New chicken owner from SC

[BecksNesting]

Hello! I'm Vicki and after a couple years of considering buying chickens, I took the plunge. I'm married with four kids from 15 down to 8 and we homeschool so of course, the stereotype fits.
We live in a neighborhood but have a nice big backyard with plenty of unused space. We also enjoy animals and eggs.
Currently I have 8 7-8 week old pullets - 2 RIR, 2 black maran, and 4 Easter Eggers which are "mostly hens". I found someone who had purchased from TSC to have some chicks as companions for the one chick she hatched and she was ready to pass them to a new owner. I would have LOVED to start with chicks (especially my kids) but I felt that we were on a time crunch and I didn't know if I could get what I wanted this late in the summer. Plus, this gets us a good variety of breeds to start with.
I'm currently waiting on a friend to build us a coop so I have a large dog pen in the garage for them. However, they are starting to get antsy and bored I think so I posted on a different forum about options for a tractor for them until the coop/run is built.
Anyway, we are super excited although I've been a bit stressed about predators and proofing everything. We plan on putting the run together ourselves and are not handy people so I want to make sure it's safe for the chickies during the day. The thought of losing one of them makes me really sad but I know that's a reality of chicken raising and I'm sure it will happen some day.
This forum has already been very helpful and I'm sure I'll be perusing more and more as

 

[BecksNesting]

Hello! I'm Vicki and after a couple years of considering buying chickens, I took the plunge. I'm married with four kids from 15 down to 8 and we homeschool so of course, the stereotype fits.
We live in a neighborhood but have a nice big backyard with plenty of unused space. We also enjoy animals and eggs.
Currently I have 8 7-8 week old pullets - 2 RIR, 2 black maran, and 4 Easter Eggers which are "mostly hens". I found someone who had purchased from TSC to have some chicks as companions for the one chick she hatched and she was ready to pass them to a new owner. I would have LOVED to start with chicks (especially my kids) but I felt that we were on a time crunch and I didn't know if I could get what I wanted this late in the summer. Plus, this gets us a good variety of breeds to start with.
I'm currently waiting on a friend to build us a coop so I have a large dog pen in the garage for them. However, they are starting to get antsy and bored I think so I posted on a different forum about options for a tractor for them until the coop/run is built.
Anyway, we are super excited although I've been a bit stressed about predators and proofing everything. We plan on putting the run together ourselves and are not handy people so I want to make sure it's safe for the chickies during the day. The thought of losing one of them makes me really sad but I know that's a reality of chicken raising and I'm sure it will happen some day.
This forum has already been very helpful and I'm sure I'll be perusing more and more as I go!

Chickens are so much fun, you are going to have many hours of laughter to come. You are aware of chicken math, right? We started with one RIR/Game Rooster (Harold), then bought 10 chicks from TSC, and then were given two hens. Gave back the two hens, and also gave 6 of the chicks that were already laying. Here comes the chicken math, after that I bought 4 Sivler Laced Wyandotte, then another 7 (three died after a very wet spring that created the perfect environment for coccidiosis) managed to save the last four out of that 7. Then ... we bought 29 Silver Laced Wyandotte ..... yep, you're reading that right, then another 4 ISA Browns. So, in ONE year we are up to 48 chickens! Most are the Silver Laced Wyandottes which we are now embarking on becoming a serious and reputable breeder.

Your right, this site is very helpful in many areas. So, with that being said, get some Corid, and wormers, B complex vitamins and electrolytes to have on hand in case you need them. Cocidiosis is very fast and deadly protozoa that is not transmittible to humans.

 

[Chive]

Hey there, thanks for joining BYC! Welcome!