Hello and welcome! Be prepared to enter a sharp (but very fun) learning curve here. I read books, but here is where the real and practical information comes from, as well as very friendly and helpful people. Looking forward to getting to know you better and learning how your new chicken adventure is going.
You're in for some great fun! I agree with the others who suggest getting some books to read. There's even one that your son may enjoy:
Your Chickens: A Kid's Guide to Raising and Showing, by Gail Damerow
My kids are 12 and 10 and LOVE their chickens! They read the Damerow book before we got started so that they knew the needs of the chickens. They are involved in all parts of the care for the girls and even though the girls are nearly 2 years old, they've not lost interest in the least. We have three hens and they are very much pets. Since we got them as chicks and they were handled by the children from early on, they're quite friendly and docile.
Welcome to BYC! My family is from Florida, but I've lived my entire life in NY. I am hoping to migrate South permanently by next year and Florida is high on my list.
I haven't had chickens for a long time but plan to have them again. As others have recommended, I am taking my time to learn as much at BYC as I possibly can before buying any birds. As a result, I now have an evolving business plan for a farm, with a lot of breed specific information. This is a great place to learn!
Hi! I'm also from North Florida, just south of Jax. I would call around to ALL the feed stores close to you. I know that the ones close to me have already made reorders for more chicks, so I would just call around and ask if they would be getting any more in, I was at Tractor Supply over the weekend in Orange Park and they were almost sold out (just bought feed, didn't have any chicks that I wanted) I would also recommend craigs list (found some beautiful silkies on there).
Also try: BESTFARMBUYS.COM
: florida-agriculture.com (look under florida market bulletin)
Hope you find what your looking for.
So, welcome and best of luck!
Hello form northWEST Florida. Good luck with your chicks...it is addictive and the kiddos learn alot. Consider a rare heritage breed on critical list...Dominiques and javas are the first two american breeds i think and i wud have done that if i had known when i first got started. Vaya con DIOS