Hello from Southern Missouri!

Hello all! My husband and I are recently transplants from the city of Austin to a *much* quieter life in rural Southern Missouri. Our home has a built in coop & run, so we are getting geared up for our first batch of day-old chicks later next month! We are currently in the process of doing a deep clean of the coop, revamping some of the structures in it, and I personally am reading everything I can get my hands on about raising backyard chickens.

We are wanting to get four chicks to start, all egg-layers. No roosters yet either! I don't have any preferences yet for specific breeds, and we are planning on getting them from our local Orscheln's farm store at the end of February.

We have two cats (any advice on how to help get them acclimated without thinking I brought them a personal dinner would be a HUGE plus) and a male rat terrier. Our new home also came with a huge garden plot, so I've been planning to have my first garden this year as well - lots of changes, but we are so blessed to have this opportunity!

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! 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 BYC.

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

Hi

Glad you could join us here! The learning centre would be a great place for you to check out, here is the link ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
My top tip would be to make sure the cats and dog can't get to the chicks at all especially if they have never seen chicks or chickens before. When your birds are big enough you will need to make sure any contact is where your birds are in an enclosed area and they are supervised. Hopefully they will get along ok but untill you try you won't know.

Wishing you the very best of luck. Be sure to ask any questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly.

Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

Sounds like you're in for a lot of fun and have lots of plans. I'll second Yorkshire coop's advice to keep the dog and cats away from the chicks, it only takes a moment for a little chick to become a "toy" for a pet that's never been around them.

Good luck with your new venture and if you have questions, feel free to ask. There's a lot of information here and a lot of helpful, friendly members.

We hear so many horror stories from new members who have had their chicks massacred by their dog/and/or cat. The best thing I can advise is that you make sure pets & chicks NEVER MEET.

Hi and welcome to our community. You already have some good advice, so I'll just say a big hello!

All the best with your new projects.

CT

Thanks for all of the warm hellos and good advice - very excited I found this community!

You are most welcome

CT

Hello! I am moving from Iowa to southern Missouri next month