Amateur@best, just glad to be here...HELLO

[8rand0]

Hello all, glad to have joined the forum. A lil about me, I had never raised chickens before until last spring/summer. Went to a local feed/garden store. They had Turkeys and chickens. I had begun rabbits for a food crop about a year prior, so I grabbed 2 Turkey chicks. After about 4 days, they had got eaten by racoons. So I went back to the feed store, picked up 5 chickens. 3 Buff Orpington & 2 Silkies. Things were great for the first 4 months, then a family members dog broke into the coop, killed all of em. Finally found an add on Craigslist for 14 free chickens 6mos to a year. I went and ended up getting 7 in total (flyers in the trees got away). Got em home, grabbed $60 worth of lumber n hardware and built a 4'x5'x5' hen house with the old coop as the run. Everything was going good again, eggs were coming, then I had to move. I let the family member keep the chickens and hen house. Found out last month, that someone left it open and their dogs killed everything. I have resettled & reclaimed my $60 hen house. As of NYE, I now have 4 RIR Hybrid Hens I picked up from a local egg farmer for $10/ea & I picked up 6 4weekold chicks right before christmas. The chicks are now 2months, as of MLK day,. 2x Barred Plymouth Rock, 2x White Plymouth Rock & 2x Rhode Island Red. Long story short, I am an amateur at best, but **** its fun growing your own food.

Btw: I also just got my first of 2 egg incubators yesterday and popped in 7 Silkie eggs. Read about that in the incubator section

 

[mustangrooster]

Hello there and Welcome to BYC! So glad you have joined us!

Here, we can talk about our feathered friends for hours on end without getting weird looks

So please do make yourself at home!

Sorry for all your losses of your birds!

Best wishes

-Mustang

 

[N F C]

 

[Isaac 0]

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Welcome to BYC -- so very glad you have joined us! It does sound like you have had a bit of a rough start in your poultry adventure, but each experience, even the losses, is a learning opportunity and it sounds like you have definitely upped your game in securing your birds and keeping them safe. Hopefully now that you have been able to reclaim your setup and restock your flock it'll be smooth sailing -- best of luck on your hatch!

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under 8rand0

Welcome!

Sorry to hear of your loss

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends

 

[BYC910]

Tuff luck makes for determined poultry raisers . No eggs better and hatching can become an obsession. Good luck with you incubation. Don't be afraid to ask questions .

 

[drumstick diva]

Please check out the predator threads as well as coops section - so you can safeguard against predator attacks ( loose dogs are about 2nd. to raccoons in the # of kills). Silkies are one breed with just about no skills at avoiding predator attacks. Their combs & beards obscure their vision. Their wing feathers are not conducive to flying, and they are docile &
small. Usually the first ones to be taken.

 

[NickyKnack]

There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around the run.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and ! Happy you joined our community!