New member - lots to learn before getting birds

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NvWilderness

Chirping
6 Years
Jan 31, 2018
4
28
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We finally found our perfect retirement hideaway. 40 acres away from the crowds. Wanting to become as self sufficient as possible. And - it already has a very nice chicken coop. While I grew up on a ranch - we never had chickens as my father hated them (bad experience while butchering them as a kid). So I did not learn that skill as a child. And hubby - he was a military kid - so no opportunity while moving all over the world.

We currently have 3 indoor cats. I have had dogs all my life until the last few years but my hubby has never had one. So - I definitely want at least one and perhaps 2 when we get to the property and he's not sure about that. Hopefully I can bring him around.

So - here we are in our retirement years and just now taking this up. We want fresh eggs that are not from the egg farms with all the bad things that go along with that. And possibly the occasional table bird.

Currently cannot tell one breed from another much less which ones we should get or how many or how to care for them. Only thing I know for sure - here in the Nevada wilderness - we have predators a plenty - so we will need to know how to protect our flock from both ground and air attacks. Hopefully without drastically limit allowing them to free range.

Been monitoring a couple of Facebook chicken pages for the past couple of months and one suggested this site as a good place to learn things. Checked out the site a couple days ago and decided I should join.
 
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G’Day from down under NvWilderness :frow Welcome and Congratulations! :clap

Do I have some reading material for you! :p

First up, you might be interested in downloading this free e-book My First Year With Chickens

This article may help with your breed selection: Pickin a Chicken

I do 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.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello.

BYC has a Learning Centre and also Topic of the Week articles which I have found to be a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group. Lots of relevant discussions in the topic of the week, including getting started keeping chickens, kitting out the coop and predator protection etc.

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock when they arrive, 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!

Edited to add: Ooops, forgot this excellent article also:
How Much Room Do Chickens Need
 
Welcome to BYC!

Thanks for taking the time to do some research before diving in. You chickens will benefit from the effort. Spring is a common (but certainly not the only) time to pick up chicks, so you have a few months to learn all you want before diving into the experience.

Read, ask questions and you'll be far more informed soon enough!
 
NvWilderness said:
We finally found our perfect retirement hideaway. 40 acres away from the crowds. Wanting to become as self sufficient as possible. And - it already has a very nice chicken coop. While I grew up on a ranch - we never had chickens as my father hated them (bad experience while butchering them as a kid). So I did not learn that skill as a child. And hubby - he was a military kid - so no opportunity while moving all over the world.

We currently have 3 indoor cats. I have had dogs all my life until the last few years but my hubby has never had one. So - I definitely want at least one and perhaps 2 when we get to the property and he's not sure about that. Hopefully I can bring him around.

So - here we are in our retirement years and just now taking this up. We want fresh eggs that are not from the egg farms with all the bad things that go along with that. And possibly the occasional table bird.

Currently cannot tell one breed from another much less which ones we should get or how many or how to care for them. Only thing I know for sure - here in the Nevada wilderness - we have predators a plenty - so we will need to know how to protect our flock from both ground and air attacks. Hopefully without drastically limit allowing them to free range.

Been monitoring a couple of Facebook chicken pages for the past couple of months and one suggested this site as a good place to learn things. Checked out the site a couple days ago and decided I should join.
Click to expand...
:old :welcome :old
 
Welcome to BYC Broody with chicks.jpeg
Welcome to Backyard Chickens!

You can talk chicken here too! Many like it better than FB
 
Hi and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us and congrats on finding your new home. You have some great links from Teila which I am sure will be very helpful.
 

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