Good Morning from SW LA!

[N F C]

Best of luck with your new flock of littles! Once they get around 4-6 weeks old, you can post photos of them on this forum for help identifying the breeds:
What Breed Or Gender is This?

It's nice to have you here!

 

[tmarie623]

Best of luck with your new flock of littles! Once they get around 4-6 weeks old, you can post photos of them on this forum for help identifying the breeds:
What Breed Or Gender is This?

It's nice to have you here!

Thanks! There are few in my new little flock that have me stumped already. I have a feeling I will really need the gender help! I ordered 5 (received 7) from the rare breed assortment on Cackle Hatchery--so luckily there is a fairly small pool of possibilities!

 

[fldiver97]

Welcome Glad you decided to join

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUN-omenal community! Best wishes and have lots of FUN!

 

[Trux]

Hope you enjoy your flock! Keep in mind your flock will be considered a buffet for the predators in your area. Coons, Hawks, Owls, snakes, weasels, etc. are all gonna be eyeballin your flock so make sure the coop is varmint proof as well as your run.
There have been so so many new chicken keepers posting that they lost part or most of their flocks, and most of the time it is because they didn't make the runs or coops secure enough, and other because they just let their birds free range unsupervised. There is a lot of info here on how to do it right, and your flock is counting on you to keep them safe! Good luck and happy chicken keeping!

 

[feathermaid]

Congrats on starting your first flock! You may want to get a few more pullets in the future if you plan to keep a cockerel (to prevent over mating). Not all roosters are great flock protectors so it may take some time to decide who's the best, maybe keep another as a backup. A lot of folks put their cockerels in a separate grow-out pen to protect the ladies from their overactive hormones and "rudeness" once they're all feathered out.

In the great sea of tremendous information out there, here's a few articles that I found to be the most helpful:
Kick The Heat Lamp: Better, Safer And Healthier Options To Heat Your Brooder
Chicken Coop Ventilation - Go Out There And Cut More Holes In Your Coop!
Predator Proofing
Key Points to Successful Free Ranging

Best wishes in your new chicken adventure!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Welcome to our eggcelent flock here at BYC

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Hello! Welcome to BYC!!


Here's a thread on composting with chickens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hot-composting-with-chicken-bedding-and-garden-waste.900637/#post-13703708


Or search 'gardening with chickens' in the forums and you can find all sorts of great info.

Feel free to check out the other links below for some interesting reading. Good luck to you!​

 

[tmarie623]

View attachment 1686572
View attachment 1686573 Congrats on starting your first flock! You may want to get a few more pullets in the future if you plan to keep a cockerel (to prevent over mating). Not all roosters are great flock protectors so it may take some time to decide who's the best, maybe keep another as a backup. A lot of folks put their cockerels in a separate grow-out pen to protect the ladies from their overactive hormones and "rudeness" once they're all feathered out.

In the great sea of tremendous information out there, here's a few articles that I found to be the most helpful:
Kick The Heat Lamp: Better, Safer And Healthier Options To Heat Your Brooder
Chicken Coop Ventilation - Go Out There And Cut More Holes In Your Coop!
Predator Proofing
Key Points to Successful Free Ranging

Best wishes in your new chicken adventure!

Thanks! Funny enough I kind of "snuck" in my chick order while my hubby was out of town. He has his mind set on Rhode Island Reds so I knew I had to get a jump on the rare ones I wanted before he could disagree I know...bad wife! lol! We will get some RIR hens to add so he won't be too mad at me. I actually dread having to decide between which roosters to keep--that will be difficult and I hope I can atleast make 2 work. I'll be looking for advice when it gets close to time for that!

 

[feathermaid]

Thanks! Funny enough I kind of "snuck" in my chick order while my hubby was out of town. He has his mind set on Rhode Island Reds so I knew I had to get a jump on the rare ones I wanted before he could disagree I know...bad wife! lol! We will get some RIR hens to add so he won't be too mad at me. I actually dread having to decide between which roosters to keep--that will be difficult and I hope I can atleast make 2 work. I'll be looking for advice when it gets close to time for that!

Well from what I hear, some cockerels can be so unruly they make your decision pretty easy when the time comes, especially when others are just true gentlemen. I've been researching roosters quite a bit because I do plan to have one for my flock once we move back out to the country.