Brand new chicken mommy!!

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chicpeaga

chicpeaga

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Hello!!!
As you can tell because of where this post is...I am new. My husband and I have been talking about getting chickens for years. Recently I became unemployed (and loving it) so we decided that now would be a good time because I will be home more. My husband and I got everything we need to get started, we even built a brooder and tested it to be sure it maintained a steady temperature. My husband just called me from work and said we would be picking up our chicks today at the local seed and feed store. He said they have the Black Sex Links. From what I have read they are very good chickens. I am only starting with 6 hens, my questions is should I try other breeds or just stick with those for now.
 
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Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on the new chicks! BSLs are nice birds, tend to be pretty easy going and good layers. I really like a really mixed flock myself because I like different colored eggs and I like different colored chickens. If you want to try another breed that should get along with the BSLs no problem and get different colored eggs to boot, they probably have Easter Eggers / Ameraucana that would lay green eggs... they may also have Welsummers that lay darker brown eggs.
 
Hi and welcome - I think BSL are a great starter bird. Are you looking strictly for egg production or are you interested in the appearances of your chickens, etc? I ask because if you like a variety of appearance it might be a better idea to do some mix-n-match in building your flock. Are you intending to stick with just six birds long-term or are you planning to add to your flock down the road? It might help you to look at pictures of the various birds to see if there are some that appeal to you more than others - you also need to think about what you want to get from having the chickens. If eggs is your primary focus, then you would want to select from high producing breed/cross-breeds (the BSL are a cross-breed) - you also want to consider the color of eggs you want to have as that would influence the breeds to consider. If you want "pet" chickens you would need to consider the general temperament of the various breeds.
Overall, I would say build bigger than you think you need for the six you start with because you will soon find that you start thinking about adding "a couple of these" or "a few of those" -- much easier to do if you start with a coop that will accommodate such additions rather than having to build to add every time.
 
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How Egg-citing!! Good luck with your new chicks and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Welcome to BYC!
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. We are starting with 6 chicks as not to overwhelm ourselves on our first go. We are mostly interested in the eggs. We also have 3 teenagers and a 10 year old, we have been trying to teach them to be self sufficient, they work regularly in our veggie garden in the summer. My husband will have our chicken tractor complete by the time our ladies are ready to go outside. We will be letting them free range some, but we have coyotes so we felt that the chicken tractor was our best bet. Also if we decide to add to our flock he said not to fear, he will just build another chicken tractor.
 
chicpeaga said:
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. We are starting with 6 chicks as not to overwhelm ourselves on our first go. We are mostly interested in the eggs. We also have 3 teenagers and a 10 year old, we have been trying to teach them to be self sufficient, they work regularly in our veggie garden in the summer. My husband will have our chicken tractor complete by the time our ladies are ready to go outside. We will be letting them free range some, but we have coyotes so we felt that the chicken tractor was our best bet. Also if we decide to add to our flock he said not to fear, he will just build another chicken tractor.
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Good man!
 
They are here, we went with only four because when we go to the feed store I got a little panicky, like I said earlier I don't want to get overwhelmed, especially with tiny lives at stake. We got two black sex links and two golden sex links. I am having trouble with one of the black ones, who is a bit bigger than the others, she keeps pecking at the golden's eyes and feet. We put a mirror in the brooder, and she quit. Is it ok to have a mirror in there.
 
Yes, mirrors are great for chicks. Makes them think there are more birds on the other side! Make sure you have enough room in your brooder, at least 1/2 square foot per bird total. Chicks and chicken get stressed when cramped. Keep the heat on one side of the brooder and the food and water on the other so that there are not only cool spots in the brooder to chill out, but they have to leave the heat to get to the goods. Toughens them up. Lay paper towels down and sprinkle feed all around the feeder area on the floor so they can find the food. You can remove the paper towels in a couple days when they know where to find the feed. Dip everybody's beak in the water so they know where the water is stored. I like to use an infra-red bulb for brooding as infra red is less exciting as white light and helps to reduce fighting.

You normally start out new hatchlings at about 95 degrees. But if you have aggression in the brooder, you might want to lower the heat 4 degrees or so. This will help to chill the aggressors out.
 

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