Newbie from Fayetteville, NC

Date sort Score sort
GoToLeep

GoToLeep

In the Brooder
9 Years
Jan 6, 2011
30
1
22
Fayetteville, NC
Glad to have found BYC. New to chickens so trying to get my ducks...er... chicks in a row. Going to start on a coop this weekend. Will only have 4-5 chickens..egg-layers. No more room. Then to find a reliable place to purchase either pullets or chicks and other supplies. Been reading a lot over the last week with a whole lot to learn. Trying to figure out the best breed for friendliness and egg-laying...either brown and/or white eggs. Any comments or suggestions anyone has, please let me know!! Have a 4 y/o and 8 y/o (both boys) so this should be interesting.

Dan
 
I am also new to rasing chickens.I read all could find on the different breeds and chose buff orps


as they are very friendly,even the roosters are nice birds. They also are excellent layers as well as meat birds. I bought 4 buffs and 3 barred rocks and was very happy with both breeds. Another plus is they don't make alot of noise
smile.png
.About a month ago I went out and bought 5 delawares and I really like them also for the same reasons.
I started out slow and now I have12 birds and I am very pleased with them.I am lucky enough to have a breeder not far from me so I didn't have to order 25 or more chicks all at once as I want to make sure of what I am doing for I can always add a few more later.I hope this spring to be able to find some silkies and maybe get 4 or 5 .
Good luck and read up on your breeds before you buy..I can say that the three breeds that I picked are very good birds .I haven't had any problems at all with them and they are easy to handle.Also read all you can on feeding your birds ,I thought just buying chicken feed would be enough, but they do need more than just laying crumbles from what I have read.I also feed black oil sunflower seeds ,wild bird food, alafa pellets, and scraps from the house to mine.I am not saying I am doing everything right but just trying to make sure my birds are as healthy as they can be and I am still learning.
Your Kids are going to LOVE the birds
smile.png
.. Let us know when you get them and what knid you picked.

Karen
 
Last edited:
May want to start that coop next weekend. We all may be snowed in this weekend. I'm a bit west of you in Gaston County. I'm chickenless right now but plan to get my coops back up and running this spring.

Check with feed and farm supply stores in your area. I think ya'll have a couple of Tractor Supply Stores over there. Give them a call to find out when their chicks will be coming in.
 
One more thing
smile.png
If you are buying unsexed chicks and want pullets pick out your own. Look at the wings and choose the chicks with the longest wing feathers. This method works 95% of the time. I haven't gone wrong using it to help friends in the past.Go to youtube and type in sexing baby chicks, I think Mcmurry uses this method also.

Karen
 
Thats an interesting method, how young can this be reasonably accurate?
 
I wouldn't use it on any chick past a week old as their feathers change.Pick up the chicks and hold out their wings,some will have short feathers and others will have long uneven feathers. The ones with the long uneven ones most often are female.I did do a search on youtube and I did find one from Mcmurry and it showed them also useing this method it even showed the difference in the wings.I found a website a few years back that said the person's grandfather used it and that's how I found out about it.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom