Thinking on some Chickens

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Bukrub66

Bukrub66

Chirping
5 Years
Sep 9, 2014
103
7
63
Montgomery, Texas
Hello All. Just joined the community and have absolutely no experience with chickens. I live on 3/4 of an acre in a country community. Several of my neighbors have horses, goats and several have chickens running around there yard. I have thought about it many times but now I'm getting more serious about it. Wanting to build a nice coop that accents my home and have some free range birds helping out with insect control and lawn care. I look forward to immersing myself in some info here before pulling the trigger. Maybe get a coop going through the fall and winter and starting with some chicks in the spring.
 
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One word of caution - chickens are addicting. Learn about chicken math.
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What breeds are you considering, or have you gotten that far yet?
 
No haven't decided on a breed, as far as I know they are all just chickens. I actually just got the brain storm yesterday. I was leaving the subdivision and noticed another neighbor had 4 chickens running around. I thought to myself, " Hey Chickens". Read an article on building a coop then found this community. I love animals and remember as a kid watching my grandmothers chickens and chasing them for hours.
 
I personally was in that situation. But... Then I got some Golden sex links. Now hear me out. My hens who I love dearly are really nice. Some people do not find them as pretty as I do. They are a golden red color with white. I love to feed them mealworms out of my hand. They are verrry good eggs layers. I get an egg a day out of each and every hen. Somepeole say they burn out faster than other birds. However they lay more eggs. They might miss once in a while.They are not really a dual purpose breed. They don't have much meat on them. They are feed friendly it does not take much feed to make an egg. Some people have had health problems while I have never had one. I have own goldensex links for well over 6 years. However if you are looking for a broody hen breed. This is not the breed for you. Out if litterly 150 hens (owned at different are times) ONE has ever gone broody and she was not pure blood. I love my hens. Hope you find the breed for you!! Good luck!! Welcome to BYC!!!!!!!!
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Have you stopped by our learning center yet? Lots of good articles on all the aspects of keeping poultry to help you get started...https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

You might also have a look at our coops section too for some ideas as well...https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

Stop by our breeds pages as well for some of our members thoughts on the different breeds...https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/chicken-breeds

Good luck on this new adventure! If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!
 
ShaylaFox said:
I personally was in that situation. But... Then I got some Golden sex links. Now hear me out. My hens who I love dearly are really nice. Some people do not find them as pretty as I do. They are a golden red color with white. I love to feed them mealworms out of my hand. They are verrry good eggs layers. I get an egg a day out of each and every hen. Somepeole say they burn out faster than other birds. However they lay more eggs. They might miss once in a while.They are not really a dual purpose breed. They don't have much meat on them. They are feed friendly it does not take much feed to make an egg. Some people have had health problems while I have never had one. I have own goldensex links for well over 6 years. However if you are looking for a broody hen breed. This is not the breed for you. Out if litterly 150 hens (owned at different are times) ONE has ever gone broody and she was not pure blood. I love my hens. Hope you find the breed for you!! Good luck!! Welcome to BYC!!!!!!!!
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Yep. One of the first questions you have to ask yourself is what you main focus is for keeping chickens in the first place.

When I first started keeping chickens I decided that I wanted chickens for both - egg laying and pets. I got LF brahmas, decent layers and excellent pets with their calm, cuddly demeanor.
The longer I kept chickens the less important their egg laying capabilities became. Now I only have breeds that are cuddlebugs - LF brahmas, bantam cochins, a single serama hen (she was bought as a companion for a small disabled bird that has since passed away), and bredas.

I had four red sex links for their high egg production, decided I couldn't stand their personality and re-homed them.

P.S. My husband, a former commercial chicken farmer, originally agreed on chickens for "egg laying purposes" only. Now he is like me - cuddlebugs or nothing. In an emergency situation last spring I bought two generic chicks (long story) and they both turned out to be sebrights. While I don't care for their flighty, more aggressive personality, I am fine with putting up with them. My husband on the other hand wants them re-homed.
 
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I'm still a long ways from choosing a breed. I need to build a coop, and a broader. Gotta figure out how I'm gonna get power to it, and water. I wanna be fully prepared. I had figured I would go to the feed store and by chicks in the spring, but I can see now I'm gonna be made fun of for that, so I guess Ill have to find some breed that everyone thinks is cool, LOL. Just Kidding. Although eggs for me and my neighbors would be a definite plus. I'm really just liking the insect control and being able to watch Chicken TV. Plus I love building stuff and think I can come up with a really cool coup to keep me occupied. I'm thinking 4 chickens would be perfect for my 3/4 of an acre. :)
 
Bukrub66 said:
I'm still a long ways from choosing a breed. I need to build a coop, and a broader. Gotta figure out how I'm gonna get power to it, and water. I wanna be fully prepared. I had figured I would go to the feed store and by chicks in the spring, but I can see now I'm gonna be made fun of for that, so I guess Ill have to find some breed that everyone thinks is cool, LOL. Just Kidding. Although eggs for me and my neighbors would be a definite plus. I'm really just liking the insect control and being able to watch Chicken TV. Plus I love building stuff and think I can come up with a really cool coup to keep me occupied. I'm thinking 4 chickens would be perfect for my 3/4 of an acre. :)
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