I'm not even a beginner, but I want to start in Kalamazoo Michigan

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dantanab

dantanab

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Not sure how to start so here goes... My name is Dan. I have a 10 year old daughter and an awesome wife. My wife is not thrilled with the chicken idea, but she also wanted us to get some ostriches as pets. She loves the pet angle. Either way, the care of the chickens will fall to me, but I want my 10 year old daughter to help out (not expecting it, but want her to have some ownership here).
I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We get a lot of snow here and I worry how to care for chickens in the snow. I know NOTHING about breeds or even chickens in general. I grew up in Detroit and have as much sense about chickens as most city people do.
I do have a kind-hearted wife and daughter. I don't want to raise them for meat, but for eggs and companions.
I have two dogs, I will always have at least two dogs. Now I have an engilsh mastiff (200 pounds!) and a basset hound/lab mix. The basset hound/lab mix is the dominant dog. She has chased birds and any other animal in the backyard, but she is also very open when I tell her things are OK.

So with that as a background- I think I can still raise chickens OK. I don't know if I can have a rooster. I was in Key West recently and they were loud all day and my neighbors would not go for that.

That is the gist of my background,. I'm looking for some thoughts on the practicality of raising some chickens in my small yard! Tell me what you think!

Dan
 
Greetings from Kansas, Dan, and
welcome-byc.gif
! Please to have you in our community! You've come to the right place to get information! Below are a few links to kick start your learning curve! Good luck and have fun!

The Learning Center will give you the ins and outs of poultry care and maintenance:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/

To learn about Breeds you can explore the handy chart below. It doesn't list all the breeds, but a bunch.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html


For purchasing chickens you can look at Breeders or Hatcheries or local feed or farm and ranch stores. The latter are more convenient; the former will give you more choices.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16/chicken-breeders-hatcheries

Below is the Coops section where you can explore various styles and designs:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coop_Designs
 
Thanks for the replys! I think I have a group that can help me.


The first question is obvious: What kind of chicken do I get and where do I get it. The second question follows: How do I care for said chicken?
 
We also have a 200lb mastiff and at first he got all excited and wanted to chase/play with the chickens so we needed to supervise him but now he sniffs around but basically ignores them. Love mastiffs and love chickens!!! They live peacefully!
 
We have a few different kinds: brown leghorns, columbias, Easter eggers, brahma, some weird one I don't know, jersey giant. :) they're laying now so no longer chicks
 

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