New and want chickens!!!!

[Spavlic]

I am getting all my chickens ;p in a row now in prep for building my coop and choosing my chicks!!!! Any and all advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated. I'm a stay at home mom with 3 wonderful son and I'm looking to get chicken so that way I don't have to buy a nasty store bought eggs and also to help teach my children about responsibility they can help me feed them and care for their coop. I want my children to pick a chicken and name it so that way it could be there chicken. of course I'll be the one mainly caring for the chickens in buying all their feed and of course I want all their feed to be 100 percent organic corn free. please help me with your advice and make my chicken dreams come true thank you.

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[Chickenloving]

Welcome to BYC!!

Chickens are one of the best pets to me. They are so sweet and can really bond with you. Let your kids especially pick a chick to spend time with and it will be wonderful. My adult hen still thinks of me as her mother because I paid attention mostly to her. Chicks love to nap in your shirt too.

I would recommend cochins because of their non-flying attitude, their sweetness and their bonding ability. They are not the greatest egg producers, though.

 

[drumstick diva]

Silkies are very popular as pets tho, they are not great layers.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Great place to start reading is the Learning Center, lots of great chicken articles https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center and you might check out the Feeding Your Flock forum for feed ideas https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/12/feeding-watering-your-flock and check out your state thread for ideas from people in your area about where to get organic feed etc https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread

 

[TwoCrows]

Some good links have been provided by Kelsie for you to follow.

Good luck in all your adventure and welcome to BYC!

 

[Jazor]

There are tons of great breeds out there for a small backyard flock. It sounds like you're interested in having chickens that are personable. Raising them from chicks will really help with this--even the most docile birds can end up flighty or skittish around people if they weren't raised with a lot of human contact. There will be dozens of recommendations, but IMO the biggest difference is how you raise them.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC, and good luck in establishing your flock. By posting on your state thread you may be able to locate some locally bred birds. TSC and many other farm stores are presently holding 'chick days'.

 

[gander007]