New here and to having Chickens

[Jade514]

HI! I just got my first set of chicks yesterday! I got 6 beautiful ISA Browns. I know they are not the best chickens, but sound like good starter chickens. I have wanted chickens most of my life and finally talked my husband into letting me get some. I have them mostly for fresh eggs but I am hoping to sell extra eggs to neighbors.

I am looking to get more next year in different breeds. Checking out the breeds until then so I will know what I want and purchase them then.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC! The Learning Centre is a great place to start off as it has loads of info on anything chicken. Joining your state thread (just type your state in the search box) will also put you in contact with other BYC members in your area.

Nothing wrong with having commercial laying birds - i have some as i like to sell my eggs to try and offset the costs of feeding my flock. Good luck with them and with your planning for other breeds in the future.

All the best
CT

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Jade

Glad you could join the flock! Congratulations on your new chicks I'm sure you will enjoy them very much! I started out with the same breed but they are called warrens over here in the UK. They were excellent egg layers and friendly too. They really restored my faith birds as I was pert petrified of all things feathery untill then.

Wishing you the very best of luck with them in the future. Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

 

[Jade514]

Thank you for the welcomes! I was looking at getting Buff Orpington's originally but they did not have them at TSC and so I talked to some people there and they recommended these as good starter chickens. They told me they have a limited life span and so we decided to get them and then work on getting more next year.

I am looking at the Buff's, or Dominique's. I am really wanting some Easter Eggers and if I have the opportunity to pick some up I will grab at least 2-3 of them. I wouldn't mind a mixed lot of chickens. I have room for a dozen chickens in our set up with them having a lot of space each. I could possibly have a few more, but would not want to over crowd them. I could probably have 20 chickens based on some of the things I am reading, but I am setting my goal at 12. I want a dozen chickens when I am up and running.

So far I am just enjoying the little chicks as they are so cute. They will be very tame because my daughter loves to pick them up. I am not letting her handle them too much at this point. Is there a good age when I can just let her hold them? I pick them up for a moment and hold them and them put them back. I don't want to stress them out and so far they seem very happy.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[N F C]

I think you'll enjoy your ISA Browns, I certainly have liked my 3 in the mixed flock. They have a lot of personality and lay wonderful eggs.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[Jade514]

Oh my!!! Waiting for TSC to get more chicks in so I can go pick up another 6! I didn't think it was true, but now I see it is. My neighbor has chickens and wanted to get more, but she did not want to raise up some chicks as she would have to get the whole set up. So, she is basically buying 6 chicks and I will raise them up and then she gets to pick 3 of them and I get to keep the others. LOL

Can I just put the new 6 in with my 5 day old chicks? I am hoping they get some in today. I was supposed to get them 2 days ago but they didn't come in as they were expecting them to.

 

[Jade514]

I have 12 chicks now!!!! I have 7 ISA Browns. 3 Production Reds and 2 of the most adorable little Barred Rock chicks!

I promised myself I would not get attached to any of the chicks, but the smaller of the Barred Rocks has completely become my favorite. She is so sweet! They are all supposed to be females, so I hope this is true. A few of the chicks are not mine. The Barred Rocks are. I told the lady that I bought those for me and that she can decide which of the others she wants as she is paying me to raise them for her.

I could not believe the difference in size from my 1 week old chicks to my day old chicks. It was crazy! They are all doing well together though. They will be going into a bigger tote tomorrow though. I hope they all continue to do well and grow quickly.