Total Chicken Newbie

Hello, I thought I would introduce myself.

My name is Sasheena, and I'm a newbie. In fact, I'm such a newbie, I don't even have any chickens.

About me: I'm a high school math teacher. My father, who is retired, decided in 2014 that he didn't want to live alone any more. He wanted to sell his home in California, and buy a new home in Oregon, and he wanted my husband and I to move there with him from where we lived in Arizona. Since Oregon was where we wanted to move above all other places, we agreed immediately. In May of 2015, we moved to Oregon, but my goal of having chickens was postponed to Spring of 2016 due to my tearing a Rotator Cuff.

My husband took early retirement, and he and my father built me a chicken house. I've paid a deposit on my starter flock, and plan to get them at the beginning of April.

My hubby and dad still need to construct a chicken run to attach to the chicken house, though ultimately I hope to allow them to be free range. We do live right next to a wildlife preserve where Bald Eagles winter & nest, so there are some challenges that come with our new home.

I didn't want to start with chicks to begin with. So the chickens I'll be getting include the following:

2 older Americauna hens (past their prime)
4 year-old laying hens (Rhode Island Reds)
7 Pullets (some are Barred Rock, the others are Black Sex-Link)
1 Barred Rock Rooster

I still need to get feed, feeders and waterers.

Hopefully it will go well.

Welcome Sasheena! We're glad you're here!
Don't worry, we've all been newbies at some point. I'll bet that in a few months you'll be a chicken eggspert, especially if you hang out on BYC! There are a ton of nice, knowledgeable people on here who'd love to help you out with anything you need.
Aerial predators like eagles and hawks are a challenge. It's good you have a rooster in the flock, he can help alert the hens of any air raids. I'd recommend covering your run with chicken wire however, or keeping the hens in a "limited free range" environment like a chicken tractor regularly rotated to fresh grass.

Hi Sasheena and welcome to BYC! Glad that you have joined us. I think that starting with pullets is a much easier way to ease yourself into the chicken keeping world, so I'd say you have made a good choice.


If you check out the Learning Centre, you'll find a whole host of resources on all things chicken.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Your state thread is worth joining as you will get to know other BYC members in your area (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread). In fact, the search box should become your best friend Lastly but by no means least, the members here are amazing - very friendly and helpful, so if you need an answer to a question or simply want some reassurance that what you are doing is ok, then post away - we all help each other out here at BYC.

All the best
CT

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