Almost a chicken keeper.....

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Hi, so happy for you that you can get hens now!! For blue egg laying hens I would advise creme legbars they lay big blue eggs and have lovely colouring. If you can not get those, I would highly recommend the pekin bantam that lay small white eggs but do not mess your garden due to fluffy feet and they also come in LOADS of different colours aand will happily raise chicks!
 
G’Day from down under somthymes :frow Welcome!

If I can, I recommend getting more than two. Sadly, we do lose chickens along the way and if you only have two and lose one, you will have a very lonely chicken on your hands. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt! Had to dash out and find a friend quickly, waive quarantine etc.

I do hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

BYC has Topic of the Week discussions which I have found to be a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group. There is one on predator protection you might find helpful and also one on getting started keeping chickens.

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock when they arrive, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out ;)

Best wishes and good luck!
 
somthymes said:
I've wanted chickens for years but had dogs with high prey drives. Now that I'm finally ready I'm having a hard time being paranoid about raccoons and possums. Still, as soon as I'm convinced that I've gotten a coop and run predator safe I'll be getting 2-3 chickens. I've been looking at articles and old posts but am wondering if anyone has any recent experience/advice to share about coops and hens. I would love to get a blue egg layer, an Orpington and maybe an Easter Egger. I have fussy neighbors so should really be looking for quieter breeds, but would love a blue egg layer. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Looking forward to learning more from everyone here and sharing.
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:jumpy :jumpy :welcome
 
Welcome @somthymes.

As for noise, it can be hard to say "this breed is quiet, this one is loud". Both my Faverolles are obnoxiously "talkative". One of my Welsummers is louder, the other pretty quiet. 3 of my Easter Eggers are pretty quiet, the other not so much.

MOSTLY they are mouthy if I am out there and they think I should give them treats. Other than when they are announcing an egg, they are fairly quiet if I'm not around them.
 
sourland said:
Welcome to BYC. Consider electric fencing as a predator deterrent around your coop and pen. Good luck in establishing your flock.
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bruceha2000 said:
Welcome @somthymes.

As for noise, it can be hard to say "this breed is quiet, this one is loud". Both my Faverolles are obnoxiously "talkative". One of my Welsummers is louder, the other pretty quiet. 3 of my Easter Eggers are pretty quiet, the other not so much.

MOSTLY they are mouthy if I am out there and they think I should give them treats. Other than when they are announcing an egg, they are fairly quiet if I'm not around them.
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Thanks, good to know. Buff Orpingtons were recommended by a couple of sellers. I've a sneaking suspicion that it'll be hard to stop at 2 with the hens once I've got them.

Re. the electric fencing, can I just use that without another physical fence? I like the Snap On/Formex plastic coop as most reviewers note that it's easy to clean and seems predator proof.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC :frow We're so happy you've decided to join us:ya
Checkout premier 1 feather netting. But that will only give you protection from four legged predators. aerial predators need more deterrent. I have small 2' tall shelters scattered around that the girls can hide in to escape the aerial predators. Others cover the run with bird netting. I can't as I'm dealing with 500' of fence as the perimeter.
 
I have chosen not to get Orpingtons because they tend to be a broody breed. No rooster, no eggs to hatch, broody isn't a positive trait FOR ME. Of course the catalogs say Easter Eggers are broody. I've had 6, lost one to a fox, one to fatty liver disease. Still have 4, the oldest is 5.5 years old, youngest is 9 months (so untried). NONE has ever even hinted at going broody. One of my White Rocks tries once a year, easily broken, the other never has. Of the 4 Black Australorps, only one goes broody. The Faverolles? :he:he

Um, OK I looked up "Snap On/Formex plastic coop"
Lots of money for a space WAY too small for the number of chickens they CLAIM it will fit. 4 laying boxes for "12" hens, 17 sq ft of floor space and only 9' of roost space in the "big" $800 coop? There should be a minimum of 1 foot of roost space per bird. MINIMUM floor space per bird (and I mean REALLY MINIMUM) is 2 sq ft per bird which means 8 birds in this coop. It should be at least 4 sq ft unless the birds are NEVER trapped in the coop other than when they are asleep on the roosts. Figure that coop is big enough for 4 birds.

Hopefully you'll pardon my railing on the coop but it is one of my touchy points. MOST commercially made coops claim WAY more birds than you should even think about housing in them. If you have the space and minimal building skills you can build a 4'x8' walk in coop for less money.

One of the easier builds is a hoop coop made with cattle panels and 1/2" hardware cloth (though that can get expensive). Remember that the birds really don't care how fancy or plain their coop is.


I'll :duc now.
 
rjohns39 said:
Hi and welcome to BYC :frow We're so happy you've decided to join us:ya
Checkout premier 1 feather netting. But that will only give you protection from four legged predators. aerial predators need more deterrent. I have small 2' tall shelters scattered around that the girls can hide in to escape the aerial predators. Others cover the run with bird netting. I can't as I'm dealing with 500' of fence as the perimeter.
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Thanks, you're a lovely welcoming group! There are a number of tall trees in the yard and I thought the chickens could run under those for cover, I hadn't thought of additional but it sounds like a good idea.
 

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