New to the chicken raising community

[jdbeck]

Hi - My husband and I have just returned from a 5 year hiatus in Germany (active duty military) to Southern Idaho and have been dying to get chickens since before we left the US. Our house already has a coop and my husband spent last weekend crafting nesting boxes. We still don't have any birds yet partly because we have been waffling between getting chicks and finding adults. I have been creeping this site for months doing research and I think that we have decided that we will start with adults, partly because it is so late in the year for chicks and partly because we are still unpacking our house and I don't have space to house chicks anywhere. Even though it isn't highly recommended, I think I found a reputable person who is reducing her flock size and we can get a few from her. I don't know if it is crazy as these aren't the standard beginner breeds, but we have settled on 2 NH reds and 1 Light Brahma - all about 1.5 years old. I'm not completely new to chickens -I've spend a good bit of time with someone who raises Araucanas and Sex-links, but I can't find any adults in those breeds and she says these 3 are the friendliest of the ones that she has - we have a little boy, so we'd like them to be a little bit tame as he's quite curious about animals. Any advise to include telling me I'm crazy, would be appreciated. I've read almost every article in the learning center for new chicken owners and have been creeping the forums like crazy so I've got a pretty good idea of what I am taking on, but it's always good to get a second opinion!!

 

[chicmom]

Hello and welcome!

You're not crazy at all.....well, chicken people are all a little bit crazy, I think. haha The NHR hens will be nice layers for you, and I think they're lovely. Now the light Brahma won't be quite as good a layer as the NHR, but Brahmas in general make a very nice pet chicken. They're friendly and inquisitive.

Truly, I think if you want those really loveable chickens, then you need to raise them from chicks and really pay lots of attention to them. I do understand being excited to get started and buying the adult birds.

Those are very nice choices and I bet you'll be happy!

Have a great day and I'm a military mom, so thank you for your service and enjoy those hens!
Sharon

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Oh you are not crazy at all! At least not by our standards. We are all a bit off when it comes to chickens here on BYC!

I think you picked some good breeds. If you are still looking for more, you can do some chatting in your state thread in hopes of finding some extras that others may have....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/8042/idaho

Enjoy this wonderful adventure you are on and welcome to our flock!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Those sound like nice breeds to start out with and the girls are young enough they should still lay a nice amount of eggs for you once they get over the move.

 

[gander007]

Alright

 

[jdbeck]

Thanks for the confidence boost!! It's nice to know I'm on the right track. We knew that one downside to getting adults was that they wouldn't be as friendly as if we'd raised them as chicks but it's probably for the better this year. My son is still in the stage where he doesn't quite understand gentle so it might be better that we have some that aren't quite so tame. Next year we will have a few of the newbie kinks worked out and maybe we can add a few chicks!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Thanks to you and your husband for your years in service. I think getting adults now is a good choice. As you say moving and having no place for chicks right now, is a good reason to get older birds instead.

If you go to "where am I, where are you," in the social forum, you can find and post on your state thread. Maybe you will make some chickener friends in Idaho before you settle in.

Hope you will let us know how things go once you are settled in.