I've been wanting chickens ever since I was little girl, and today, my dreams were realized! Yay! My DH built an amazing portable coop for our fenced backyard and after sitting in our garage for over a month (he had to go to the UK on business unexpectedly) we were finally able to move it out back last night. We bought our Black Sex Link pullets today at the McKinney Trade Days Market. The whole family went to pick out the chickens, and the boys were just as excited as we were (once we found the chicken vendor - it was a lot harder for us than it probably should have been. ha!) Originally I had wanted to get Americaunas, but after much research we decided that the sex link type was better for us - better egg layers, and great in our northern Texas climate. Once we got our little flock of 4 darlings home we spent the rest of the day and most of the evening just sitting outside watching them. They are so entertaining! My DH's coop design is a big triangle with a bottomless base and wire on 3 sides. The nesting boxes are on top and are enclosed on all 4 sides. At first we were really worried that our pullets wouldn't figure out how to go up the ramp to the "second story", (or maybe they just wouldn't want too...?) but after going in the house and leaving them alone for a while we discovered that they were, in fact, curious enough to climb the ramp and see what was up there. I have to admit, I almost freaked out when my DH went outside (it was dark by this time) to check on our girls and came back reporting that 2 were "missing". Luckily he thought to take a flashlight out there and peek inside the nesting box area, or I might have been really upset. Ha! We are so excited to start our backyard chicken adventure and we on this journey in large part due to the kind, informative, and encouraging folks on this website. Thank you for all your great posts and even better answers! Thanks to ya'll we were able to embark on our adventure feeling at least mostly.....or somewhat knowledgeable about what we were getting ourselves into. 
and Welcome To BYC!
