- May 10, 2014
- 5
- 0
- 15
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
We're about a year new, by accident, when last time this year, two beautiful girls showed up in our yard, when my then 10 year old came in the house yelling there's roosters in our yard! After much sign posting and no replies, we had two new pets.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Two great layers, but recently lost the red, to we think a coon. The coop was not closed as we had always been fine coming home to close them up, not this time. She was my favorite, so one lonely girl right now, and in the midst of building a 8x16x16 ft. run to attach to the coop. So sad, no more free-range unless supervised
(3) What breeds do you have? A RIR and a blackie (technical term…?)
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? When we unexpectedly acquired two hens.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Gardening, and trying to learn about incorporating my chickens into a beautiful vegetable garden with raised beds
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I'm a nurse, my husband is a sound-mixer, two boys ages 11 and 13, 1 indoor/outdoor cat, 2 outside ex-feral cats(born under our deck)…ended up trapping and releasing 6 cats so this doesn't happen again; the kittens stayed in our yard and are now 4 years, well-cared for and get along great with chickens. One dog, rescue, poodle mix(maltese possibly..), she's a doll.
We have occasional visits from raccoons and possums, hence the need for a run!
My question to anyone out there who can help is how to go about acquiring 3 new hens; do I look into unhatched, new chicks, >8weeks, full-grown, etc. Any or all advice would be greatly appreciated. My girl now is quite friendly and comes running when she sees me, if this information helps.
Thanks!
Karin
We're about a year new, by accident, when last time this year, two beautiful girls showed up in our yard, when my then 10 year old came in the house yelling there's roosters in our yard! After much sign posting and no replies, we had two new pets.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Two great layers, but recently lost the red, to we think a coon. The coop was not closed as we had always been fine coming home to close them up, not this time. She was my favorite, so one lonely girl right now, and in the midst of building a 8x16x16 ft. run to attach to the coop. So sad, no more free-range unless supervised
(3) What breeds do you have? A RIR and a blackie (technical term…?)
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? When we unexpectedly acquired two hens.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Gardening, and trying to learn about incorporating my chickens into a beautiful vegetable garden with raised beds
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I'm a nurse, my husband is a sound-mixer, two boys ages 11 and 13, 1 indoor/outdoor cat, 2 outside ex-feral cats(born under our deck)…ended up trapping and releasing 6 cats so this doesn't happen again; the kittens stayed in our yard and are now 4 years, well-cared for and get along great with chickens. One dog, rescue, poodle mix(maltese possibly..), she's a doll.
We have occasional visits from raccoons and possums, hence the need for a run!
My question to anyone out there who can help is how to go about acquiring 3 new hens; do I look into unhatched, new chicks, >8weeks, full-grown, etc. Any or all advice would be greatly appreciated. My girl now is quite friendly and comes running when she sees me, if this information helps.
Thanks!
Karin
and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some great links and advice above on where to find birds! Whatever you get, you are going to either have to quarantine them to be sure they don't carry anything that could make your birds sick, or if you get babies keep them separated for awhile until the new ones are old enough to go with the adults. As mentioned about, with older birds you get eggs sooner, if they are old enough you know you're getting girls, but they aren't usually as tame as chicks you raised yourself though they do usually tame down nicely with time. With chicks you can usually find them easier in more breeds, you can raise/tame them the way you want them, but they are more of a nuisance since they need a brooder etc. With eggs, the nicest thing vs just getting chicks is usually you can get fancy breeds you can not find locally, and hatching is just plain fun for most people once they get into it.
