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MidMountainFarm said:
New to BYC and raising chickens. We're in the planning phase.

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
We are new to chickens, planning to start our free range broiler flock this spring.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Zero, but planning on 30-50 this spring/summer.

(3) What breeds do you have?
We are planning on Freedom Rangers and Kosher Kings for our first go.

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
We're interested both in raising our own meat, as well as de-vegetating areas of our land prior to planting crops.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
We live on a small farm, so that's most of our hobby time, in addition to working full-time off-farm. Woodworking, cycling, canoeing, gardening, foraging, mushroom growing, beekeeping, food preservation and processing, home brewing.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
My partners and I have a rescue dog. Our full-time gigs are in consulting and budget management. We're hoping to transition away from desk jobs eventually to be on the farm more.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? :D
It came up in google searches as we were researching keeping chickens. As we're taking the plunge it seemed best to sign up to be able to engage more, as I'm sure we'll have tons of questions!
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Welcome to BYC!!
 
Glad to meet you, and welcome to BYC. There are a lot of folks here interested in self sufficiency. See the forum on it. If you add more 4 legged livestock in addition to poultry, you may be interested in the sister site, BackYard Herds. You might also like the sister sites
SufficientSelf.com
TheEasyGarden.com

What is the rescue dog (best guess breeds?)

Here are my favorite beginning articles that helped me as a newbie. All articles are short, and have illustrations, and reviews, which are often worth looking at for the comments.

1. Intro to chicken keeping

2. Common mistakes & how to fix them

3. Ventilation (important to chicken health), with helpful links to coop designs organized by climate (because what is just right for my New England hens won't work for my brother's Arizona chickens)

4. Predator protection for new & existing coops

5. Dealing with a muddy coop and run

6. (are you where winter is starting??) Winter chicken care

To look for articles on your own:

A. Use the SEARCH button, but use the Advanced Search choice, and select ARTICLES at the top of the box. Just enter your keyword(s) and scroll through your results!

B. I find it helpful to notice the rating and reviews. All articles are by BYC members, and all the reviews/ratings are as well. The ratings help a newbie like me sort the most useful and reliable articles.

C. You can bookmark the articles or posts you think you want to refer to again using that bookmark icon at the top of articles or posts. You can find them again by clicking on your own avatar and looking at the list of bookmarks you have built up!

Notes about where to put a coop:

1. As far as you can, put a coop and run on high ground, that drains well, so you won't have so much muddy coop problems. Chickens need to be dry, dry, dry.

2. As far as you can, put a coop with the ventilation lined up with your prevailing breezes, and away from the direction of your storms. If you are not sure of these (who is these days?), check with your local National Weather Service website.

3. As far as you can, arrange for some sort of shade over your coop and run. Preferably deciduous so the girls will enjoy winter sun, but summer shade.
 

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