Greetings From Kentucky!

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting your flock going.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting your flock going.

Sorry, I accidently put my next greeting into your thread again. I guess I'm getting senile in my old age. )

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Thank you both so much! I've been leaning toward the silver laced Wyandotte, maybe with a few golden laced as well

the buff orpingtons sound like a wonderful back yard breed, I need to read up on them!

I have a really dumb question - should we build the coop with a run? I think we're leaning toward a shed-type coop, one that I can walk in to clean and gather eggs. My plan was to let them forage during the day, then lock them up at night. Our property is very isolated, a large yard surrounded by trees and a creek.

My 2nd dumb question is about a rooster. We are only really interested in eggs and pest control, but have been told that roosters help to protect the flock. At some point we may decide to try breeding, but its really not something we'd want to jump into right away.

Last one - what about the floor/nesting material? I've heard straw is good, but would love to know what really experienced chicken people use

Thank you again, I'm really excited to start my new adventure. I was raised on dairy farms, but we never had chickens! My kids (17, 14, and 6) are looking forward to having chickens roaming the yard, lol!

You are not asking dumb questions but good and important questions!

If you understand that your chickens will have a higher risk of getting attacked by predators than you may not need a run and can just let them range.

Here's some pros and cons for free ranging.
Pros

-Happier chickens
-Generally healthier chickens
-More room=exercise and ability to have more chickens
-They will eat less food

Cons

-Easy targets for predators
-Generally more prone to diseases and parasites
-Can get hurt and killed more easily.

The best bedding materials include: pine shavings, straw and shredded paper.

 

[drumstick diva]

You received a lot of good advice pro and con roosters, etc. You don't need a rooster, hens will lay eggs regardless. I always feel if you don't need or want fertile eggs, there is no reason to have a roo. You can buy fertile eggs of any breed you want and incubate them yourselves.

If you add some guineas they will clear your yard of ticks and are a great alarm system - though they may'' go off' alarming for no good reason.

 

[Country Mama]

I may look into guineas - I'm worried about ticks because of all the woods. My understanding was that chickens would eat ticks as well? An alarm system couldn't hurt regardless

 

[drumstick diva]

Chickens will probably eat ticks if they come across some but, guineas LOVE ticks !!

 

[Country Mama]

I've been reading up in the guineas (thank you!!), it sounds like I can raise my chickens and guineas together - anyone with experience doing this? Do I make a separate coop for the guineas?

We haven't moved yet, so I don't have a handle on the predator situation - but I've seen racoon scat as well as birds of prey.

My husband thinks I've lost my mind, but he's excited that we'll have fresh eggs and potentially "watch guineas" lol!

How many guineas should I get? I wanted 6 chickens, we are on 6 acres, but we live on basically one acre at the top of a hill.

I can't tell y'all how much I appreciate all the advice.

 

[mtn2mama]

Welcome. We have had chickens for about two years now so I am no expert, but we live in the mountains of Virginia and let our girls free range during the day. I think it is important to have a run and a coop. The girls go to the coop about dusk and we close the gate so they are secure at night, the run is chain link fencing on the sides and top as well. It is nice to be able to put them up early if you will be away until after dark. When you let them free range there is a chance of predators, we have lost two, however they seem much happier roaming around and we are completely in the woods on 100 acres. We also have bears that come around, so last summer we added an electric fence around the coop and run.
Have fun