Hi everyone. I have been lurking for the last year but trying to resist committing to chickens. Well, we had to go get hay for the rabbits (Beverens and minirexes) and the feedstore had the cutest barred rock chicks so we went home with 6 of them on Saturday. They are doing great, growing and we are all enjoying them. That is when the addiction kicked in. My husband said, you should get a few more, 6 chickens isn't many on 3 acres. So, I am waiting for the eggs I ordered to arrive, should be today. I ordered Swedish Flowering Hen eggs, American Bresse eggs and Salmon Faverolle eggs. I am hoping for a 50% hatch rate. I think that is probably realistic, hoping it is anyway. When it warms up in the next couple weeks we have to build coops and runs. We are still deciding where to locate them. Don't want them too close to the house but not so far that it is really inconvenient when it is snowy or cold/windy out. I am excited to be part of this great group of people and look forward to getting to know all of you.
Wlcome to byc and the rabbit hole that is chicken keeping. I just want to add for consideration predators for where you place your coop. If your coop is too far you may not be able to hear when a stray dog, for example, decides those birds look delicious.
Greetings from Kansas, LauraNJ, and ! Pleased you joined the rest of us addicted folks! You will really love chickens. Make sure you check out the great incubating and hatching forum in the link below. Also see the great article below that! It has helped me a lot. Good luck and happy hatching!! https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
Welcome! Good luck with your hatch! You might stop by the shipped eggs hatching thread. They have loads of knowledge to help improve your hatch. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ell-detatched-shipped-eggs/8080#post_10727065
Welcome, welcome! It's good to have you, and you do sound like the bug bit you pretty hard. Good luck with your eggs.
Very good points. Closer may be better. I am really trying to figure out the best place to put the coop. I do not want to have to move it like we did with the rabbits after Sandy blew through. Sandy managed to break one of the supporting legs and then twisted and flipped the hutches. Not pleasant rescuing rabbits during a hurricane. I am planning to totally enclose the coop, bury wire 12-18 inches deep and wire on top of the coop to keep flying predators away. Our yard is fenced on 3 sides with a 6 ft fence. I have one open side that will get fenced this spring so I am hoping that keeps out some of the predators from the yard in general or at least makes it more difficult. I have seen 1 fox who was considering the rabbits one night but our hutches are huge and are tall, there was no way for him to get to them and our dog managed to scare him and ran him off. He actually became panicked, couldn't figure out how to get out of the yard. He hasn't been back to my knowledge and if he has, he hasn't been able to get to the rabbits. The "farmer" across the road has his chickens eaten on a weekly basis by predators (owls, fox, coyote) so I think the predators hang out over there knowing they have an easy meal. His chickens are not secured at night, they go into an always open barn. I told him the fox and coyotes probably think that it their dinner table, asked why he doesn't just fix the barn door. He says if you have livestock, some get eaten. I want to avoid that, I have a different philosophy. Once I come up with some plans and maybe I'll post some pictures of the yard where I am considering putting the coops so everyone can see the choices. I am really trying to research and make a smart decision.
Love the picture in your avatar! We lived in KS for a few years in the 90s. We absolutely loved it. Great people, beautiful land. I have been brushing up on incubating and hatching out and the articles about shipped eggs. We used to raise large parrots which require incubating (many parrots are not reliable sitting on eggs, they get bored) and then after hatching, handfeeding for many weeks. Hopefully between reading the incubating section here and previous experience, I have good luck with these eggs. I am really hoping I have success with these. I set up the incubator 3 days ago, have the temps and humidy perfect for the last couple days so now it is just a waiting game for the eggs to arrive. Tracking says they are out for delivery so should be soon!
Thanks! I was reading that and some other threads for the last couple days, since I ordered eggs actually. The articles and info are extremely helpful. Although I have experience with baby parrots and incubating, I have never had eggs shipped before. I think if shipping wasn't too rough on them, that I will have an acceptable hatch. My mail doesn't come until 3;30 or so. I wish I had thought of asking the sellers to put a note on the boxes to hold the pkgs at the PO. The mailman drives very, very, very slow though so they shouldn't be bounced around too much at this point. I would assume that the truck is warmer than outside, it is only 40 here today, but not hot since this route is all driving and his window is always open. Wow, how stressful waiting for eggs!
