New member, North Florida

Always wanted chickens & ducks. My parents had ducks when I was a kid. My husband & I live on 20 acres & haven't done anything with it other than mow the grass around the house. Sooo I got this hair brained idea if I got the chicks then we'd have to build the coop. Off to tractor supply I went, came home with 9 chickens & 2 ducks on 3/17/16. Coop is almost finished. Been a long road! Ducks have been on front porch & chickens on back porch in a large dog crate. Chickens are outgrowing crate at lightning speed. If we don't get coop finished by this Saturday I'll be clucking too.



Thanks for the big welcome everyone !! Happy to say coop & duck yard should be finished tonight after work. They've all spent the last 2 nights in their new homes with the door/gates propped shut. I do not advise putting the chickens before the coop. It's been a never ending month of weekend & week night work trying to get it done. We do see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Question about feeding ducks?? I have 2 Peking, 7 weeks old. Do I still have to add water to their feed or can I give it to them dry next to their water? They seem to cough if they eat it dry. Thanks

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! They sure do grow quickly, I found this too with my first set of chicks. Your 20 acres sounds fantastic and I'm sure they will really enjoy the new coop and all that space.

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

Enjoy BYC

Thanks for the welcome! Trying to figure out what kind of chickens I have. All I know is I have 6 hens & 3 I don't knows. I'll have to find a chicken chart or catalog to compare them to. Using IPhone isn't an advantage when you want to use a chart. I'm loving every minute of my chickens & ducks. Ducks are very entertaining & like to be near me.

You can post photos of your birds at "what breed or gender is this." I suggest you also check out the predator threads on BYC, and also join your state thread. Just put the name in the search box and it will pop up. Welcome to BYC

Hi and welcome to BYC - glad to have you join us.

You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre (even if you have lots of experience)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center, and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

These links may help you for the moment.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/getting-started-raising-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks


You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread

All the best
CT

You've already received lots of good information so I'll just say hello!

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