Chicken mentor please!!!!

[bluesage]

Hello!!! This is my first post and I have sooooo many questions. I have been reading books and posts and everything I can get my hands on but I feel that I need some expert guidance. We are getting ready to add chickens to our family but I would like some feedback on what breeds would be best(we have two children and a chocolate lab + inside city limits so we are looking for breeds on the quite or docile side). Also what flooring is best for the coop? Will anyone be willing to take me under their wing?? Please, I really do need a chicken mentor!!!

 

[chickenshadow]

Be your own mentor. There is plenty of info here and on other poultry sites.

If you have spent time here than you know you need a brooder, heat lamp,
chick starter (I use game bird starter as it is unmedicated).

Just relax and enjoy the experience of chickens. You don't need a mentor.
You just need a few friends and you have found them.

Do you have specific questions? Fire away!!! Want some chicks. I have too many.

 

[knippk]

HELLO....Welcome to BYC....kinda new myself but, I've had chickens for around 20 years......soooo everybody has there own fav. breed....mine are cochins and NN. Cochins are very calm and friendly.....the roosters kinda crow loud..lol! GOOD LUCK!!!!! K.C.

This is my rooster John and a NN cochin cross hen named Betty!!!!

 

[airmom1c05]

Buff Orpingtons are gentle, but they do cackle loudly after they lay.

I think Welsummers would be good around children as well. They lay the prettiest dark brown eggs, too. With children, you probably want to avoid game chickens, but there are exceptions to every rule. I think almost any chicken raised and handled from baby chick age has a good chance of being very tame. My mixed hen has some game in her, and she is very good with people, but she terrorizes all the other chickens in my flock except for my little silkie Serama rooster whom she respects! Size doesn't matter with chickens for some strange reason. I personally love my Seramas. They are so tiny and easy maintenance, too. Just read everything you can find regarding the chickens you like visually to judge their general tempermant, but remember there are exceptions to the norm based on many variables. How many chickens do you plan to start your flock? How large can you build a coop and run? You can actually raise Seramas indoors in a cage! They are the world's smallest chickens and range in size from AA (samllest) to D (largest). The smallest weigh less than a pound full grown! Do you want them for pets, eggs, or both? Do you want them for meat? I guarantee they will CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER!!!!! LOL! Welcome to the world of chickens and BYC!

 

[Davaroo]

Anyone here would be glad to mentor you, if that is what you want. Some people work well that way, not wanting to go it alone...most everyone is about as friendly as a fuzzy bear around here and everyone has PM options.
But I suggest you just ask our questions and await the response. Like this:

I would like some feedback on what breeds would be best(we have two children and a chocolate lab + inside city limits so we are looking for breeds on the quite or docile side).
Best breeds? Common utility birds or Silkies. Barred Rocks, RIR's, Austrolorps, Orpingtons, Brahmas or Wyandottes are the common utes and Silkies, well, they're cute and well mannered on the whole.
But NO chicken can be predicted and they live in their own world; you work with them, not the other way around. Some are docile, some not so much.
Children have an innate ability to irritate chickens, too, so little kids are best kept away from them. These are essentially farm animals, remember... New Age notions about "everyone living happily together" are lost on them. In the city, plan to clip wings and do without cocks in your flock.

Also what flooring is best for the coop?
Hard welded wire is best where predators are an issue. Some people just use wood, others cement. Whatever you use you gotta clean it, so keep that in mind.
For the city newbie, I suggest a smallish chicken tractor, or "ark," suitable for 6-10 birds, which you can move around your yard. Just google 'chicken tractor' and you will find tons of ideas.

 

[Frizzledhen]

Cochins and Buff Orpintons are both gentle birds. Lots of people here are more than willing to help with questions. Floors? Mine are wood painted with a water sealant paint. Many use wood covered with cheap linoleum. Some have dirt floors and some have wire floors. I use pine shavings in my coops and some people use straw. There is lots of information all you have to do is look around the sight. Again, welcome and feel free to ask all the questions you need answeres to.

 

[bluesage]

Thank you for the reply! I had just told my husband today that I thought I wanted Buff Orpingtons. I will be building a coop to house ten but starting my flock with six I think. I just feel that I need some guidance. We will be hatching the eggs in our home. Thank you for your willingness to help. I dont want to do anything wrong.

 

[Davaroo]

MAN, you are going to hatch your own, too? Youre going for the whole enchilada, eh? Good for you!

 

[bluesage]

I want the whole family to get in on the experience! I know I will never forget when my class hatched eggs in school. I just want to make sure that I dont make too many mistakes! When I was little we had cows, pigs, and horses. I hope to at least give my children (and myself) the pleasure of chickens.

 

[chicken legs]

Welcome to the chicken world. It's a great adventure. Learn from my mistakes:
-use a floor that's easy to clean like linoleum or plywood
-know that some dogs will kill chickens (mine did)
-and of course like us people, they need good nutrition and water
-as for breed, I found this link helpful for choosing the more docile breed I wanted: Chicken temperament
-I've learned that a lot of people deworm in spring and in fall
-lastly...relax and enjoy the show. It's better than tv.

oh and you can always go into chat to learn more. I've found knowledgable, quick answers there.