Hi everyone,
I have been reading on this site for several weeks now but decided to finally post an introduction and I posted some questions about breed/gender on that thread also regarding my flock.
I am new to backyard chicken raising. We got our first 8 chicks on May 31st and were told that they were two weeks old so they'd be about 11 weeks old now. We got a straight run batch of what we were told was 2 Ameracaunas, 2 Lavender Orpingtons, 2 Blue Orpingtons, and 2 Lemon Orpingtons. So far at least two have turned out to definitely be Roosters (they've started crowing).
When they were outgrowing the brooder, the coop we were building wasn't quite ready yet so we put them out in one of those mini kit things they sell at Fleet Farm. It served its short-term purpose while we finished the bigger coop we were building based on the Wichita Coop design we saw here on the Backyard Chickens site. They moved into that coop a few days ago. The chickens currently have access to a portion of my garden that got so overtaken by weeds this year that I wasn't able to get it back (there was some dormant weed in my own compost that I added to my garden this spring
). So we put the coop just outside the garden and I built a little covered bridge for them to get from the coop to the garden. When I reclaim that part of my garden next Spring, I'll add movable tunnels for between the rows of plants and put those chickens to work!
I addition to our new flock, we have one indoor/outdoor cat that so far hasn't seemed to interested in the chickens and two dogs, one of whom is a Vizsla and NOT a good mix to have with chickens. Thankfully, we have a GPS boundary in place for her and, as long as her collar is on her and is turned on, she hasn't gotten out to where the chickens are.
Here are some pictures:
The upper middle and lower left have revealed themselves as Roos
.
The new coop we built.
The chickens moving in to their new home
.
Thanks for reading and thanks for this site! I've learned so much already!
Cassi
I have been reading on this site for several weeks now but decided to finally post an introduction and I posted some questions about breed/gender on that thread also regarding my flock.
I am new to backyard chicken raising. We got our first 8 chicks on May 31st and were told that they were two weeks old so they'd be about 11 weeks old now. We got a straight run batch of what we were told was 2 Ameracaunas, 2 Lavender Orpingtons, 2 Blue Orpingtons, and 2 Lemon Orpingtons. So far at least two have turned out to definitely be Roosters (they've started crowing).
When they were outgrowing the brooder, the coop we were building wasn't quite ready yet so we put them out in one of those mini kit things they sell at Fleet Farm. It served its short-term purpose while we finished the bigger coop we were building based on the Wichita Coop design we saw here on the Backyard Chickens site. They moved into that coop a few days ago. The chickens currently have access to a portion of my garden that got so overtaken by weeds this year that I wasn't able to get it back (there was some dormant weed in my own compost that I added to my garden this spring
I addition to our new flock, we have one indoor/outdoor cat that so far hasn't seemed to interested in the chickens and two dogs, one of whom is a Vizsla and NOT a good mix to have with chickens. Thankfully, we have a GPS boundary in place for her and, as long as her collar is on her and is turned on, she hasn't gotten out to where the chickens are.
Here are some pictures:
The upper middle and lower left have revealed themselves as Roos
The new coop we built.
The chickens moving in to their new home
Thanks for reading and thanks for this site! I've learned so much already!
Cassi
