Hi from northeast Texas

[hungry]

Hi everyone!

Let's see... I have read one book on chickens, and a bunch of web pages, but have never owned one/am a total noob.

Years ago I lived in a house that had a chicken coop (made from a camper shell) in the yard, but I never got any chickens. Then I moved into an apartment near Dallas and chickens were quite far from my mind. In February I moved into a very old house about 13 miles from Sherman and Denison in Grayson county. It's "in town" (half a mile from city hall) in a town of under 1400 people...and behind my back yard there's a fenced .5 acre yard with some "agricultural" buildings including a chicken coop and fenced run of maybe 10'x45'. The coop needs some work but nowadays I'm a bit more into self-sufficiency and natural foods so the idea of raising chickens, rabbits, or the like is very interesting. It has me thinking. Not sure i'll actually take the plunge, and if I do I'm not sure I'll reuse any of what's already on the property, but it's very tempting/intriguing.

My main concerns are workload (I work a full time office job and the hours aren't always flexible) and the fact that I'm a total city boy by upbringing so it's a huge learning curve...which is what brings me here...learning.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Well, you've come to the right place! Have a look at the Learning Centre here to give you an idea of what you need to do to get started:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, hungry, and

! Happy to have you aboard! I urge you to really consider taking up chicken keeping. You can learn what you need to learn here on BYC. With some proper planning and a secure coop and run, chickens really aren't that much work. Hope you take the plunge!!

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[hungry]

Thanks for the welcome.

I've been pouring over the learning center - very helpful. Everything looks very doable in theory, but you don't know what you don't know. I've also been reading and re-reading my copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

The coop on my property is medium to large sized and looks well thought out but I'm not sure whether it's better fixed or replaced. 20 years of neglect can do a lot of harm. Over the years the two fenced chicken yards (one is maybe 12x12 and the other 10x45) have filled up with saplings (well...one, growing in the gate is about 5" diameter so maybe not saplings any more) and an older tree has fallen. It's tempting to clean it up, do the basic repairs it needs, and use it until I learn what I really want, but it's also tempting to start over on a smaller scale.

The willpower test right now is going into Tractor Supply (for non-chicken-related items) and seeing tubs of chicks and thinking, "why not?"

 

[DDNONIN2016]

Hey, good luck with the Tractor Supply test. I have ZERO willpower when it comes to peeping little fuzzies

.

Welcome from Ohio....so glad you joined BYC

I have a full time 12 hour a day job so I dont have a whole lot of time either. I have over 30 chickens in 3 different coops and it only takes me about 10 minutes in the mornings and evenings to care for all of them. And I also have 2 horses added to that equation. I have hanging feeders and heated waterers and use the deep litter method. With the deep litter I only change my coop bedding about every 6-8 months. Feeders hold several pounds of feed and waterers are 3 gallons so they are filled about once a week. Also have a droppings board under my roosts that I layer with stall dry and clean that every couple of days with a kitty litter scoop. That keeps my coops practically odor free.

Not trying to persuade you or anything.......

Good luck, I think you will have a great time with chickens. They are the neatest pets

 

[Kevin565]

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!

Glad you joined us!!

 

[LoveChickens123]

hi and

hope you like it