Hello all! My name is Amanda Reid. I live in West Virginia. My family and I are going to be getting a few chickens for eggs as well as pets. As I research vairous things about raising chickens, feeding, housing etc. I am continually referred to this group. I am so excited to learn from u all. Any and all suggestions about products, chicken must have's, do's and dont's, coop construction, etc is welcome! Thank u all so much for ur time. I look forward to this new adventure! (1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? We are brand new to the chicken world! (2) How many chickens do you have right now? We r planning on starting out small with about 5 chickens. We r building a coop big enough to house about 20 chickens in case we decide to expand. (3) What breeds do you have? We have been looking at dual purpose breeds as well as the rainbow layers! Also want a mild mannered breed that will b ok around children. (4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? Mostly Pintrest, but also as I google search for ideas on brooders and coop plans i have been referred back to ur group. (5) What are some of your other hobbies? I love gardening! Chickens is the beginning and if all goes well we would love to have a few different types of animals on our small hobby farm.
Glad you joined us! You are so wise to build big enough for more chickens! You'll never regret building bigger. I have four birds that are four years old this year. My Buff Orpington and Barred Rock are both what are considered "dual purpose" birds and are pretty gentle. I will say, though, if you are thinking about actually eating your birds, I believe that factory birds, like I have, can be a bit smaller than if you were to buy them from a breeder. I could be wrong, but I think I read that… (Mine are basically egg laying pets) My Easter Eggers both lay greenish eggs. They are fun to watch, but have always been more skittish and not as easy to pick up. That being said, chicken personalities can also be pretty individual. I love gardening as well. In some ways, the chickens are great gardening partners. In other ways, they are maddening and may strip your favorite tender plants. Currently, however, they are out there churning the earth looking for bugs, which is great. Have fun!!
Thank u all so much I am so very excited! The kids and i went out and purchased a few chicken necessities today! The anticipation is killing me! Yay Chicks! Thank u for the advise! I really appreciate it and ur kind words . To be honest our chickens will probably end up being egg laying pets (pets with benefits) as well. I am ready to jump into raising our own eggs, meat, milk, etc. with both feet but my husband is a bit more hesitant. So we are easing in with eggs from our own chickens first. My hopes are to raise them on organic feeds with no GMOs or soy. I have been looking around and cant find any on our local shelves. I may have to special order it. I am excited to have a little extra help in the garden, but I also realize they have a time and place. I was planning on trying to plant them their own little garden full of chicken goodies they may like for when it is time for them to stay out of the family garden. Any suggestions?
