How much research did you do, before buying chicks?

[GoldenSparrow]

Like non!
our first chicks hatched and we dident even have chick feed let alone a coop!

 

[Dirtyhip]

Well, I do admit...I have no actual coop yet.

The big girl coop construction should be done by next week. It is 1/4 done. It may even be done by tomorrow evening. My husband is amazing. He gets things done.

 

[Kudzu]

I have always wanted to have hens for the fresh eggs, my wife never was to keen on the idea. Due to our work schedules it was a must we were both committed to the care and upkeep. One day out of the blue my wife suggested we get some chickens. Three months later we were the proud owner of a coop/run and five Red Star hens. I chose pullets because we really did not want to go thru the chick stage, we were after the eggs. Everything has worked out great and I see chicks in our future, but first I need to talk my wife into getting a Rooster.

 

[MommyMagpie]

I resisted for over a year, but finally agreed to take two RSL laying hens from my friend when he threw in a coop, bedding, a week's worth of layer feed and oyster shell/grit. We got two more RSL peeps from the farm store in April, and I just secured the last neighbor's ok to add more in the spring.

We have RSL because (a) that's what we were given, and (b) that's what the farm store had on the day I was in the mood to buy chicks. I want Doms, another pair of brown egg layers, and a pair of white egg layers.

I found BYC from an ad in Backyard Poultry magazine that was in the waiting room at my kids' dentist. I lurked for over a year before joining.

 

[bakerjw]

When I was young I asked my mom "where eggs came from?" She replied, "Chickens honey".
Thus my research was concluded.
One day I walked into TSC and came out with my 8 pullets aka "The girls"

JK.
I actually did a little research before picking up the girls. I learned what was needed as I went along. The girls got the most attention of all of my chickens and now come when I call them and follow me around the run when I do my inspections.

 

[aoxa]

A month and a 1/2 for me. Though I spent most of my time researching it

My friends think I'm a chicken freak now. I make them quiz me on chickens XD And I actually get pretty good scores! 100% most of the time! Though they are not hard quizzes

 

[Egghead_Jr]

My mother was wanting chickens and asked me to do some research on how practical and the ease or not they would be. Read both the books she had and did days of internet browsing. Determined they were a cinch to keep so researched another few weeks on breeds and coops before picking up two star, two reds and two barred rocks at the local Agway spring of 2010.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I researched, daydreamed and window shopped chicks and ducks for 3 years. I was going through a divorce & resettling my life & knew it wasn't a good time to start, but wanted to be ready when I finally could start to build my "homestead". I read Storey's, found this website, toured friends' coops, went to larger free-range chicken operations, helped friends get their chicken set-ups put together.
I think all of that was a great start, but a lot of how I thought I would do things has changed since I actually started doing them.
Another thing all that research couldn't prepare me for - how much fun chickens and ducks are, and how much I love them. I have done a lot of research on goats and angora bunnies, sheep, and cows as well, but still don't have those. I am trying to decide if I want to add a few turkeys or geese to my yard next spring. What do you guys recommend? I have done some research on both, and have all winter to figure out which would be a better fit.

 

[NickyPick]

6 months for me. I decided last summer that I needed something new to try for fly control in the horse pens. Predator wasps were a money hole and I never saw any decrease in flys, so I thought something else might work better. I got my chicks in February and just started letting them loose in the horse pens last week. They've been awesome - completly spread out and cover the entire pen area (about an acre+) and scratch every poo pile to dust. I don't think there's anything left for the flys to lay eggs in!! Next spring will be the real telling point as to whether this experiment works or not. Regardless, I'm hooked.

I love having chickens now. Their personalities are precious and they are WAY more fun than I ever thought they'd be.

 

[CupOJoe42]

I've been thinking about chickens for the past 6 years. Seriously started around the beginning of this year - reading books, taking poultry classes, talking to everyone I knew who had chickens, internet researching, keeping a notebook of what I learned, joining BYC, farm-sitting, designed and redesigned a brooder and a coop numerous times, built brooder, etc. I am obsessive compulsive about things. I ordered 16 chicks in May, received them in August. Successfully raised 5 newly hatched chicks in late June for a friend - kept 2. So now I have 18 chickens (and I want MORE!) I am so addicted to chickens. Next year, I would love to raise a few Sebastopol Geese!

Did I mention that my coop is NOT YET BUILT!!!