New to site/chickens

[onedoodle3]

Thanks everyone!

Apprentice_egger: I have definately decided to get some Cochins.

australorp_breeder: You will be first up when I need to know something. Thanks!

I was talking to my mother today (I live beside them...well, on the other side of the field) and, since I have no experience with chickens (except the few we had when I was like 2 years old!) I am going to go to the feed store to get some this spring. I'm only going to start out with maybe 5 or so till I get the hang of what I have to do and what they need. I'm really looking forward to being a chicken momma ( my 6 year old daughter is ready too!

). My plan is to go get some of the lumber I will need next weekend and start really working on my coop the weekend after. That will be my 4 day break from work and hopefully Mother Nature will smile on me and not let it snow or rain or freeze. If the ground is frozen hard, I won't be able to get my posts in it. I"m going to build an 8'X8' coop in the middle of an area that is about 20' square. I figure that will be plenty of room for them to roam. It will be fenced (with the fencing going about 6" in the ground and turned outward away from the pen) and I'm going to put netting or hardware cloth over the entire thing. We have hawks, eagles, racoons, foxes, coyotes, bears (oh my), you name it, and I want to keep the little fuzz balls safe. I get attached to my animals.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I'll shut up now..

rofl