Hi!!

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lizcourt said:
I am new to chickens! I got 18 chicks about three weeks ago. I have Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Black Sexlinks, Bantams, Rhode Island Reds, Ameraucanas, Calico Princesses and Lavender Orpingtons! Farm fresh eggs and knowing what im putting in my body. My boyfriend and I just got our first house its on a little under than 8 acres so why not raise chickens! I just had a babygirl almost 4 mouths ago now! I just found oyt about BYC tonight when I was doing some research!
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If you guys have any basic information/tricks I'm open to everything so please don't hold back!! lol
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

There is so much to know about how to raise chickens. It's not that it's difficult, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong that you can prevent. If I was you I'd spend a lot of time reading through the forums, and reading through articles that are highly rated so that you can learn.

I think one of the biggest mistakes newbies make is inappropriate housing. They believe the the labels on prefab coops that state it can hold so many chickens when in reality it can only hold a quarter of the number.

Chickens also need a huge amount of fresh air. People think in terms of square inches of ventilation when they should be thinking in terms of square feet.

They also think that chicken wire is appropriate for chickens. It will keep a chicken where you want it but it will keep absolutely nothing from killing the chicken. You need hardware cloth.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow

Nice variety of breeds you keep, I think you will enjoy them!

As with any creature, cleanliness is key in the coop, run, feeders, waterers, ect... Chickens need a lot of room, they don't tolerate over crowding and will turn on esch other ot pass illness around. The recommended amount of room is 5 square feet per bird in the coop, 10 square feet in the run. But if you can offer more, definitely do so! Build a big coop, one you can stand in. Lots of ventilation in the eaves, no matter your climate, air needs to move out from pooping, oxygen needs to come in all year round. Build the coop like fort knox, everything eats chicken.

As for chicks, here is a good article that will help you get started... https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/brooding-chicks-the-first-6-weeks.74640/

And definitely stop by our Learning Center for all kinds of good reads on all the aspects of keeping chickens... https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/brooding-chicks-the-first-6-weeks.74640/

Make yourself at home here and ask as many questions as needed! Welcome to our community!
 
lizcourt said:
I am new to chickens! I got 18 chicks about three weeks ago. I have Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Black Sexlinks, Bantams, Rhode Island Reds, Ameraucanas, Calico Princesses and Lavender Orpingtons! Farm fresh eggs and knowing what im putting in my body. My boyfriend and I just got our first house its on a little under than 8 acres so why not raise chickens! I just had a babygirl almost 4 mouths ago now! I just found oyt about BYC tonight when I was doing some research!
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Welcome! I bet you're going to be a great chicken keeper because you're doing your research. You wouldn't believe how many people get chicks/chickens without doing their research first. It looks like you got a good variety! I've never heard of Calico Princesses. I'll have to look them up!
Also, if you got 18 chicks, by this time next year you'll have 36. That's just chicken math :)
 

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