Possible Newbee

[Katie2u]

Ok, my husband and I are looking to buy a new/old place, with a 0.25 acre of land. We would like to become more self sufficient by raising chickens, he wants to get some Genihens or a couple of geese as watch dogs. Now he has raised chickens before, however I know NOTHING about raising chickens or geese or anything besides children. I would love any advise if possible. Now, my friend has told me about her hen "eggbound" and might possibly die? How do you know these things? How do you fix them? I know I would have my Vet busy all the time between my cats and other animals. Help !!

 

[Emma Miriam]

Hi and

Learning how to raise chickens is a process, and it takes a while. There are of course many different ways to go about it, so I'll tell you what I did.

This is the first thing I read about chicken keeping. Basic info but very helpful for newbies:
http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-care/guide-toc.aspx

Next you could go one of two ways. Your first option is to purchase a book on chicken keeping. There are lots. I have the My Pet Chicken Handbook which is great. A more in depth guide and a classic is Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. You'll learn a whole lot from it.

Your other option is to surf the web for chicken blogs. There are some absolutely wonderful blogs that have so much good (and free) information. Three I love are The Chicken Chick, Fresh Eggs Daily, and Tilly's Nest. They all have Chicken Care Guides for you to browse.

My one piece of advice is not to get overwhelmed. There is a ton of info out there, some of it repetitive, some of it contradictory. If one source tells you that sand is great as bedding and another tells you it's horrible bedding, don't panic. Just do a bit more research if you'd like and form your own fact-based opinion. Also, books like Storey's Guide have whole chapters on more specialized chicken keeping, like raising chickens for meat and butchering. If that's not something you're thinking about, then focus on what's pertinent to you. You'll read about all sorts of illnesses and problems (eggbinding being one), but know that though you should inform yourself about these things, your own chickens are not going to get all these illnesses, or even half of them.

So search through the blogs I mentioned and buy a book or two. Take your time...there's no rush. Pretty soon you'll feel like an expert!

Also, use BYC. The Learning Center on one of the top tabs has lots of great articles for you to read at your leisure...and if you have a question, search through the forum. We're here to help

 

[Katie2u]

Thank you so much, I wanted to start with 3 or 4, My husband wants 10 to start with and it blew my mind, thinking I didn't know anything, but he said not to worry because he will be the one cleaning the coup.. LOL

 

[Emma Miriam]

Haha, that works out! Since he's raised chickens before, starting with more is probably fine. For newbies I've heard people recommend 6 or fewer to start out. I personally just got 4 girls from My Pet Chicken, 3 survived chickhood and three is plenty for me right now. Have you heard of chicken math? Pretty soon you'll fall in love and want to get some new fancy breeds, so it can be good to start small!

One other thought is that in a lot of places, it's hard to buy only a few chicks. At my local TSC the minimum was 6, and My Pet Chicken had a minimum of 4 for my area. It's worth looking around if you're thinking of starting with a mini flock.

If you have any other questions, let us know! Is your husband thinking of building the coop?

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I'm new to chickens as of easter this year. We started small (for us it was small) with 8 Road island Reds and 5 each white leghorn and black astrolorp. We have 9 acres so space is not an issue . The first thing to think about before bringing even one chick home is making sure you have ALL needed supplies. Feed feeder waterers coop and bedding. Most important being the coop. They out grow a brooders VERY fast. My girls are very healthy living on a free range diet with feed free choice as well. When it comes to health/safety issues your biggest problem won't be illness it will be big hungry critters. Cats coons dogs foxes you name it. Also if you can't be home to chicken sit all day make sure to attach a good sized covered enclosed run to the coop to protect them yet give them outdoor time. The more live stuff they eat and the more sun they get the happier they are.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! First thing, make sure what is legally allowed! A quarter acre is a very small space, and you must have neighbors there too.If you haven't yet bought the place, research the zoning and generally scope out the area. Birds are noisy and not easily hidden, so don't plan on that as a solution. You will need an enclosed run rather than free ranging your birds, because again the area is too small unless fenced. That's just about the chickens; then separate housing for geese, and incredibly noisy guineas. Mary

 

[cpsmith02]

If you have the space to legally have ten chickens then I would say thats a good number to have. We started with ten and fell in love with them and quickly rose the number up to 23!!