I just can't wait to get started!!!!!!

You've got lots of reading to do between now and the arrival of your chicks!  Check out:  https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/yes-you-certainly-can-brood-chicks-outdoors

Also, you might want to read about deep litter for use in both the coop and the run.  Many chicken runs quickly become void of all vegetation, turning into dust bowls, or mud pits, leaving the chickens with little to do other than standing around in stinky dirt.  You can give them a healthy environment in the run by adding lots of mulch materials to the run, after they remove the vegetation.  Aim for a 6"  layer in the run.  It will keep the flock busy, and it will attract beneficial insects, bacteria, fungus, and worms.  Birds who have access to a compost/mulch situation like this will spend a good part of their day searching out the nutrition available.  Easier on the food bill, as well as giving them a healthier gut.  Other topics to research:  Fermented feed.  Check out the many coop designs in the coop and run section.  Be sure that your coop is predator proof, and has plenty of ventilation.  This means that you'll need 1/2" hardware cloth over all openings, including windows and any vents.  Chicken wire will keep your flock in, but will not keep them safe from predators.   Henderson's chicken breeds chart.  You might just find a breed that you absolutely must have.  Finally, you might even want to check into the option of hatching your first flock.  It's super easy to build your own incubator!!!  You're gonna have lots of fun with this, and it's wonderful that your husband is on the same page with you!  

I've been thinking a lot about the deep litter method since I read about it yesterday. We have a ton of pinestraw that falls in out back yard. My husband is scared that if he gets me an incubator we'll end up with 100 chickens. Lol.
 
Well, now... regarding the 100 chickens... That can become an issue, no matter how you get them... as day olds, older birds, or hatch your own. No matter how you do it, you'll have to discipline yourself. But, getting chickens is not a one time event if you intend to continue to have fresh eggs as well as all of the other benefits that you will receive from having your own flock. They'll lay real well for the first 2 years, then that laying will taper considerably. Also, your chickens may live to a ripe old age, or they may succumb to illness or predator before they get to be OLD. Which means that, sooner or later you'll have to replace them if you want more eggs. An incubator makes that job much easier, and much cheaper! Got kids? There is NOTHING in this world that compares with holding a warm egg in your hand, and peering into it with a flashlight to see the chick dancing inside that egg. And, yes, they do DANCE!!! Just don't hatch eggs unless you have a plan in place for dealing with the roosters!
 
Well, now... regarding the 100 chickens...  That can become an issue, no matter how you get them... as day olds, older birds, or hatch your own.  No matter how you do it, you'll have to discipline yourself.  But, getting chickens is not a one time event if you intend to continue to have fresh eggs as well as all of the other benefits that you will receive from having your own flock.  They'll lay real well for the first 2 years, then that laying will taper considerably.  Also, your chickens may live to a ripe old age, or they may succumb to illness or predator before they get to be OLD.  Which means that, sooner or later you'll have to replace them if you want more eggs.  An incubator makes that job much easier, and much cheaper!  Got kids?  There is NOTHING in this world that compares with holding a warm egg in your hand, and peering into it with a flashlight to see the chick dancing inside that egg.  And, yes, they do DANCE!!!  Just don't hatch eggs unless you have a plan in place for dealing with the roosters!

We've talked about rotating the flock every year. Replacing 1/2 of the flock every year. We do want a single roo. My husband plans to cull and eat any roo that we don't need. I know I'll need to stock up on tissues for the water works. I'm considering getting a silkie because of how bloody they get. I think it would be great to see the natural process from start to finish.
 
ISA Brown chickens are the ones that lay for the first 18 months from when they start laying at 6 months and then up and die gruesome deaths. ISA Brown is not a breed btw, it's a brand like toyota or nissan.

Get a proper breed of chook, never ISA Browns. Cage factories always have to get rid of their ISA Browns after 18 months of laying and so they dump them everywhere and tell people oh they are so great at laying eggs. Well, they were. Then they're bald and wheezing and can't return to the coop with the other chooks. Not just my personal experience either.

I wouldn't want anyone as excited about chooks as you are to make the mistake, because it would put you off chickens and back to buying your eggs from the supermarket, ironically from perhaps the same people who put you off having chooks in the first place.
 
I know I'm interested in buff orpingtons. They are beautiful and lay well. I've also read that they lay well in winter too. I really would like to get lavender ameraucanas.
 
Got kids? There is NOTHING in this world that compares with holding a warm egg in your hand, and peering into it with a flashlight to see the chick dancing inside that egg. And, yes, they do DANCE!!! Just don't hatch eggs unless you have a plan in place for dealing with the roosters!

yes there is, having kids is better :) (until you have them, then apparently they're not ?)

I don't remember my chicks dancing last fortnight, but I didn't watch longer than I needed to to make sure they were alive and kicking.


I'm considering getting a silkie because of how bloody they get.

like in that movie psycho ? :) I think it's a spelling mistook.

I know I'm interested in buff orpingtons. They are beautiful and lay well. I've also read that they lay well in winter too. I really would like to get lavender ameraucanas.

Excellent ! I just got some, as well as marans, so I should get a lovely colorful egg selection.




Does that mean if I put them into the incubator I'll get colored chicks ?



 
yes there is, having kids is better :) (until you have them, then apparently they're not ?) I don't remember my chicks dancing last fortnight, but I didn't watch longer than I needed to to make sure they were alive and kicking. like in that movie psycho ? :) I think it's a spelling mistook. Excellent ! I just got some, as well as marans, so I should get a lovely colorful egg selection. Does that mean if I put them into the incubator I'll get colored chicks ?
Lol... I meant broody not bloody. I'm typing on my phone and my autocorrect runs amuck at times. The colored chicks are cute, but I think I'd be a bit worried if they came out of the shell like that. :)
 

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