Howdy All I am not a backyard chicken farmer but I am interested in becoming one. I am in early retirement and we are looking to move to a farmette so I can have chickens and maybe some small goats. I think it will keep me active and a good experience for my grandchildren to help when they visit. We have a farm we are looking at - ok it is really just acreage and a house. Any advise or suggestions are welcome. We only have experience (childhood) with cows, cattle, horses and pigs. Thank you and I look forward to being a part of this group.
Welcome to BYC! The Learning Center https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center is the best place to start, it covers everything you need to know. My advice is to keep dogs and chickens separate (personal experience), build your coop/run bigger than you think you need because chickens are addicting, and use 1/4 inch hardware cloth which is a very strong mesh wire instead of chicken wire. Good luck on your venture
Hello Welcome to BYC and Happy Holidays! X2 on the BYC Learning Center, and believe in chicken math, you will want more. if you are interested in goats you might want to check out the BYC sister site Back Yard Herds, they have a whole section on goats. http://www.backyardherds.com/
Well first always happy to have a new chicken farmer aboard This may sound funny but after my retirement and seconded family I got in to the chickens the ducks and geese I always had to mow the lawn but like you said the grandkids but in my case where I have some kids at home and grandkids in college But it all keeps me going or I just might have turned over long ago ..... Have fun with the family and enjoy your new endeavors gander007
Thank you or all of your reply's and support. I finished building our chicken coop today which I ordered from an online site. It seems a bit small and only has 2 nesting spaces. I also sealed it in poly. Now I think I need a fence around it but I put wheels on it to be able to move it around the yard. Do I need to put a wire roof on the fence? Will raccoons really get the chickens if I let them out of the cage into the yard? My husband says they will. I have a chick starter kit and I and looking at the different types of chickens. This is a lot more than buying a chick and now I realize I might need a chicken sitter when I go on vacation. But I really would like to give it a try.
