Hey!

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bmaxim13

Chirping
Mar 5, 2023
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(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? I had chickens growing up-but this is the first time we are raising our own chicks.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now? We had 8 chicks...we are down to 6.
(3) What breeds do you have? Bantams, Easter Eggers, Rhode Island Reds
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? Knowing where our eggs are from and having our son help to raise them.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Camping and Hiking.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. My husband and I have one son who is 4, we have one cat, and 2 dogs.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? :D I found it while trying to troubleshoot things for our chicks and now am having issues and need help!
 
Glad to meet you, and welcome to BYC. Congratulations on your new chickens. I love to hear about family projects. I think kids will remember the chicken experience their whole lives. Be sure it's a happy experience!

1. Don't let your 4 year old handle the chicks too much. And wash his hands after EVERY time.

2. If you end up with some roosters, either rehome them all or keep them away from your son as they near maturity. Roosters can seriously injure small children, whose faces are so close down to where they can claw with their spurs! If they aren't injured, kids can still be traumatized and remain frightened of chickens and roosters. That would be a shame.

The roosters are just doing their rooster job, protecting their ladies from what they perceive as a danger to their flock when an excited toddler runs through the flock or runs nearby. That's all it takes.
 
Hi, again!

Here are my favorite beginning articles that helped me as a newbie. All articles are short, and have illustrations, and reviews, which are often worth looking at for the comments.

1. Intro to chicken keeping

2. Common mistakes & how to fix them

3. Ventilation (important to chicken health), with helpful links to coop designs organized by climate (because what is just right for my New England hens won't work for my brother's Arizona chickens)

3(a). Farmers Almanac on Building Coops (Includes size requirements!)

4. Predator protection for new & existing coops

5. Dealing with a muddy coop and run

6. (are you where winter is starting??) Winter chicken care

To look for articles on your own:

A. Use the SEARCH button, but use the Advanced Search choice, and select ARTICLES at the top of the box. Just enter your keyword(s) and scroll through your results!

B. I find it helpful to notice the rating and reviews. All articles are by BYC members, and all the reviews/ratings are as well. The ratings help a newbie like me sort the most useful and reliable articles.

C. You can bookmark the articles or posts you think you want to refer to again using that bookmark icon at the top of articles or posts. You can find them again by clicking on your own avatar and looking at the list of bookmarks you have built up!
 

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