New Farmer; New to Chickens

[Joeschooks]

Hi Dustin. Congratulations on your new home! How lovely to have 2.5 acres. I need more land! Welcome to BYC!

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Dustin Welcome and Congratulations!

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

Including your general location on your profile will assist others. Location, climate, season etc can be important factors when members are responding to any questions you may have and vice versa.

Please do check out the Topic of the Week discussions Pork Pie mentioned. I have found these to be a great resource, informative and sometimes entertaining. These two may be of particular interest to you:
Topic of the Week - Getting Started, Keeping Chickens
Topic of the Week - Keeping the Flock Safe from Predators

This is a great article: How Much Room Do Chickens Need

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock when they arrive or other critters, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

Best wishes and good luck!

 

[BanditMan]

Hey Dustin!!! Welcome to you and your wife, and your hatchling. Congrats on your new home! For a coop, I suggest a walk in style, minimum size 4 x 8, but bigger is better, cause you never know when you just have to get a few more birds. Take a look at the Wood's open air style coop. It's a great option for all climates.

Other things to consider: Deep litter management in coop and run. Much easier to do if you have a soil floor in the coop, but you have to plan accordingly to make sure the coop is predator proof.

If you have not already done so, do a bit of reading on the thread and articles written by @Blooie on the topic of Mother Heating Pad brooding.

Great great info!!!

 

[sourland]

Hi, Dustin, congratulations on all that is happening in your life and welcome to BYC. Get working on that coop. They grow fast.

 

[BanditMan]

I know, I can not believe how fast they are growing in just the week I have had them!!!! I already have to get a bigger box/booster for them!! I have got to hurry with my coop!!! Still trying to see which way to go vurses tractor style stationary wood or PVC??!! There are so many that look really good. Confuses one lol

 

[AllenK RGV]

I don't usually try to farm my chicken. They have never done well planted in the dirt. I just let em run crazy over my land like a load of undisciplined children. Hope this helps some and welcome to BYC! Congrats on getting your own patch of dirt!

 

[MrsMistyReal]

Hey congratulations to you & your. Welcome aboard to BYC family gr8 people tons of information loads of fun enjoy shake your tail feathers If you or your wife enjoy cooking there's a contest come join us at Pot Luck Photo Contest W/Farmer Connie

 

[Hopperkiller]

Welcome aboard!
As far as coop suggestions i can summarize the information you will get very simply. Build a coop and run as big as your skills and budget allow. Check out the large coop section and notice a lot of people say they built too small and had to modify. There might be a post here somewhere that a person built too big a setup but i havent found it yet. There was an article featured in the last 2 weeks where an owner took the wichita coop design and expanded it by about 50% and had one heck of a coop. Good luck!

 

[AllenK RGV]

I am one of those odd people who built a coop that is too big for my needs from last year for my initial flock. But I have ordered more chicken so hopefully later in the year my roost bar won't look empty at night when I lock my chicken in for the night.

 

[Rocky Rhodes]

Welcome to BYC, from the Majestic North Georgia Mountains! Sounds like you're livin' right. Good luck with all your future ventures and congratulations on the home and the unborn, keep us updated.