newbie

[chesapeake]

I've had a growing interest in having a backyard flock, my husband and I live on five acres (mostly wooded) in Chesapeake City, MD.
We are working on getting a coop together and then want to begin putting our ladies together. Any suggestions/advice is welcome! I would especially like to know where to find newly hatched chicks for purchase this late in the season...I doubt we'll have the coop ready until end of July. We'll be able to keep up to 15 birds, and are looking for good layers, friendly, and I'd like to have some variety in the coop as well. Any suggestions for us?

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! You will find a lot of useful information on this site. When you build your coop, just be sure that it is predator proof. Use 1/2 inch hardware cloth, not chicken wire which is not predator proof. I hope you are able to find the chickens you are looking for.

 

[chesapeake]

Thank you! I admit I am nervous about the predators, we have almost everything here that's a danger to a chicken.

 

[Rocky Rhodes]

You should be able to find chicks on craigslist in your area. Try the buy-sell-trade section on this site.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

So glad you could join our community!

You might start with some reading in our learning center. Lots of good reads on all the aspects of keeping poultry..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

As for chicks, you might do some chatting in your state thread and maybe some of your chicken neighbors know where you might get some chicks this time of year....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/63745/maryland-thread

You can also try our Buy Sell and Trade section and look for birds there as well...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/67/buy-sell-trade

Some of the larger hatcheries like Murray McMurray, Ideal, Mt Healthy, My Pet Chicken, Privett etc...still have chicks available. Do a google search for some of these and you can order on line.

Good luck with this new adventure you are on and welcome to our flock!

 

[chesapeake]

Thank you! We've had a very warm welcome, there's so much to learn

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some great links to check out, good luck in your search! For breeds, here are a couple of links to some nice chicken breed comparison charts you might like http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html and http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/chickenbreedcomparison.pdf when you have narrowed down your choices, don't forget to check the BYC Reviews section for member reviews on the different breeds. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds

 

[HeIsKing]

welcome to byc!!!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

It would be of help to know what you want from chickens - layers, meat birds, show, pet, eye candy etc. Do you live where there are extremes in temperature - that could point to certain breeds.
Will children be involved?