Virgins to the chicken world

Hello everyone my family is looking forward to starting our very own flock. (small flock). I just finished reading "Backyard Chickens for Beginners" by R.J. Ruppenthal. It gave me a lot of good information. We were going to get our chicks by the end of February but now we are more conscientious of what breed to buy. Any help would be much appreciated, just to give you some background we live in Southeast Idaho so winters can be rough. The coop we are going to have built will only be big enough for 4-5 chickens. Looking for good egg layers but also that will be good to eat when the eggs run out. My wife would like an Ameraucana and a Marans, if possible I guess the question is are these okay for our climate and are they better to have in pairs? Are there other breeds you would recommend? I know we will be leaning on all of you for a long time and we appreciate your help.

Kind regards,

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined the flock! I can help you a lot because I'm also an Idaho resident. Except I'm in Nampa, the other side. Ameracauna will be able to handle our cold. Most chickens can handle the cold without problems so long as they have some sort of shelter. Also if you give them a high Carbohydrate diet like cracked corn can help too as well as having more than just two chickens. I would only recommend a rooster if you plan to be eating him or plan to be breeding. I recommend Australorps, that's my favorite and the breed I currently raise. I have 24 pullets and 1 cockerel; I will be incubating eggs this February. Black Australorps are very calm, hard to stress, very hardy, amazing egg layers, and can be wonderful meat birds when they aren't laying. Here are some pics of my Black Australorp flock.
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Here's my rooster. He's around 5 months old.

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As you can see they are not timid.





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Some eggs.



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Them as little chicks.

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This is what I feed them. I also add 1lb of cracked corn per 2lbs of laying crumbles. When they shells feel rough or weak shell I give them oyster shells.



More pictures of my pullets.











 
Welcome to Backyard chickens, glad you joined the flock. The Learning center is a great place to start your chicken education. It would be a great idea also to join your state thread, and get advice about breeds best able to handle the weather conditions, etc. Rule of thumb is 4-5 sq.feet per bird INSIDE the coop, excluding roosts and nestboxes.
Birds should have 10 sq.feet each in the OUTDOOR run (covered is best).

Chickens hate being crowded and react by bullying, fighting, feather plucking , and at extremes cannibalism - OY VEY!!
 
Everyone is right.....build bigger. I went too small last year and regret it now. I maybe turning our old unused camper into a second coop as a cheep solution. I told myself six and I have nine. I live in northern Michigan and it gets pretty cold here. I have 3 EE, 2 black sex links, 2 RIR, and two white ones unknown breed as they lay brown eggs. Also just a warning chickens are addicting! I have more pictures of my chickens on my phone than I do of my husband. Lol
 
Thank you Birdrain92 and glad to see a fellow Idahoan on here. We had talked about the Black Australorps and saw it was an egg producing machine we will definitely have one or two. Your birds look great, my little girls are really excited for the chick stage.
 
Thank you Birdrain92 and glad to see a fellow Idahoan on here. We had talked about the Black Australorps and saw it was an egg producing machine we will definitely have one or two. Your birds look great, my little girls are really excited for the chick stage.

Thank you. I'll be incubating some eggs in February so I will have chicks at the end of February. I'm in Nampa so if you're willing I could set aside a few chicks for you.
 
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Hi! welcome to BYC! I welcome you and warn you that you'll become addicted to loving and learning about your chickens. I can't make any cold weather suggestions but I do agree with everyone else to build bigger. Easier to start big and section off spots than to make additions. There are really great coop building suggestions in the form. Highly recommend it.
 
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You might like to check in with members on your state thread to see what recommendations they make:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread

Don't forget to take a look at the Learning Center for articles like how to pick the best chicken breeds for you, information on coop design, healthy treats for chickens and a whole lot more. And of course, you can always ask questions.

Good luck and have fun!
 
NorthFLChick thank you for the state by state this is a lot of help. Yes there is so much stuff to read this is a great site. So glad there are so many people out there to help.
 
NorthFLChick thank you for the state by state this is a lot of help. Yes there is so much stuff to read this is a great site. So glad there are so many people out there to help.

You're most welcome. BYC is great for support and information!
 

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