Soon to Be a BYC Farmer

[foolishcop]

Hello all,

I'll be a brand new backyard chicken "farmer" come the spring, if you can call 4 or 5 hens a farmer. After years of watching from the sidelines, I'm finally going to make the dive into it. I've built my coop and run, will be ordering my new chicks for the spring in a week or so, and am looking to raising my small flock.

My primary purpose in raising chickens is for eggs, but I also plan to use the hens for meat as they age and their production declines, so I'll always be adding a few birds to the flock every year.

With those goals in mind, and considering the weather conditions we get here in northern NJ, I'm thinking of getting a combination of Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, and Buff Orpingtons. I was considering going with 2 of each as I heard it is not uncommon for a bird or two to die, and if they all survive, well, so much the better.

This has been on my to-do list for sometime and a neighbor and I have talked for a long time about building coops. I finally went ahead and did it (after tiring of waiting for him to be ready to begin) and after a good friend built her coop a few years back and expanded to ducks, quail, and who knows what else!

I've lurked on these boards and pages since I first got the inkling of doing this, and now plan to be an active member, which I'm sure will entail me peppering the forums with too many questions. Looking forward to the experience.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to Backyardchickens.com aka BYC!
We are glad you joined our flock.
Jump right in and make yourself at home.

Question asking is a great way to learn...ask away!

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

A good read:
http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production
Current contest: Official BYC Coop Page Contest - Fall-Winter 2017

 

[Differentiation]

Best of luck for your little chicken farm. I started as well two months ago and loving every bit of it. Chickens are such fun and loving birds.

 

[Hope Hughes]

Hello
Welcome to BYC!!
So glad to have you here!!
Thanks for sharing your story!!
There are many people on here that are ready to help in anyway they can!
The learning center also has alot of great information on it as well!
Enjoy!​

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Rich and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[Krazyquilts]

Hello all,

I'll be a brand new backyard chicken "farmer" come the spring, if you can call 4 or 5 hens a farmer. After years of watching from the sidelines, I'm finally going to make the dive into it. I've built my coop and run, will be ordering my new chicks for the spring in a week or so, and am looking to raising my small flock.

My primary purpose in raising chickens is for eggs, but I also plan to use the hens for meat as they age and their production declines, so I'll always be adding a few birds to the flock every year.

With those goals in mind, and considering the weather conditions we get here in northern NJ, I'm thinking of getting a combination of Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, and Buff Orpingtons. I was considering going with 2 of each as I heard it is not uncommon for a bird or two to die, and if they all survive, well, so much the better.

This has been on my to-do list for sometime and a neighbor and I have talked for a long time about building coops. I finally went ahead and did it (after tiring of waiting for him to be ready to begin) and after a good friend built her coop a few years back and expanded to ducks, quail, and who knows what else!

I've lurked on these boards and pages since I first got the inkling of doing this, and now plan to be an active member, which I'm sure will entail me peppering the forums with too many questions. Looking forward to the experience.

Cheers,
Rich

Whoohoo! Congratulations on expanding your flock! Beware of Chicken Math - it is a veeeeery addicting obsession! Also, most of us on here are terrible enablers - now you've been warned!

I have six Plymouth Rock hens - such sweeties! They come running to me whenever I go outside and often follow me around hoping for treats.

Currently, the only Orpingtons I have are roosters, but I plan on getting more Orpingtons next year. The Orpingtons are just gorgeous and I get so many compliments on them, especially my Lemon Orpington (creatively named "Lemon) who is at the moment the head rooster of my laying flock.

And here he is with my Silver Laced Orpington boys:

And a pure Orpington that is a mixed color:

If your primary purpose is eggs, however, I've heard that the Orpingtons aren't the best layers compared to some smaller breeds. You might want to look at hybrids like Golden Comets or Isa Browns etc.

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Rich Welcome!

This article might help you with your decision on a breed: Pickin a Chicken

You might also be interested in downloading this free e-book My First Year With Chickens

I do hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello.

Personally, I have found the Topic of the Week articles a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock when they arrive, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Happy to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Rich and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us. I think you are making a sound decision by trying a few different breeds to begin with - you'll quickly learn which breeds suit you and climate best.

Here’s a link to the Articles section - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ There you’ll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs.

There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.


All the best

Pork Pie

 

[Roscoe2k2]

I'm learning the ropes too good luck Rich...come on in

Hello all,

I'll be a brand new backyard chicken "farmer" come the spring, if you can call 4 or 5 hens a farmer. After years of watching from the sidelines, I'm finally going to make the dive into it. I've built my coop and run, will be ordering my new chicks for the spring in a week or so, and am looking to raising my small flock.

My primary purpose in raising chickens is for eggs, but I also plan to use the hens for meat as they age and their production declines, so I'll always be adding a few birds to the flock every year.

With those goals in mind, and considering the weather conditions we get here in northern NJ, I'm thinking of getting a combination of Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, and Buff Orpingtons. I was considering going with 2 of each as I heard it is not uncommon for a bird or two to die, and if they all survive, well, so much the better.

This has been on my to-do list for sometime and a neighbor and I have talked for a long time about building coops. I finally went ahead and did it (after tiring of waiting for him to be ready to begin) and after a good friend built her coop a few years back and expanded to ducks, quail, and who knows what else!

I've lurked on these boards and pages since I first got the inkling of doing this, and now plan to be an active member, which I'm sure will entail me peppering the forums with too many questions. Looking forward to the experience.

Cheers,
Rich