New to chickens and this forum! Outside of Philly.

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ramseybeyer

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(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I've been chicken curious for a long time but am new to chickens. I bought a house two years ago with a big yard and spent the first two years doing other yard work and establishing a garden. Now I'm looking for other ways to add to our little homestead. We're in the Philly suburbs in Delaware County, so this will be backyard chicken keeping with neighbors in pretty close proximity. We've checked with our neighbors and they're all on board, which seemed like the biggest hurdle. The other wildcard is that we have a dog, so any tips on getting your dog acquainted with your chickens so our chickens can free range while our dog is out would be great (always supervised, only!)

I only plan to start with 3 chickens, and could see myself getting up to 5 in the future. I'd like to get a Barred Plymouth Rock, an Australorpe and a speckled Sussex but am open to suggestions! I plan to build a coop and run similar to the Wichita Cabin Coop.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
None, hoping to start with just 3.

(3) What breeds do you have?
In the research phase now but looking at a Barred Plymouth Rock, an Australorpe and a speckled Sussex.

(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
In all my extensive chicken researching!

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
gardening, seeing live music, community organizing, hiking and drawing

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I'm a 32 year old nanny and illustrator. I live with my partner, Mikey, and our dog, Maple. We're vegetarian and used to be vegan until we started eating eggs, so the appeal of knowing exactly how our chickens are treated and where our eggs are coming from is a driving motivator - I also just love projects and hobbies. :)

I've attached a few photos of our yard. I plan to build the coop and run to the right of our shed back between the giant holly and azalea bushes along the fence. I'll have to cut back the holly bush pretty dramatically but I think it'll be a good little space for it (approx 14ft by 6 feet overall).
 

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Hello and welcome. This is a great place for info.

I have 4 med to large dogs that all had not been around chickens. Getting the dogs acquainted wasn't that difficult. When they're chicks let your dog sniff them. Correct him/her if it gets a little "pushy". When the chickens start free roaming take your pup outside and if it chases correct. Your pup will learn quickly not to chase. My dogs hardly pay any attention to the chickens now. Around here the dogs have been the best defense against predators.

Of course if you have a dog that's killed small animals before and/or has a SUPER strong prey drive this might be more difficult.

We have one Barred Plymouth Rock and she's the only one that sits on my lap. My Australorpe is super talkative and gorgeous.

As long as you don't have a rooster your neighbors will hardly notice them. You might need to clip their wings to keep them from flying over fence-lines.

Good luck. You'll love having fresh eggs to eat.
 
G’Day from down under ramseybeyer :frow Welcome!

You might be interested in downloading this free e-book My First Year With Chickens

I 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.

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. You might find this previous discussion helpful:
Topic of the Week - Dogs and chickens

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 ;)
 

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