New Chicky Mommy from MO

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Chickymommy45

Chickymommy45

In the Brooder
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
14
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Location
Missouri
Hello all!

I've taken the plunge and I daresay look pretty great for a new mother of five :).

My boyfriend (Chickydaddy) and I have taken on 5 beautiful babies to raise for a friend of his. We fell so in love that we will be getting our own after we give up the ladies to their forever home. We have an Australorp, Cochin, Brahma, Rhode Island Red, and a Wellsummer (my favorite). As first time parents, we've already made a BUNCH of mistakes (accidentally removed umbilical cord, tried to feed large grit, took them on a 9-hour car trip and I got to use the phrase "BEHAVE BACK THERE WILL YOU?!" which was awesome). I think this all makes you realize you're not really a parent unless you almost kill you kids at least once ;). These mistakes aside, the girls are thriving in their brooder box which is becoming ever smaller, and we are already excited to get our own batch.

We come to you humbly for advice, as our needs are different when picking out our next batch of babies and preparing for their arrival.
Chickydaddy wants:
-Lots of eggs
-Non-white eggs
-Cold-hardy breed
-Low maintenance
-To keep Chickymommy happy (if he knows what's good for him) :-D

Chickymommy wants:
-Colorful eggs
-Great demeanor within flock
-Breed that is arguably cute/pretty
-Breeds with good social interaction with people/snuggly
-For Chickydaddy to be stress free :-D


We live in Missouri so we will need breeds that are cold hardy and we can only have 4 as we are in the city. We are also looking for suggestions on how to make our birds like us from a young age (pretty excited to try imprinting), advice on setting up a great brooder box as the one we are using now is too small we think, and any other suggestions on preparing our house and yard for our new family members!

I've been utilizing these forums a lot on our trial chickies so I'm excited to introduce myself and look forward to sharing our adventures together!

Featherfull greetings,
-Chickymommy
 
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What a fun introduction, I enjoyed reading it! Getting your friend's birds started was a good way of finding out how you would like raising them. Glad you enjoyed it.

When it comes to selecting breeds, everyone has their favorites to recommend. One of my favorites that would seem to fit your needs are the Speckled Sussex...beautiful girls that lay nice size light brown eggs, personable and not flighty. There are just so many out there to choose from, using this article from the Learning Center might help you decide:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...cken-guide-to-picking-backyard-chicken-breeds

In general, chickens do better in the cold than the heat but if you chat with other members in your state, they may give you some good tips. Just type Missouri in the search box and your state thread should come up.

Instead of using a brooder, a lot of members seem to like the Mama Heating Pad method. There's a lengthly thread about it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

It's nice to have you here!
 
Hi and welcome to BYC - great SOH in your intro - good to read.

You have some great advice from NFC (who also has a neat SOH BTW) so I'll just say hello
frow.gif
.

All the best
CT
 
Thanks for the advice! I like the Sussex- very pretty birds! Let's see if I can convince Chickydaddy to get one. I would love an Orpington and an Easter Egger as well. I tried talking him into a Silkie but he doesn't want Bantams.

Any suggestions on ordering them from a hatchery? We got our trial peepers from a local feed store at around 2-3 weeks of age.

Just gave the ladies mealworms for a snack. I now have more chicken food in my fridge than people food
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