Finally out of the city

[Rosevallychicks]

Hi all,
We are new to raising chickens. After purchasing our small hobby farm chickens are our first animals. We purchased 20 chicks and recieved 24, after reading lots of posts from BYC all are doing well. They have been here for a little over a week and are growing fast and starting to fly. Our coop is almost finished. We plan to show pictures of new chicks and play house turned into chicken coop. We will also have questions on how soon we can see the difference between pullets and cockerels and how many roosters we keep since we ordered straight run chicks.

 

[CindyinSD]

Welcome to BYC! Congrats on your escape from city life! We'd love to see pics of your flock. What breed(s) did you choose?

The stated ratio of males to females for most breeds is around one male to ten females, but I think in many cases (if you want maximum fertility) 1:8 may be better.

You can post pics of your birds: stance, comb/facial/neck features, stance, saddle (just before the tail) and hackle (collar) feathers. People are good about sharing their opinions of your bird's sex.

Males' combs and wattles grow faster, larger, and turn red sooner than females. They may stand taller and behave more boldly. Hackle and saddle feathers tend to be longer, more pointed and a bit narrower. As you gain experience and familiarity with your poultry you'll learn to glance at them and just know (in most cases--and not necessarily including waterfowl.)

 

[Rosevallychicks]

Thanks for the info, we 6 each of RIR, PBR, Buff Orps, and Golden Laced Wyonds.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Here are some helpful links:

• Great go-to resource - Articles
• Insightful feedback on how members manage their flocks - Topic of the Week back-catalogue
• Good link to read before building a coop / run - Space requirements

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
In all likelihood, you are going to want to whittle it down to just one cockerel. More than that and they are going to rough up the pullets. And you need to have a second area ready to isolate those boys when they hit about 15 weeks old as they are going start one heck of a ruckus in the flock when the hormones hit and the pullets are not ready.

 

[N F C]

Hi, thanks for joining us!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Welcome to BYC great to have you join in on the fun!

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC! We're glad to have you here!

 

[Callender Girl]

Sounds like you're off to a great start. I've had all of the breeds you have, and I've liked them all. Okay, to be honest, I EVENTUALLY end up liking all the breeds I get.

Looking forward to seeing your coop and finding out how many of your chicks are the hoped-for girls.

Welcome to BYC!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us