Newbie here; stoked her hubby is going to let her have some chickens.

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Recvdthpromise

Recvdthpromise

Hatching
5 Years
Mar 26, 2014
5
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9
With that being said, that is as far as I have gotten. I won't post questions on this intro. I will commence to reading the forum before annoying ya'll with redundancy. I have a little over an acre in the city limits of a small town. I will have a good size garden this year, along with 6 helpers (from ages of 15 to 3 years). I am a stay at home mom/teacher (we homeschool). We have two owls that make our yard their home. I have chased fox off occasionally and we see Hawk often. We also have the given stray cats and dogs plus the family cats and dogs. The motives behind wanting chickens is for better nutrition for my children,and being more sustainable.

My focus in research;
*healthy chickens that
A) More natural at mothering
B) Natural Foragers/Pest Control
C) Gentle
D) Produce Eggs enough for a family of 13 at least . We bake a lot, and cook almost all meals at home.
*Feeding
A)greens/veggies to grow for that purpose
B) schedules
c) AMounts
Housing
A) Diy housing plans
B) Healthiest living conditions
C) Happy Safe chickens
D) Tractor diy plans
Information I have read.
1. Dorkings are gentle
2. No chickens have been treated with hormones as the usda doesn't allow it.
3. Hen raised chickens produce better eggs than hand raised
4. Old English are good mamas and could almost feed themselves entirely given free range
5. Guinea fowl eat ticks (great for pest control)

Any pointers, corrections, or wisdom is awesome. Looking forward to being a part of this forum and showing off my chickens once I know that I can raise them properly.

I want to get to a point that chickens are a part of our little family system. Producing healthy chickens that will benefit others.
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with all your chicken projects. Best place to start is the Learning Center, lots of good chicken keeping articles. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
You might want to check out some of the Heritage Breeds threads, ie https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/849075/heritage-large-fowl-phase-ii is the long basic one, most breeds have their own threads also ... Dorkings https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/118388/b-y-c-dorking-club and check out the BYC Breeds section for member reviews on a lot of breeds, the Henderson chicken breed chart also compares a lot of breeds http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html If you are looking more into eggs rather than meat you might want to consider breeds that are a little less broody than Dorkings.
Check out the BYC Coops section, lots of good ideas for coops and tractors etc, and the Coop/Run design forum for advice when you are starting to get a plan together.
You might want to check out the Guinea forum for info on those guys, https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/45/guinea-fowl they are really good tick eaters, but they are really noisy and not very good at staying put.
 
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With as many predators as you have, I would suggest a stationary coop so you can bury some of it and you'll be more thoroughly protected.
Don't use chicken wire at all. Go straight for Hardware cloth. You will also want to close the coop door every night even if they're in an enclosed run to prevent predators from being able to see the birds where they sleep.

I like using sand for the coop and run because the poop is easy to sift out and put into your garden.

If you plan on free ranging, I would suggest heavier slower breeds and probably wing clipping because while the lightweight breeds can run faster, they also like to roost in trees and not come home at night, then get eaten by owls and hawks.

I would suggest including Cochins in your flock, they are very motherly and go broody often so people buy them if they want to buy hatching eggs for a hen to sit. I like a variety because I like multi colored eggs, I like to experience new things, and I like the varied levels of hardiness and tolerance.

Where are you located? that changes a few things in terms of cold hardiness, heat hardiness and coop design to accommodate them accordingly.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Definitely follow the links that Kelsie has provided. Lots of good reads on all aspects of keeping your new flock.

Great to have you aboard and enjoy all your new adventures!
 
Thanks for the heads up on the Guineas...I have more problems with my dogs running off than them having ticks, so I might want to pass on Guineas for running off. I would like to be as small of an aggravation to my neighbors as possible.
 
I am at the lowest part of the Peidmont area of South Carolina. Borderline Central. Your suggestion of multi breeds sounds great, but reading how much some put stock in one breed over the other made me think I needed to only get one breed so as not to mess with the traits.
 
SO no chicken wire.....I have some tin roof panels that were on the property when we bought it, and I planned on using it as a surround on their pen. I read digging 18 inches deep with the cloth or roof flashing would keep predators from digging in. I was going to use the tin like some would use the flashing or cloth...YES? NO? Chicken wire can be used at top of pen correct?
 

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