I'm a new member, hailing from, yep, the Pine Barrens, in southern New Jersey. We live on about two acres, right across the road from a state forest. We don't have any chickens yet, but we're planning to start with some baby chicks in the spring. I'm the type of person who likes to do tons of research before starting something new, so... here I am. Our family is myself and my husband, our two sons, two dogs, one cat, one rat, and Tom the Plant, the toughest houseplant in the world. I'm interested in local & sustainable food sources, and I'm much better at keeping animals alive than plants, so this seems like a pretty reasonable starting point for us. We are also looking into getting dwarf goats. Eventually, we may actually manage to make a garden that grows something, too... if only because by that point we should have an awful lot of compost. Anyway, it's great to be here, I look forward to meeting you
Welcome to BYC -- there is no such thing as doing too much preparation and learning before starting into something, especially when it involves the care and keeping of a living thing, so good for you getting started this early out! You have definitely come to a great place to fill your head with knowledge to give you a great start in your new venture. I have to laugh at the keeping animals alive vs. plants, I am the same way (though I am going to try my hand, AGAIN, at gardening this coming spring...). Are you planning to have the chickens for eggs, meat or both?
Good idea to do your research. I'm sure it will pay off. I'm sure you'll find lots of useful information here. Glad you joined!
Hi! Welcome! Glad Tom is alive and well! Very funny intro! Good for you to research first. Have you decided on breeds yet? Those that suit your desires climate and habitat? There's a great breed search page on BYC if you haven't seen it yet. You can scroll down, on the left you can check your choices to narrow the search. Here's the link. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds You can shout out to your neighbors too, for coop design, local climate challenges, breed and breeder recommendations. Here's that link https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=New+Jersey Best of luck to you!
Welcome to the Backyard chickens flock, glad you joined us . Are you interested in layers, meat birds, lawn decorations or pets? Some breeds can fill all those requirements.
Wow, thanks to you all for the welcome. I guess what we'll be starting out with could best be described as "pets that lay eggs." We'll go ahead and name this first batch and get attached. We're not in theory opposed to eating chickens we raised, but I don't think we're ready for that just now. I'm thinking this spring we'd like a mixed flock of about 8, decent layers, but also easily handled and "fun." Buff Orpingtons seem like a no-brainer from what I read, but I would like a couple of other breeds too. If we can find a nice one, we'd also really like a big black Jersey Giant rooster. We're going to be building our coop over the next several months, and I think BYC has got to be the best resource around for that.
Good luck with your future flock, you'll be off on the right foot doing a lot of research now. The coop tab has a lot of stories written by members about their projects and is a good source of ideas: https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops And the coop/run forum is the best place to ask questions about your build: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance Have fun!
