Hi!
My husband and I have wanted to do this for a long time and finally have a home on a rural property where we can raise chickens. And we have no idea what we're doing.
We have three children we hope to teach some life lessons along the way. We were kind of hoping my 14 year old daughter could raise one or two to show.
So far we have two black Bantam Frizzle Cochins. I don't even know if I wrote that right. They are bantams, they are Cochins, and they are Frizzles. One is "frizzling" more than the other so far, but they are only 3 weeks old. It also looks as if one may be a cockerel, his comb and wattles are coming in much faster and darker than the other.
We also plan to get two White Leghorns (tomorrow) and two Americaunas next week. We'll keep them separate for a while before introducing them to each other. Any advice on that would be great. I'll be combing the site for info before bringing them home.
We'll be in the market for a chicken run and a coop and some nest boxes while these little gals become fully feathered. Some of the predators we have around here are snakes, raccoons, hawks, coyotes, bobcats, feral cats and random stray dogs. So we have our work cut out for us. We've gotten some good advice on keeping our run and coop safe for our chickens, though. That's one life lesson I'd rather my kids didn't learn first hand, as the Frizzles are going to be more pets than anything else. The Leghorns and Americaunas we're getting because we want the eggs.
We also have two cats, a dog, and four hermit crabs. I will probably be the main caregiver of our chickens because I stay at home with the kids, hence my combing the internet and finding this site. Well, it didn't take too much combing. Every time I typed anything to do with chickens into the search engine, up came BYC!
I know I'll meet lots of like-minded chicken lovers here. Here's to learning all I can about my new charges.
My husband and I have wanted to do this for a long time and finally have a home on a rural property where we can raise chickens. And we have no idea what we're doing.
So far we have two black Bantam Frizzle Cochins. I don't even know if I wrote that right. They are bantams, they are Cochins, and they are Frizzles. One is "frizzling" more than the other so far, but they are only 3 weeks old. It also looks as if one may be a cockerel, his comb and wattles are coming in much faster and darker than the other.
We also plan to get two White Leghorns (tomorrow) and two Americaunas next week. We'll keep them separate for a while before introducing them to each other. Any advice on that would be great. I'll be combing the site for info before bringing them home.
We'll be in the market for a chicken run and a coop and some nest boxes while these little gals become fully feathered. Some of the predators we have around here are snakes, raccoons, hawks, coyotes, bobcats, feral cats and random stray dogs. So we have our work cut out for us. We've gotten some good advice on keeping our run and coop safe for our chickens, though. That's one life lesson I'd rather my kids didn't learn first hand, as the Frizzles are going to be more pets than anything else. The Leghorns and Americaunas we're getting because we want the eggs.
We also have two cats, a dog, and four hermit crabs. I will probably be the main caregiver of our chickens because I stay at home with the kids, hence my combing the internet and finding this site. Well, it didn't take too much combing. Every time I typed anything to do with chickens into the search engine, up came BYC!
I know I'll meet lots of like-minded chicken lovers here. Here's to learning all I can about my new charges.
