Hi, I'm Steve from Wisconsin

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SteveS said:
Hi! I'm getting my chick's in April. Right now I'm learning and researching. I'll start building my 5×12 coop / run soon. I'm starting by ordering 10 chick's, but I can eventually only legally keep 4 (I'm hoping no one will notice if I have a 5th one snuck in there.) I have friends that will gladly take the extras. If any are roosters.... that will become one of my 1st forum questions. Happy Monday!
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Welcome to BYC!!
 
Glad to meet you, Steve, and welcome to BYC.

Here are tips for selecting healthy chicks, wherever you get them from;
Here is a guide to picking the right breeds - one of the handiest I've seen with spreadsheets.

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. 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!

Notes about where to put a coop:

1. As far as you can, put a coop and run on high ground, that drains well, so you won't have so much muddy coop problems. Chickens need to be dry, dry, dry.

2. As far as you can, put a coop with the ventilation lined up with your prevailing breezes, and away from the direction of your storms. If you are not sure of these (who is these days?), check with your local National Weather Service website.

3. As far as you can, arrange for some sort of shade over your coop and run. Preferably deciduous so the girls will enjoy winter sun, but summer shade.
 
And, in order not to make too long of a post, a second list, of chicken ailments and cures.

1. Chicken ailments (an aging index to articles written over the years about chicken illnesses. Be aware that some of the links don't work and some of the authors have disappeared from BYC. The date of the index is 2012! Nothing else as comprehensive) and this updated
Chicken Illnesses Library

1 a. Treating Sour Crop and Impacted Crop and How to Tell the Difference and Prevention and Treatments of Crop Disorders
1 b. Chicken Poop
1 c. What to expect as your hen passes away from old age
1 d. Vaccinating chicks for Mareks Disease

2. Chicken First Aid Kit (again, an older article, but a good one; there have been a number of more recent posts discussing this here and here, for instance)

3. Things I wish I knew before I got my first chick (covers chicks to old age)

4. Maintaining a healthy coop (with lots of links)

5. Natural healing (there are items in this article that some members may disagree with, notably the use of diatomaceous earth)
 

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