I am starting a new coop in NE Ohio The coop is 8' x 8' bottom 4 foot chicken wire top is nesting boxes and perch also have a 8foot x 10 foot run attached.... where i live they are not allowed out of the coop.... so my questions I want Brown Eggs, what type of chickens are hardy in the cold and heat of ohio...... and how many can go into my coop i enclosed a picture of the coop that i am getting this weekend
with the run atachment and frequent cleaning and moving of the coop you could probably have a dozen birds or more in there, although 6-9 would probably be a better number especially to start with. As for breeds, there are a lot of brown egg layers that are pretty sturdy in extreme weather, my personal favorites are Plymouth Rocks (buff and barred are the varieties that I have kept) and Rhode Island Reds. But there are many others that would do just fine.
Personally for that small of a space I would either go with bantams if all you want are eggs and only like 4 bantams, or if you want stardard size chickens I would only do 2 or 3. 8x8 is not that much space for keeping a dozen chickens cooped up when it snows. Plus 8x10 area with more than 3 full size chickens is grounds for over crowding and issues. As for brown layers that are cold hardy, I like my Barred Rock and Buff Orpington, both are cold hardy and lay brown eggs. But of course this is my opinion.
I like to say Grandma H. had the first chicken tractor. lol She had a little 2 x 4 lot with three buffs in it, each morning and each evening she would move their little lot to a new and clean spot. (this was 30 plus years ago. ) Thanks for the step back in time. I would start out with a few and see how they do. Then you could add more if the lot can handle it.
There are still "Ole-Timers" out there that think having a rooster with the hens some how makes them lay more often, and a larger number of eggs. Not sure if it's true, my girls laid just fine even when I didn't have a rooster.
dpappas, i would recommend the Buckeye! it was developed in NE Ohio (Warren County) and is the ONLY breed to be developed by a woman. They were bred to be cold tolerant and withstand the hot humid Ohio summers, too. By the looks of this coop I'd say you could easily keep 5-6 Buckeye hens....they handle confinement very well and lay medium sized brown eggs, even in the winter!!!
