Hey y'all!

_shorty_

In the Brooder
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Central Illinois
Just joined and introducing myself. My family and I have gotten into eating more organically and eating more what we call ancestral. We live within city limits in a town within central Illinois and are getting into producing our own food where possible and with our limited space. And so - we decided to get some chickens.

We are brand new to chickens. We just picked up 8 of the cutest little chicks from the local farm store. 2 black astrolorps, 2 road island reds, 2 barred rocks, and 2 white crested polish. My 8 year old had to have the polish! :) I admit they are kinda crazy-cute. Supposedly they are all female, but one of the astrolorps seems to be runty - and what I've read in this forum, that could potentially mean a male, but we'll find out eventually! We've had them a couple weeks so far. They are growing fast and starting to feather.

I've been researching all over the internet about keeping them and I often find myself on the forums here through google searches to find answers. So, I figured this was a good place to join. Y'all seem like a good community and very knowledgeable so I'm looking forward to learning from you all. I'd love to post some ideas about our coop/run plans so far and get some feedback from you experienced 'chicken tenders'.

Some other hobbies: We are into fitness and health. We are just getting into gardening. Previously I was into fish keeping pretty heavily - so I imagine some day soon I'll try to incorporate the fish thing and the gardening thing together into some kind of aquaponics setup. I also like building things. And when trying new things - I typically gravitate towards the most complex method, try to save money by building equipment myself, and then end up spending WAY more money and time than what I expected to... but I am USUALLY glad I did because I learn more through the process.

We are a family of four with an 8 year old and a 23 year old (who has moved out). We have a young Boston Terrier and an old Yorkshire Terrier. Both dogs so far are VERY interested in the chicks. So that will be an interesting dynamic on the ol' urban homestead. We plan to build a decent sized run for them, but would also like to 'free range' them in the back yard when possible.
 
Hello! Welcome to BYC!! :frow

Have you gotten your coop/run planned out yet?

If you have any interest, and have photos and plans/details of the coop you've built (or are going to build), there is a coop article contest going on right now! Here is a link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/official-byc-coop-page-contest-10.1293484/

Feel free to check out the links below for some interesting reading. Good luck on your adventures!
 
Hi and welcome to BYC and congrats on your new hobby.

Here are some links to key resources:


Best wishes

Pork Pie
 
Just joined and introducing myself. My family and I have gotten into eating more organically and eating more what we call ancestral. We live within city limits in a town within central Illinois and are getting into producing our own food where possible and with our limited space. And so - we decided to get some chickens.

We are brand new to chickens. We just picked up 8 of the cutest little chicks from the local farm store. 2 black astrolorps, 2 road island reds, 2 barred rocks, and 2 white crested polish. My 8 year old had to have the polish! :) I admit they are kinda crazy-cute. Supposedly they are all female, but one of the astrolorps seems to be runty - and what I've read in this forum, that could potentially mean a male, but we'll find out eventually! We've had them a couple weeks so far. They are growing fast and starting to feather.

I've been researching all over the internet about keeping them and I often find myself on the forums here through google searches to find answers. So, I figured this was a good place to join. Y'all seem like a good community and very knowledgeable so I'm looking forward to learning from you all. I'd love to post some ideas about our coop/run plans so far and get some feedback from you experienced 'chicken tenders'.

Some other hobbies: We are into fitness and health. We are just getting into gardening. Previously I was into fish keeping pretty heavily - so I imagine some day soon I'll try to incorporate the fish thing and the gardening thing together into some kind of aquaponics setup. I also like building things. And when trying new things - I typically gravitate towards the most complex method, try to save money by building equipment myself, and then end up spending WAY more money and time than what I expected to... but I am USUALLY glad I did because I learn more through the process.

We are a family of four with an 8 year old and a 23 year old (who has moved out). We have a young Boston Terrier and an old Yorkshire Terrier. Both dogs so far are VERY interested in the chicks. So that will be an interesting dynamic on the ol' urban homestead. We plan to build a decent sized run for them, but would also like to 'free range' them in the back yard when possible.



Welcome to BackYardChickens! So glad to have you here in our wonderful community of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people!
 
Thanks so much for the welcomes and resource links. Will be looking through those today!

Have you gotten your coop/run planned out yet?

The coop/run is in planning stages. I will check out the competition thing for sure. I made a 4.5' x 3' - "50 dollar" coop with materials we had on hand this weekend to allow them out of their brooder during the day when it's really nice out. The 8 chicks will be outgrowing the brooder soon!, so that may become the new brooder in the garage.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
I recently adopted a Paleo lifestyle and that is what led me to getting chickens. They aid the stress management aspect of that lifestyle quite well.

I like that! It's something I'd never considered. We've been learning first hand how important stress management and sleep are within the healing lifestyle. I'm guessing that chickens could go either way!! haha. They are fun to watch so far though! Also - one of the deciding factors for me was also to be able to give our 8 year old some more responsibility/chores. He is in love with them already.
 

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