I have no idea what I’m doing...

[ClimbingChickens]

Hello Keepers of Chicken Knowledge!
I am a total newbie to all things clucking. I mean, I know how delicious they can be, but that’s it. We are a homeschooling military family who have stumbled into stealth chicken keeping. My sister bought our kids (my 2 and her 2) baby chicks. Somehow, I have become the primary (renly) caretaker. The winged ladies are around 2 months old and have been content so far living in a coop I built in our garage with daily excursions to a pen in the backyard. However now, they are getting too big for their accommodations, and I need to build a lightweight, secure, coop/tractor. We have 6 chickens. 2 buff Orpingtons, 2 Americaunas, and 2 Barred Rock. I’m terrified that one of the BR is a rooster. And one of these chickens keeps honking. Oh dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?!? Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated.

 

[ellie62706]

The only problems with roosters are they can be real bullies or really make a lot of noise(or chicks). Maybe try and swap a rooster for a hen, or sell the rooster and get another hen.

 

[User395221]

Welcome to the forum.

Deep breath. Relax. It'll be fine. First things first, build their house and run.
The best thing about chickens is that they are not in the slightest judgmental. They'll love you whatever you do. If you have a rooster/s, you'll be able to find somebody to take him, if you aren't allowed to keep him. Don't worry about that yet.
As Bob Marley says "don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing's gonna be all right"

 

[oregonkat]

Yup, you've got yourself a little project, there. Welcome to BYC, you might as well jump all the way in, you are up to your waist already. First thing to do is to hop over to the articles here and look up coop building. There are a couple of great chicken tractors there. Good luck and please post pics of your flock and your progress with the coop. As to the 'honker', take a good look at her and make sure she isn't a duck

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC


Here’s a good link where you’ll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/


There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.


Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive


You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find Your State Thread

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[N F C]

You can do this! You now have all that BYC has to offer at your fingertips. Whenever you have a question, just ask and someone will be along to help out.

 

[Yowza Wowza]

It's nice to have you here!