New to chickens, can’t wait!

[MRichmond]

Hi All,

I’m a self-employed wire artist and instructor. My partner and I have an acre and a half of rural-ish property surrounded by woods in Western PA. We’re half an hour outside of Pittsburgh with assorted cats, dogs, fish pond and lots of wildlife. We just ordered our first chicks and want to build them a spectacular coop where they can be happy and safe from predators. We’re hoping for eggs for ourselves and neighbors, but who’s fooling who...chickens will really be an extension of our somewhat vast herd of pets. Any knowledge you can share will be most appreciated.

 

[Wezdin]

Welcome to BYC! Make sure you have a brooder all set up for your chicks when they arrive!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUN-omenal community! Best wishes and have lots of FUN!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

We have a contest going on right now just for new folks like you. In order to enter you'll need to copy the link from your first post in this thread and post it in the contest thread.

To copy your link address, right click on the link to your thread and click copy or copy link

then click on the following URL
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...t-new-byc-members-win-a-byc-calendar.1287752/
Go down to where it says "write your reply..." tell us this is your entry and then click on the link button

Paste your URL into the box and click "insert", then click "Post Reply".

That's all there is to it. Once you've finished this, you're eligible to win a nice BYC Calendar.

 

[Callender Girl]

Sounds like you have a great setting and great outlook. I have the rural property, lots of wildlife, plenty of pets, but I am envious of your pond!

Good luck with your new chicken venture, and welcome to BYC.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC

Here are some links to key resources:

• List of guides on how to use the site - announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3
• Great resource for beginners = https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/learning-center.11/
• Good starting point for browsing the site - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/
• Interesting feedback on how members manage their flocks -https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archives
• Excellent source of local information - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[MRichmond]

Sounds like you have a great setting and great outlook. I have the rural property, lots of wildlife, plenty of pets, but I am envious of your pond!

Good luck with your new chicken venture, and welcome to BYC.

Thanks! The pond is fun, but it needs serious work to bring it back around. This is from the first spring. I neglected it last year after a knee injury but the knee was replaced in Nov, so I think I’m good to go for this year. Some our fish grew like crazy last year...I spotted some that have to be 7-8” long!

 

[MRichmond]

Welcome to BYC! Make sure you have a brooder all set up for your chicks when they arrive!

I pick up the chicks April 8th. I’m buying the parts for the brooder now, so it will be set up. Not quite sure where to put them with cats and dogs in the house. I have a spare room that will work since I can keep a door closed.

 

[N F C]

Congrats on the upcoming chicks! What breeds are you getting?

If you put a cover (something that won't restrict air flow) over the brooder, that will help protect them from overly-curious dogs/cats and will also keep the chicks inside the brooder...they learn to flit out pretty early.

Thanks for joining us and best of luck with your new venture!