How does it work?

[MoodyChicken]

Goodness pete, chillax! If we exploded on every new chicken breeder like that, we might as well say goodbye to the backyard chicken fancy!

Bosque, as others stated you can find a plethera of info in the stickys. But in a nutshell... incubation is a 21 day journey in which a fertile egg develops into a chick. Humidity and temperature must be carefully monitored in artificial incubation to insure a successful hatch. Chicks are reared in a brooder for about 2 months, on a special diet. When they reach maturity, they are switched to a layer diet (like a puppy food to adult dog food) and the flock is maintained as any other animal (fresh food and water, clean the coop, etc). Check the stickys for a looooot more info! Good luck!

 

[pete1]

 

[CARS]

Pete, your new here too. I don't know what forum you are a mod of, but this is nothing like you have ever seen. I swear 80% of these "chicken lovers" do nothing but hug their birds and then post about it

Seriously... I think there may be something wrong with some of you. You take it WAAYYY too seriously.

Asking questions is just a quick way to get an answer here. I think I would call this more of a chat room than a forum. After you ask a question there is usually a few great contributors jumping to give you an answer/opinion.

That is why I love this place!!!

BTW: Bosque

 

[Kennyog]

Quote:
Did i give the wrong advice? I thought clicking on the stickys was to provide easy access to information on locked threads.Take care all.

 

[arlee453]

Nope, Kennyog - you were right on with your advice - the stickies are there to help with those 'FAQs' that come up all the time.

And of course people will post their questions anyway and we'll all try to be nice and help them get an answer too.

This definately is a kindler, gentler place than most internet forums - you get a lot of repeat questions but is sure is a nice place to hang around and get to know people who share an interest with you. It's like a virtual back porch where we are all sitting around on rockers watching the chickens scratching around the back yard and shooting the breeze about chickens, coops and whatever else we want to chat about...

I LOVE BYC forum just the way it is.

Bosque - welcome and good luck with your incubation plans - once you see those first fuzzy babies come out of eggs you've been watching for 21 days, you'll be hooked! Let us know how it goes.

 

[hen-thusiast]

Quote:
Ditto. As a new member, I've used both the search functions and looked at newer threads. Yes some things are repeated, but there is new stuff too. It's all helping me in the learning process. Hopefully when exposed to new (to me anyway) information it will help me learn more and in turn be a better guardians to my chickens.

 

[chickencoop31320]

 

[DuckLady]

I hope you are feeling better today Pete. If you need to explain yourself, please PM me and we can talk about how it feels to be new.

Now, to the OP...
Asking "Where Do I Start" is such a broad question. It would take a long time for someone to tell you everything in one post.

There is a lot of great info and the search tool here is powerful. I suggest going through and reading all you can. That is a great start.

Then when you need more answers on specifics, we are here for you.

There are several books available as well on raising poultry.

The one I have next to my desk at all times is Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow.

Welcome to BYC and I guarantee that we can help you help yourself into a successful venture in hatching!

 

[Kennyog]

This is a AWESOME place to gain alot of information.GREAT PEOPLE!! Heck,i just bought some hatching eggs sunday from a very nice lady that post on here.Y'all have a good day!

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
Damerow is a god. lol. I love her books, very informative. She has another one titled the Chicken Health Handbook, but it's quite overwhelming if you're new to chickens. So if you get it don't read it right away. You'll walk away panicked thinking "how do chickens LIVE?? Why aren't mine dying?!?!?!" lol But it's a great book. Chickens are easy to raise. Basically, use common sense and you'll do just fine.