Hello from chilly - snow covered - Upstate New York

[Valerie Dawn]

Hi,
I just registered so this is my first post. I don't have any chickens yet, but I do have a dog. Barley is a wonderfully sweet 6 yr.old, rescued Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd cross. I am hoping he can learn to love and protect our chickens once we get them. He is a house dog but he is let to run off leash when we are in safe areas for him and as far as I know, he has never killed another animal. Chased quite a few but he is very playful. He has never caught so much as a squirrel. Well, enough about Barley, I could go one...
I am here because I am studying chickens. I hope to add to our farm this spring. I don't even live there yet because there is no house

so I have a lot of infrastructure to work on before I'm ready to add livestock. I'm thinking first up - after the driveway - will be a fence, mostly to keep Barley out of traffic, although he does stay pretty close to me. And I have to work on getting him friendly with our neighbor's horse. He chased ! the horse around the horse's corral once! The horse did not seem the least bit concerned about it, tail up, prancing about. Glad to have the play, I'm thinking. But I haven't talked to my neighbor about it yet. I've kept Barley away from the corral since. See, I'm back talking about the dog! Perhaps once I get my chicks, I will be going on about them as well! I am also researching breeds as I am looking for mostly layers and I am thinking a mix so I get a pretty egg basket. And, of course, looking at coop plans.
I am also on the Organic Chickens Yahoo group so may have met some of you there, too.
Nice to be here!
Valerie
Southern Coast of Lake Ontario

 

[Nebe]

Hello! and

 

[ThePigeonKid]

 

[renart]

Welcome from NW Washington State, come on in there's plenty of space to roost!

 

[Luckytaz]

Welcome, from Minnesota.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined.

 

[Wild Trapper]

from Ohio

 

[Desert Rooster]

Hello

from Hesperia, Ca and

 

[Sorin]

Hello from chilly, frigid, northern ny! (Glenfield) Glad you are thinking aboutnchickens, you won't be disappointed! If you want some helpful info there is tons of it right here on this site! Another good place is www.mypetchicken.com they have an e-book about 20 pages that you can download right to your computer. This book has a great overview for all phases of chicken raising and keeping for the beginner. I read it when I first got into chickens about a year ago and it was a great all around source. They also have a "what chicken is right for me" form that will suggest breeds, and you can order chicks from them, as few as five if you live near a metropolitan area, ten if not. I've been getting a lot of info right here on back yard chickens too, there are many knowledgable people on here glad to help! Good luck!

 

[Sen]

Hello!

Your dog sounds adorable. <3 I bet if you introduce him to the chicks, he won't hurt them.

I'm new myself, but I wanted to say hello, too, and I do hope the construction goes well on your future-farm! It sounds wonderful. Good luck with all of it!!