Hippie Chick Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Hello! Yet another newbie here! At the moment I have a chicken house, a big pile of branches from pruned trees that need clearing to make room for the chicken run... and chickens on order for mid/end July! When the chickens are old enough, the place I’m buying them from is going to select them for me and put them all together in a group for a few weeks so that they all know each other and the pecking order is hopefully established, so this city girl with no experience doesn’t get all stressy about chick fights when I get them home! Very helpful I thought! And their chicken keeping course was great too – we wrangled a chicken each and ate homemade cake – what’s not to like? The question I wanted to ask you all has just been – very helpfully – asked by Thumbcat, so all I’m really doing today is saying ‘hello’ to you all while getting more excited and more anxious as the days go by! I’ll bother you all with questions later – as and when they arise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens! You are going to love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome to the forum Sound's like you're all sorted with your course and chickens, look forward to hearing all about them when they arrive! Do you know what chickens you're getting - pure breeds or hybrids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmashazzie Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome Hippie chick you will love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia_305 Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I'm a newbie too - only had mine for 4 weeks but now I wonder why on earth i havent had chicks all my life they are wonderful to have around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumbcat Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi Hippie Chick I'm glad my blundering about trying to find out about chickens was useful to you I've found this forum fantastic and have spent many hours scrolling down the pages. Your course sounds great and what a good idea that they'll sort out the group for you beforehand. You can put off that particular stress for now anyway. How many are you getting? I'm going to choose my girls on Saturday. I've since realised I'm going out with friends on Saturday night so I'd better take it easy and keep a clear head for my first morning as a chicken keeper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippie Chick Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks all The forum has been a great place to find out about the highs and lows of chicken keeping and I've enjoyed reading all the questions from beginners like myself and some of the weird and wonderful things chickens get up to. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my lot are going to be the scourge of slugs in my garden. I'm getting 5 POL chickens, made up of 2 breeds and 3 hybrids. One each of Speckled Sussex, Lavender Araucana, Rhode Rock, Bluebelle and a Speckledy. I made the mistake of taking my other half to see the chickens and he kept rattling on about the Araucana, which wasn't on my radar at all, so I gave in on that one and added it on to the order. Any time the araucana misbehaves I can then point out to him that he chose that one and he'd better sort it out! It's all getting very exciting and I'm relieved that the gales and heavy rain has packed in so I can get back out in the wilderness/garden and clear the area needed. Today I became the proud owner of a treadle feeder that I found for a very good price on Ebay! Yes, I really am that sad getting excited about a feeder. I shall go back outside now and sort a bit more of the garden out. This evening I shallbe on the internet trying to located a vaccine for this Morehens disease I keep reading about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsunset Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Lol, that was me three years ago, nervous about putting my first pic on with my very first 6 chooks and my nicely painted wee hen house.......fast fwd and have over 30 with baby chicks, an incubator and morehens took well and truly over You enjoy and yes, it's totally normal on here to get excited about a treadle feeder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippie Chick Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 So, how did this happen? After a couple of days of working in the garden allegedly making space for the chickens... the pile of pruned tree branches is larger than when I started! Something to do with the concussion after hitting my head on a beech tree branch several times! Out came the saw and down came several branches. On the bright side, the beech can be safely shredded to make wood chippings. I wasn't really planning on taking more branches down though before I'd dealt with the previous lot... but it seems that I'm not psychologically equipped to remember to duck under branches as I'm only 5'2" and nothing is really low enough for me to hit my head on things... until now! I really need to get a move on, fingers crossed I'll make some headway this week as the weather is supposed to stay mostly dry! It'll all be worth it - can't wait to cuddle a chicken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi Hippie Chick, just wanted to add a little hello from me You will love having the chickens. I just wanted to say that cuddling a chicken is almost as good as having a cuddle with a dog. They are soft and fluffy, chat to you and when they are feeling really relaxed they doze off. I love it when they do that. Watch out for any more branches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
