Hello!!! I just joined after months of back seat reading BYC!!!

Well, I finally joined!! I have been reading this site every chance I get to see what other chicken lovers are up to and how to deal with issues that I am new to.

Let me introduce myself, I live in a south burb of Chicago in an unincorporated area and since we moved in four years ago, I've been nagging my wonderful husband for chickens! Well this year he told me yes (yippee, but he thinks he won since I really wanted another dog too, but three dogs really would have been a handfull).

So this December for Christmas I got my first order of chickens from Ideal Poultry. I have 29 total and am in love with all of them. Husband built me a really cool chicken tractor that the girls and 1 roo reside in. The base is an old pop up bottom and I think it is about 6x8. It is a shed on wheels, very neat!

We kicked them out of the house by 3 weeks (can I say DUST I could not believe how much they kick around). After many very cold and harrowing days they have been doing great, haven't lost one bird and they are huge now! With spring around the corner we put a dog run up so they can get used to the yard on nice days. We plan to free range them on evenings and weekends when we are home since the predators around our area are crazy with foxes, coyotes, hawks and coons. I would be worried sick about them all day long.

Well, I guess I wrote enough for now! I'm excited to be a part of the community!!

Oh! I missed the best part. I have 1 Ideal 236 roo (my only little man) 2 Ideal 236, 4 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Astralorps, 3 Plymouth Barred Rocks, 5 Amercaunas, 3 RIR, 4 Gold Sex Links, 2 Black Sex Links & 2 Red Sex Links.