Hello- I am a new member

[kathrynphyllis]

Hello all. My husband and I moved on five acres about six months ago and now we are ready to get some chickens. We live in California. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on but still don't know anything about chickens except I want some. I look forward to reading everyone's posts and learning from you all.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to byc. The learning centre is a good place to start but we all like to help each other out, so don't be afraid to ask!

Happy new year

Ct

 

[theoldchick]

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join us here! I'm sure you will really enjoy your new chicken keeping when you get started. The learning centre sure is a great place to start ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
Lots of great articles in there on getting started.

Good luck and be sure to ask any questions that you may have. Everyone here to help and very friendly.

Enjoy BYC

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. X2 on CTKen and Yorkshire coop; if you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Happy New Year.

 

[N F C]

You might find it helpful to touch base with members on your state thread. They might be able to give you tips on how to guard against local predators, find breeders, vets that will see chickens, etc. You can find your state thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread

Good luck!

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens, so glad you joined the flock

 

[Frindizzle]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[User395221]

How do you all feel about starting with pullets instead of baby chicks. Advantages? Disadvantages?

The advantage is that they will be further along in development and not so susceptible to illness, weather, etc. It's also less difficult to look after chickens who are a bit older, you don't have to make "baby food" or that type of thing. It's also sooner until you start getting eggs and you aren't feeding "unproductive" animals.

The only disadvantage I can see is being able to handle them and see them grow up from younger (if that's something you'd like to do).

Personally, I wouldn't really know how to look after baby chooks properly, getting older ones was my only feasible option with my level of "chook knowledge" and because I have limitations on how many I can have (6) there didn't seem much point learning how to raise younger birds. If I was rural and was going to have chicks in the future, I'd want to learn. In my circumstances, I wanted chickens old enough where they could fend for themselves more, and didn't require any different care to what my adults get.