just enough for the more dominant ones to not beat up too much on the less dominant ones. For 30 birds that would be a space 10'x30'. Looks big on paper (and the budget!!), not so much on the ground. They will decimate anything growing in a permanent run of that size in short order if that is the only outdoor space they have. You can get portable electric netting for chickens and move them around as you please. There is still a threat from avian predators but otherwise they should be fairly safe out there during the day and they can have a much larger area than they would with a permanent run. They will also fertilize more of your land ;) You can have a permanent run attached to the coop for times you want them confined but not stuffed in their coop.

Again :welcome
Thanks for the advice, Bruce!! My DW and I are pretty quick learners, for the most part. She can pick up things, and understand how to do them from reading. Myself, on the other hand, is better when being showed how to do something, ( maybe why men don't read the directions very often), lol.

With any luck, the place we move to will already be fenced, at least the perimeter of the property, and hopefully some cross fencing involved too. Of course, depending on what it's actually fenced with will be another story. We may need a better setup for our plans, but at least the posts will be there, hopefully in good shape. Time will tell.

The chickens are up in the air still about the breeds, as I like the Orps ad well. The deciding factor could be how the sex links taste. For their run, I'm wanting a much larger space for them than the minimum, but I do like the portable idea as well.

We will only be getting a couple, 3 of each of the goats and sheep to start with, and see how it goes from there.

Once again, thanks for your input and advice!!
 

DutchBunny03

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Welcome to BYH! That scale of development may take a while, but it'll be fun! I've got a dog and rabbits, too.
 

Baymule

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You are about to embark on a voyage to a better life. @Bruce was right about the fencing. There is a good fence forum here, it's rather new as the owner of this site @Nifty listened to our requests and formed a section for fencing. LOTS of good info there, with PICTURES! LOL!

On the sex links, I like them. I keep them until their second molt, then into the stew pot they go. You can breed your own with Delaware or Wyandotte in the Columbian color, hens bred to a RIR rooster.
upload_2017-2-6_19-33-52.png


You can also breed black sex links with a barred pattern feathered hen such as Dominique, Barred Rock and a RIR or New Hampshire rooster.

Here's how I built my Hoop Coop. (it has pictures too....:lol:)
https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/hoop-coop.18291/
 

Lereg

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You are about to embark on a voyage to a better life. @Bruce was right about the fencing. There is a good fence forum here, it's rather new as the owner of this site @Nifty listened to our requests and formed a section for fencing. LOTS of good info there, with PICTURES! LOL!

On the sex links, I like them. I keep them until their second molt, then into the stew pot they go. You can breed your own with Delaware or Wyandotte in the Columbian color, hens bred to a RIR rooster.
View attachment 27585

You can also breed black sex links with a barred pattern feathered hen such as Dominique, Barred Rock and a RIR or New Hampshire rooster.

Here's how I built my Hoop Coop. (it has pictures too....:lol:)
https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/hoop-coop.18291/
Thanks for the info!! I kind of wanted a rir rooster anyway!
 

Bruce

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A lot of people here are also on BYC (*) and may be able to answer all your chicken questions but if you aren't finding those answers here, head over to BYC ;)

* sister site, check the sidebar. I am Bruceha2000 there.

There was fencing here when we bought the place 5 years ago. Most of it now falling down or rotting and I don't think it was all that old. Lots of the perimeter hotwire was broken and lying in wait in the grass and on pointed wood posts that were 2.5" - 3" diameter, in the ground barely deeper than the point. I've pulled most of it out, didn't need any tools to pull the posts other than my none too strong self. Wiggle it a few times then popped them straight up out of the ground. The deepest ones were down 18", many only 12". The harder ones were those that had broken off at ground level. Then, of course, the easy ones, those that had already fallen over intact.

The 3 board wood fence around the yard looked good when we bought, all rotting now. What I originally thought was brilliance turned out to be guaranteed rot creation. Instead of running the ends of the boards to the posts, he attached the center of the board to the post and screwed a "patch" board across the ends between the posts. No issues of making sure the posts are exactly the right distance apart or screwing 2 ends to the same round post. The guy didn't use PT boards and painted them with latex. Every one of those "patches" are rotted out and the boards are dropping like flies or sticking down in one direction and up in the other 'pivoting' on the post. The posts are decent diameter, 5" I think but they too are wiggley now so also likely not set more than maybe 18" deep.

Point being when looking at properties, check the condition of the fencing so you know what you are getting. You may or may not be able to tell by looking but at least you will know to ask some questions. Best to know if you will be needing to replace it or if it was built to last many more years.
 

Lereg

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A lot of people here are also on BYC (*) and may be able to answer all your chicken questions but if you aren't finding those answers here, head over to BYC ;)

* sister site, check the sidebar. I am Bruceha2000 there.

There was fencing here when we bought the place 5 years ago. Most of it now falling down or rotting and I don't think it was all that old. Lots of the perimeter hotwire was broken and lying in wait in the grass and on pointed wood posts that were 2.5" - 3" diameter, in the ground barely deeper than the point. I've pulled most of it out, didn't need any tools to pull the posts other than my none too strong self. Wiggle it a few times then popped them straight up out of the ground. The deepest ones were down 18", many only 12". The harder ones were those that had broken off at ground level. Then, of course, the easy ones, those that had already fallen over intact.

The 3 board wood fence around the yard looked good when we bought, all rotting now. What I originally thought was brilliance turned out to be guaranteed rot creation. Instead of running the ends of the boards to the posts, he attached the center of the board to the post and screwed a "patch" board across the ends between the posts. No issues of making sure the posts are exactly the right distance apart or screwing 2 ends to the same round post. The guy didn't use PT boards and painted them with latex. Every one of those "patches" are rotted out and the boards are dropping like flies or sticking down in one direction and up in the other 'pivoting' on the post. The posts are decent diameter, 5" I think but they too are wiggley now so also likely not set more than maybe 18" deep.

Point being when looking at properties, check the condition of the fencing so you know what you are getting. You may or may not be able to tell by looking but at least you will know to ask some questions. Best to know if you will be needing to replace it or if it was built to last many more years.
Understand what your saying, and will definitely be checking the fences out!
 
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