Hello! Going to give a try for chickens here in Seattle.

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seetheshells

seetheshells

Hatching
5 Years
Oct 16, 2014
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Hello! I've never raised chickens before, but my husband has. I've read the raising chickens for dummies book & it mentiond this site. I actually joined back in October, but i didnt feel prepared enough to come here. We will be getting our chicks from the local co-op in early spring. They do not vaccinate. I need to check other forums here regarding medicated feed, how many chicks to get (they are not sexed) for 4 hens, and at what temperature/developmental stage to move them outside (mild winters and we have a covered porch we can stil use a heat lamp).
I have 30" x 19" wire rabbit cage with a rolling stand and about a 5" deep plastic pan. I have a coop, covered area (our wood shelter) and a garden area e will connect and cover with netting (coyotes, stray animals, & bald & golden eagles; once a tree fell with an eagle's nest, and there were several cat collars found inside).

Anyways, I hope to gleen some advice from all you pros and be able to share our experiences. My stats:
Mother of 3 sons (17, 12, & 10), husband Jake for 18 years, and we have 3 cats (one is our "a-hole" kitten) and a cute Maltese dog that plays with the cats. Well, the 2 that'll let him. I have always had animals, and I am excited to try something new that actually gives back more than just cuddles nd wet tongues.

Rachelle
 
Welcome to BYC, Rachelle. I'm glad you decided to join our flock. With predators you have in your area, I would really be concerned about loosing chickens and do whatever I needed to in order to protect them. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on protecting your chickens from predators. I highly recommend using hardware cloth as opposed to chicken wire or less expensive netting as there are too many predators that can tear through chicken wire or pass through the openings in the mesh. Using hardware cloth is more expensive, but it's cheaper than having to replace your flock, and hardware cloth has saved many chicken owners a lot of tears. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. What kind of chicks are you getting?
 
Had you a welcome all written but my computer hiccuped & lost it. Anyway, welcome.
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I was a lurker for months before officially joining. Love this site & all the helpful people who answer questions.

Have you decided what breed(s) you want? I keep finding more that I "need", & have even fallen in love with Cayuga ducks!
 
Well I don't know about your co-op but at mine they say that their chicks unless it says straight run are 85% chance female and the other 15% chance male. So I would think you would only need 4-6 chicks and then if you get a rooster and can have one where you live they are amazing flock protectors and can be really sweet if you handle them a lot. That's just my opinion though but I wish you luck on your new adventure
 

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