Hello from NY!

[Deca]

Hi all - new here, but without chickens. Recently moved to NY together with my wife from Europe. Back in Europe, one morning we woke up and we had an invader in our yard.

Since she decided to stay for several days we started to feel somewhat sorry for her, no friends, no food...so we went out and fed her some of our bird-seeds. You all know what happened from thereon..she decided to stay permanently. When dusk set in, she flew in a bush to spend the night, but she was alone...

Then one day we decided to pick up a friend for her. We went and bought a young brown silkie to accompany her together with a tiny coop as their home. Little did we know that they may not be really into each other...after quite some getting used to each other things went fine, but the initial invader never set foot in the coop.

One morning we woke up and were only able to spot the silkie! The initial invader decided to leave for no apparent reasons, perhaps it was a loner? Did she not value her new companion?

So, here we are again with one, lonely chicken...we went out -again- and brought in a Polish chicken. They got along just fine after some feather picking at start. We constructed a new home for them with windows so they could look outside (and we in). But guess what...the initial invader decided to move back into our yard again! There they were, happily with the three of them

The Silkie and Polish weren't too shy and appreciated being pickedup..the initial invader never allowed any touching. We were a happy family for several months until we went out on a Saturday morning finding nothing but three piles of feathers and not chickens. We will never know what exactly went down...

Now we are here in NY and decided we wanted to have the companionship of chickens again! Where we're from we could easily find all sorts of chickens for sale on the local 'craigslist'. Here- not that much, just eggs! So our first question, where do we get them?

In the meantime, we've ordered assorted bantam eggs, incubator etc and are very excited to see what hatches! Will read up about and learn a lot from this forum!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join us here! I've so enjoyed reading your intro and seeing your pics but was very sad to read that you lost your three chickens From what you have described it sounds like a predator got them I'm afraid. Possibly a fox? Did you lock them up securely in the coop on a night time? I'm afraid predators are always a risk if you free range and don't lock them in a secure coop on a night.

Our learning Center is a great place to check out ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center I'm sure you will find the incubating section very helpful for when you get your incubator.

Wishing you the very best of luck for the future and enjoy BYC

 

[N F C]

You can get chickens, chicks or fertile eggs from a number of places, including right here on BYC. Once you have 20 posts, you can use the buy-sell-trade forum and there's also a place where people looking to re-home their birds will list them.

Good luck in getting a new flock established!

 

[Deca]

thanks guys! was actually looking to buy some sexed bantams from the forum, but was a bit disappointed given the 20 posts requirement- but fully understand why there is this threshold.

Now we've decided to go with the eggs which really excites us! Obviously big chance for a rooster which will probably be frowned upon here in suburbia..but we'll find a solution for that.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

You are most welcome

I'm sure once you get chatting you will reach 20 posts really quickly. You don't need 20 posts to reply to an ad or to send the member a PM. Only 20 posts are required to place an ad in the BST section.

 

[Deca]

aah wasn't aware of that! but still...finding silkies and polish in NY area seems quite a challenge

One question if I may - in your experience, how easy or difficult is it to rehome roosters?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

If they are difficult to find buying in eggs maybe your option. More may become available in your area as spring gets closer and breeders start to incubate and hatch chicks.

I've had mixed results on rehoming any boys I'm afraid. I always end up with more boys than needed as that's the nature of hatching eggs. Once confirmed as boys they get a couple of weeks being advertised as free to good home but if they don't find new homes I cull them. I know it may sound harsh but I would rather do this than them ending up in unscrupulous hands. I know they have had a good and well cared for life with me and the end is quick for them.

Many do keep their excess males though and grow them on for meat birds but as I mainly keep polish they are just not meaty enough to warrant the extra feed to get them to maturity.

 

[LauraBrown]

Glad you joined us!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and

! Great to have you aboard! Best of luck on locating the birds you want (and rehoming the ones you don't).

Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. Beautiful birds! Especially your Silkie!