Hi from Sunny (sometimes) Central FL

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MyTDogs

MyTDogs

Songster
10 Years
Jun 24, 2009
255
6
128
Sunny Seminole County, FL
Hi everyone,

I am new here I am looking for info on getting some chickens to live in my rural 1 acre yard. I just bought a house & it is teaming with bugs & I hate to use pesticides. I called the DIY pest control place today & they even told me get chickens-LOL!!

I am a dog person & currently own 2 Border Collies & a Toy Aussie. Has anyone ever moved their chicken with dogs? I guess the chicks learn pretty quickly but I'd love to be able to teach my dog & the chickens to work together. My dogs have worked sheep goat & ducks

I have some questions about my planned run/coop set up that I will post on the coop building board But I also have questions about where to get the chickens & even what breed to get! Where do I post about the breed i should get & what a good source is. Is going to the feed store like going to a pet store for a puppy? I also want o be sure i get hens since I do have 2 neighbors.

I am in a rural area and I'd like to let the chickens loose in the yard when I am home & keep them in a run when I am not here. It is usually very hot here- almost never goes below freezing. I have seen hawks & a raccoon & a possum too (& I've only lived here for 4 weeks!) So I think a bigger bird would be better than the bantams (they're little right?)

I would love to get fresh eggs for me & my raw fed dogs :eek:)

Thanks for having such a great informative place for newbies like me :eek:)

Cindy in FL
 
Hi Cindy, I am pretty new too. I have 4 hens, I live in the city so we HAD to have hens. I bought my girls from a hatchery online. But I had to buy 25, so I sold the rest to a feed store. I got black and red sexlink hens. Sexlink means they can tell the hens from rosters when they are just hatched due to color diferences. Before I got my girls I read up alot. I may be wrong but I read you can free range when they have lots of cover to hide from hawks and stuff and a hen house to go into at night. We built a chicken "tractor". Basicly a moveable coop. Good luck on your new adventure. I am sooo jealous you have land. I can't wait to get OUT of the city.
 
Hello MyTDogs! I'm new here, too, but I'm not new to chickens. I've had wonderful results with the Black Stars that I got at the feed store. They lay once a day, starting early at 4 months old, and they are good foragers. They're nice enough to my kids, too. The only drawback is that I can't breed them true, as Black stars come from two different breeds of parents. But I'm in it for the eggs, too! One thing I did for the first time this year is I made a chicken tractor out of PVC pipe and chicken wire. It gets really hot here, too, so the chicken tractor can't be left out in the sun, which is where the grass is, so there's almost no point of it. Hmmm... I'm starting to wonder why I made one... With the heat, you might want to avoid the feathered leg varieties. There are several breeds listed on Henderson's chicken chart that say they are good in high heat. The black star have continued laying in 110 degree heat so far.
 
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You are going to love it here!
 
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from NJ! You will love having chickens. They are addicting. We got our chicks from a hatchery. The hatchery website/catalogs give you a lot of info regarding the chickens as in egg production/color, friendliness, cold/heat hardiness, etc. There is also a breed section here on BYC. You can order sexed chicks from most hatcheries. You can also look under Florida link and buy/ sell/ trade link on here, some people local to you may have some birds you might want. Good luck!
 
Hey there MyTdog

Welcome from another central floridian
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You could try DE to help reduce the bug population. If it's bugs in the ehouse, you may have to have at least one application of a pesticide to knock em down, then maybe DE can help drive off the rest.

As far as predators go, I have made enough mistakes there. Try building your coop out of Hardware cloth. It is difficult for a snake , coon, possum, fox etc to get into. I too have hawks.. many and I just do not let the little ones out till they are well into their teens (14 weeks or so) and they have many areas to hide/cover.

Not sure where in C Florida you live, but there are many feed store swaps in my area that have plenty of chicks. I have also seen many listed on craigslist... plus there is always me... I have some extra silkie chicks and maybe a few other breeds... I hatched a few too many

Good luck and welcome to the crazy world of chickens.
 
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Glad to have you here! I am in Central Florida, too. Read my signature and sign on the map! I am in Hernando/Pasco County. Live in one, work in the other. I have Silkies and Buff Orpingtons. I only let my BO out to roam. The Silkies are too little to be out with our big hawks! Everyone goes up for the night.
I would say the the feed store is the same as a pet store. If you don't want to show them and just want eggs and pets, that would be fine. I can tell you that you won't stick with just 2 or 3! Your better than the rest of us if you do. I have 24 baby chicks and 8 full grown, 5 BO teenagers, 5 Silkie teens and 8 guineas. Not to mention the eggs in the incubator! There is also going to be a swap in Ocala, July 18th. You can buy birds from our members there!
 

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