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Flock update: see how it's going here! I appreciate all the words of wisdom and encouragement. I love my girls!

I'm building for 6, bringing home 5 and somewhat pessimistically assuming there will be attrition eventually so a new bird or two in the future is likely. The two of us like eggs, but frankly I have no problem buying whatever I need to supplement whatever comes from the girls. Dominiques are...

I actually considered doing a flock of bantams instead! I love how little and beautiful they are, like your boy here. But ultimately I was concerned about their hardiness in my climate and their added risk of predation, so I went with "regular" birds.

I have no need for more than what I'm planning. Truly I consider the addition of chickens to be a hobby add-on to my gardening hobby, which sucks up quite enough time/money/effort as it is. In this scenario for me, more does not equal better.

Oh I'm a classic anxious worrier, which is how I'm tying myself in knots in the first place. Reading the threads on problems has definitely given me great insight into preparing for problems -- even if the ultimate solution is... chickens sometimes just die. But I have a nice little first-aid...

My goodness look at that face. So sweet! I'm starting with pullets rather than chicks, so we'll see how well I do with socializing them to be friendly. Maybe someday I'll hand-raise a few and see how that goes. It sounds like you're well on your way into chicken keeping!

I really really hope this is me soon! I very much want to embrace this whole thing and enjoy it (or most of it anyway). It might not be rocket science, but maybe that's why I'm so hell-bent on overthinking everything -- it feels suspiciously simple!

I want to make a joke about the chickens being well-seasoned travelers...

I fell in love with what I learned about this breed, and just had to have them. Seriously hoping they at least tolerate me, if not eventually chicken-love me!

My entire run will be hardware cloth, including below the floor and extended out. The coop and its attached tractor-run is metal, but I'm going to also wrap it with HC because I refuse to just assume it'll be enough to protect them. Between the tractor, permanent run, and some supervised...

Thank you <3 I can't do it any other way -- it's in my nature to research, obsess over details, discover contradictions, research again, and repeat. Nothing teaches better than experience, but at least I've read the notes!

Healthy and safe for sure! Luckily the person building my run is a very experienced chicken keep in addition to run builder, so he's been schooling me on the real ins and outs of pest and predator issues. I REFUSE to budge on my stance of being "anti-chicken math" 😂 I absolutely do not have...

Look at those fluffs! How did you end up in a hotel with them?! You bring up a good point: BYC is not the entire chicken-keeping world, so a good portion of what gets posted here are the problems and horror stories looking for help. Naturally I see it, and while it's excellent for preparedness...

WOW 40 birds!! I can only imagine. I really hope I enjoy them, but you're of course right that if I don't, there are options. Learning to raise, love, and then humanely end a pet's life isn't 100% foreign to me now since I had to make that call for my beloved cat last year. Obviously I didn't...

You're right -- plenty of unfortunately things happen with any pet! That parakeet I mentioned went from fairly normal and sweet to a crazy attack bird in the space of maybe 2 years... which might be why I never tried that particular pet again! Predator-proofing and critter-proofing are my main...

I agree, probably I'd never even make the attempt without this forum to provide the backbone of support and knowledge. What an incredible community we have here. In the few times I've been around chickens (and my across-street neighbors have some, but I don't know them well enough to knock) I...

Your story is what I'm trying so hard to picture as my own! Just getting into it and providing care and love to get eggs and chicken-love in return. I'm going to hold this image in my heart when I get stressed. Thank you!

I think my city brain draws a line between domesticated pets and... barnyard animals? But you're right, I do care for animals and I didn't know anything before I had my first. "Birds first worry later" feels like advice I needed a few months ago 😁 Can we pause for a minute and just admire the...

Oh yes, I'll be relying on the internet to instruct me in how to handle them -- day 1 will be bringing them home in a box on an hour-long drive, so we'll have uh bonding time? These forums and a few other sources are SO valuable and I've learned a whole lot that I could absolutely never have...

Thank you, good to know the newbie nerves are normal. I think a lot of it comes from wanting to do right by my chickies, and wondering if my inexperience might hurt them. But I guess it's more "you win some, you learn some" with live animals!