Total newbie seeking tldr on "getting started" with chicks!

[imnew2chickens]

Hello friends! I am a new home owner and am lucky enough to have a beautiful big yard here in Portland, Oregon. I am excited to get a small flock (3-4) of hens for egg supply + new family pets, most likely Orphington, Austrolorp, maybe an Americaunah, maybe a Sussex?

We are settled and have a nice space for a brooder in the attached garage and a spot picked out for a coop/run in the yard. Before I get ahead of myself and go buy a bunch of stuff (including the chicks themselves!) I thought I would seek some tips from this community.

So, for someone who is about to get chicks and knows nothing, what's most important for me to consider as I move forward? THANK YOU!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

That chickens are a big responsibility and will require you to work daily. You’ll want to educate yourself on the breeds and their egg lying capabilities and make sure you research feed ideas.

 

[paneubert]

Usually a good idea to get the coop built before you get chicks, since most people end up procrastinating or letting life get in the way of finishing the coop. Then they have 6-8 week old chicks living in their kitchen.....

 

[Rose Quartz]

Hello friends! I am a new home owner and am lucky enough to have a beautiful big yard here in Portland, Oregon. I am excited to get a small flock (3-4) of hens for egg supply + new family pets, most likely Orphington, Austrolorp, maybe an Americaunah, maybe a Sussex?

We are settled and have a nice space for a brooder in the attached garage and a spot picked out for a coop/run in the yard. Before I get ahead of myself and go buy a bunch of stuff (including the chicks themselves!) I thought I would seek some tips from this community.

So, for someone who is about to get chicks and knows nothing, what's most important for me to consider as I move forward? THANK YOU!

Chicks grow fast, you'll need a coop to put them in before long. through all the things I've looked at the inside coop space is minimum 4sqft per large fowl adult. and 10sqft run space per LF.

Chicks don't need as much space in the brooder, but if they're gonna be inside for the first 8 weeks, I think it's supposed to be about 2sqft per chick.

The brooder will need something to keep the chicks warm. I use a normal 60 watt incandescent about 5" off the floor of the brooder with a normal light socket screwed into the wall so it cant fall. I've also used a heating pad that has a no auto-off function. sunbeam has one. the chicks will need a space where it isn't heated to so they can choose how warm they need to be.

 

[Merci BeauCoop]

Hello friends! I am a new home owner and am lucky enough to have a beautiful big yard here in Portland, Oregon. I am excited to get a small flock (3-4) of hens for egg supply + new family pets, most likely Orphington, Austrolorp, maybe an Americaunah, maybe a Sussex?

We are settled and have a nice space for a brooder in the attached garage and a spot picked out for a coop/run in the yard. Before I get ahead of myself and go buy a bunch of stuff (including the chicks themselves!) I thought I would seek some tips from this community.

So, for someone who is about to get chicks and knows nothing, what's most important for me to consider as I move forward? THANK YOU!

Hi & welcome! I am a newbie too and in the Portland area! I have eggs in the incubator and a coop being built as I type So it looks like we are both starting this adventure at the same time. SO excited to meet these new little fuzz balls - only 10 more days until they (hopefully) hatch! Good luck with your new home and new family members. Keep in touch!

 

[TheBeardie]

I'm sure you'll love chickens as much as we do! Check out some articles here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/

For newbies, get everything done before you get chicks. Coop, run( If you're going that way) feeders, waterers and anything else that has to do with housing should be done before you get chicks.

Hanging out and giving the flock treats should gain their trust pretty easily.

If you're getting your girls from a feed store or a hatchery, the Ameraucana will be a Easter Egger. A EE is basically a off brand Ameraucana, only reputable breeders have true Ameraucanas. That being said I'm not looking for show quality birds, so EEs are good enough for me.

Have a first aid kit ready for injuries and health problems.

This one's for ducks but goes over some stuff you'll need.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ine-cabinet-is-it-anything-like-this.1295284/

And here's another one.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...essential-supplies-and-how-to-use-them.64830/

Here's some of my flock.

One of my Muscovy ducks.

One of my bantam girls.

The white egg if one of the Bantams and the other two are from my standard girls. They just started laying!

 

[imnukensc]

The biggest thing you need to do is READ everything you can on this site about raising chicks/chickens.

 

[WhoDatChick]

Hello friends! I am a new home owner and am lucky enough to have a beautiful big yard here in Portland, Oregon. I am excited to get a small flock (3-4) of hens for egg supply + new family pets, most likely Orphington, Austrolorp, maybe an Americaunah, maybe a Sussex?

We are settled and have a nice space for a brooder in the attached garage and a spot picked out for a coop/run in the yard. Before I get ahead of myself and go buy a bunch of stuff (including the chicks themselves!) I thought I would seek some tips from this community.

So, for someone who is about to get chicks and knows nothing, what's most important for me to consider as I move forward? THANK YOU!

Hi.. I’m fairly new too. My first batch of gals just turned one year! And I just got 4 new chicks.. about 2 weeks old now..
Last year I had my 8 in this brooder for about 4 weeks.. then to the next one.. for a few more weeks.. then on to the mini coop for a few more.. and all the while we built the big coop that they then moved into.. so it can be done.. they had plenty of room in the brooders .. just keep em clean.. which is not hard to do nor time consuming..
Look at the coop page for ideas..

 

[TheBeardie]

You can also come on over to the flock/life thread that Krystal aka @KLIL started. You can share your journey and live through us who do have chickens!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/flock-life-journeys-2019.1286370/

 

[TheAmundsons]

Welcome! Monday will be exactly one year since we got our first chicks, so I'm still learning too! Everyone here has posted some really wonderful advice. I have to strongly agree with having everything set up and ready to go before you get your chicks...we had planned to do that, but I got too excited and bought the chicks first. Oops we found that we were always scrambling to get them more room. We actually ended up building our coop during a snow storm one weekend last April...not fun! @Rose Quartz gave you the minimum square foot requirements per bird, which is what we used to figure out how big to make our coop and run area. We have 10 chickens and 3 ducks, and technically have room for about 8 more birds, but I feel like our set up is way too small for the birds we have now! We are relocating our coop this summer to a barn that we will convert into a coop. It is going to be almost 27 times the size of our current set up! (That leaves plenty of room for chicken math ) My biggest piece of advice is to make the coop big enough for 5-6 chickens since you said you're hoping to have a flock of 3-4. This will ensure they have plenty of room and are super happy!

I would also do a looooot of reading on here to really get an idea of what is involved in the daily care of chickens, and what you should have to get started! Best of luck! Post pictures when you do get your chicks!