Total Newb

[jrob53]

John from PA here

(1) Totally new to chickens other family members have them and the farm I work at.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now? 0

(3) I have some one who wants to give me 3 - 1 year old Rhode Island Red from family flock and the farm I work at has 2 year old sex-links I can get a $1 each. Coop will be big enough for 8 not sure if it's a good idea mixing the two. Mainly looking at eggs for 4 people and compost for our garden.

(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? Google searching for info

(5) What are some of your other hobbies? music/guitar and anything else I can get my hands on

(6) Semi-retired, we grow most of our own vegetables, have a tank for a dog, Starting to try out Back-To-Eden gardening

Going to start building a 4x8 coop with and 8'x12' run figure that will work for 8 but probably only have 6 at most

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

I think you are wise to keep only 6 birds in this space. The more room they have, the healthier mentally and physically they will be.

You can mix these two groups of birds. If you get them all at the same time, you won't need to do any introductions as you will if you move one group in first. It they are all new, they are far less territorial. If you add them after getting one group, you will need to keep the newbies in a cage or enclosure in the coop and run for 3 or 4 weeks. Everybody sees, nobody touches. Then you can mix them after this long introduction. If you don't do this they can fight, injure and even kill each other.

Have you stopped by our learning center yet? Lots of good articles on all the aspects of keeping poultry....https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

If you still have any questions, always feel free to ask.

Enjoy this new journey you are on and welcome to our flock!

 

[N F C]

Hi John,

Good for you on doing your homework first, always a good idea to know what you're getting into first. RIR and the sex links can form a nice flock and Two Crows has given you some excellent advice on the benefits of getting them all at the same time instead of 2 groups.

Since you like gardening you might enjoy this forum:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16176/gardening

Make yourself at home here, and if you have any questions feel free to ask. There's a ton of information available and lots of friendly, helpful members.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

Chickens need 4-5 sq.feet per bird inside the coop excluding nest boxes and roosts, and 10 sq. feet per bird in the outdoor run. If you integrate your birds carefully, the RIR and sex links should eventually get along together. Sex links do their best laying in the first two years then drop off. That may be why they are so cheap. You may also like to visit the Learning Center, which will answer most questions you can come up with.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!