Taking advantage of Florida

[weeben]

Hello! I live in Jacksonville, Florida and can’t believe I’m just now learning about this

I will search the forum to try and find all the needed info and educate myself on how to get started. I live in a typical Florida neighborhood and my backyard is fully fenced in (guessing roughly 320 sq feet) I’m hoping to have maybe 3-5 hens, just enough to produce eggs for my family 2-3 people, and yes I myself eat more eggs then the average person. Also I wouldn’t mind a little extra to pass on to neighbors or friends.

If anyone is familiar with laws in Florida or has any good links they could point to in regards to anything you feel would be important for me to learn, please let me know! Thanks

Cheers

 

[Aeropennchick]

Hello and welcome!! I don't know about laws in Florida, but you should be able to call your city council to find out.


My experience (shared by a lot of my fellow BYCers) is you might plan for three to five....but end up with fifteen! So make sure to find out the max number allowed. However, donations of fresh eggs have been known to help neighbors turn a blind eye to such mistakes in mathematics.

Good luck!

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Hi and from Ohio, so glad you joined.

 

[weeben]

Thanks for the heads up! I will try to get ahold of the city council tomorrow.

I’m trying to read up on how to get started and what types of chicks would be most appealing to me or most beneficial for my situation.

 

[dreamer5577]

Hi & Welcome!!

 

[Aeropennchick]

Make sure you get breeds that do well in the heat - try to find a Florida thread on the Where am I? Where are you? section of the forum, maybe, and you can get some idea of what the other people in your area are raising

To start you basically need a heat light (get a red one, there is less cannibalism, with a porcelin housing), chick crumbles, some pine bedding, and a feeder and waterer. With only six, you can raise them in cardboard boxes or tupperware tubs. You don't need anything else, really. Then you have time to work on your coop!

We got a pre-made coop from our tractor supply and used it as a brooder, combining two of them together when they got older, and it will be their coop when they move outside. I chronicled our chick adventure here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/646562/evolution-of-the-chicken-master-plan

It's a work-in-progress!

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

 

[Kevin565]

 

[weeben]

Hi and

from Ohio, so glad you joined.

Thanks for the welcome! I’m from Ohio too, originally

Make sure you get breeds that do well in the heat - try to find a Florida thread on the Where am I? Where are you? section of the forum, maybe, and you can get some idea of what the other people in your area are raising

To start you basically need a heat light (get a red one, there is less cannibalism, with a porcelin housing), chick crumbles, some pine bedding, and a feeder and waterer. With only six, you can raise them in cardboard boxes or tupperware tubs. You don't need anything else, really. Then you have time to work on your coop!

We got a pre-made coop from our tractor supply and used it as a brooder, combining two of them together when they got older, and it will be their coop when they move outside. I chronicled our chick adventure here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/646562/evolution-of-the-chicken-master-plan

It's a work-in-progress!

Awesome thank you very much for the info, I will take a look at your thread and also thanks for the heads up on checking with other Florida folks.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Hello and
Here is the Florida thread in Where am I, where you are, you should be able to talk to some people in your area and find out how things go!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/305793/florida-always-sunny-side-up

There's also a section on the forum about chicken laws, and I had a bit of search there. I hope this helps! https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/jacksonville-florida-chicken-ordinance

I wish you all the best for getting started with your flock, and don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have!
Enjoy the site.