garddwr Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 A friend is selling her chicken coop and I decided to purchase it. Now I need to start learning about chickens. Would some of you wise souls with chicken experience help point me in the right direction? I'm planning to spend this summer/fall learning about chickens, then hopefully get some chicks to raise--I hear that three hens makes a nice backyard flock? Please share anything you think would be important for a first-time chicken owner, or point me in the right direction to get more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 2 sources that are very helpful: backyardchickens.com and this book http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Chickens-ebook/dp/B003U898WA/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1369943853&sr=8-12&keywords=backyard+chickens We have a family of 6 and have 11 hens. I find that this amount fits our family well. In the winter we have just enough eggs to not have to buy any. In the late spring-early fall we have excess that I sell. I am not sure how many eggs your family eats in a day, but with 3 hens you will get between 1-3 eggs a day. 3 eggs would not be even close to enough for a breakfast of eggs and toast. Also, another thing that we found very helpful is using chicken nipple waterers. The other type you have to clean constantly! With these you simply attach them to the bottom of a 5 gallon food safe bucket and fill. During the winter you can drop a bucket heater in there to keep it from freezing. It makes the maintenance much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Also, another thing that we found very helpful is using chicken nipple waterers. The other type you have to clean constantly! With these you simply attach them to the bottom of a 5 gallon food safe bucket and fill. During the winter you can drop a bucket heater in there to keep it from freezing. It makes the maintenance much easier. where do you get one of these? I want one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 where do you get one of these? I want one! I got mine from here. http://www.qcsupply.com/farm-livestock/waterers/poultry-waterers.html I got the nipples separate from the bucket as it was cheaper to do so. I believe we got the poly screw in type. We got an inexpensive bucket from Lowes that was food grade and a metal chain and hook to chain it to the chicken coop ceiling. The nipples leak if you have them horizontally installed. You can see a pic in the link for the bucket and how they work. I also found them at amazon...they look the same as the ones we got. http://www.amazon.com/Poultry-Chicken-nipple-chickens-hatching/dp/B004NEIS1M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Well, my first suggestion would be to read up on "Chicken Math" (See below). It WILL get you! :lol: :lol: Four is a good number and I would not suggest getting any less. Chickens are social creatures and like to have company. If you get three and something happens to one or two of them, your lone chicken will be very sad. You also can't just put new/younger/older chickens together right away. It takes time to integrate them. My DH and I agreed on four. Then "chicken math" hit. Then I got bit by the incubating bug. I am down to 60 chickens at the moment. My dog took out 12 of them in less than one hour when my daughter accidentally let her out not realizing the chickens were out ranging. Here is my experience with "Chicken Math": Hubby and I agreed on four chickens. I went to a local guy that hatches out chicks to get four Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks. While there, I noticed a second pen full of baby chicks, they happened to be Easter Egger chicks. So we came home with four of those too. Total: 8 A few weeks later I realized at least one of those chicks was a boy. So I went to get two Buff Orpington chicks that were sexed female at hatch. When I got there, I was told there were only three chicks left, one was a boy. I couldn't leave him by himself, so I took all three chickens. Total: 11 Now, back to my original four SLW...... three of them are looking pretty roo-ish to me. So I went and got seven more Buff Orps that were hatched the same day as the three I had bought a few days prior. My four chicks have turned into eighteen chicks. But I swear to my DH we only have THREE chicks.. SLW, EE and BO. That leaves me still able to get one more chick to bring me up to the four we agreed upon. Then I realized that my eight original chicks were ALL roosters as well as four of my BO's! I was able to find a home for two of them, so that brings me down to 16 chicks. Knowing I still had several roos to re-home, I ordered the Hatchery Choice Pullet Special and got 16 babies. That brought me up to 32 chicks. But...that same day started Chick Days at Tractor Supply. I brought home six sexed red pullets for a total of 38 chicks. Then I just had to hatch my own eggs, which meant 13 more babies. Yup, 51 chicks. My managers sister has a farm and took 9 of my roosters. So that means I have seven BO's (one is a gorgeous roo), 22 sexed pullets (one of which turned into a roo) and 13 babies that hatched. I saw a listing on Ebay for gorgeous eggs that I just had to have. I bought a dozen but only two of them hatched. (Total: 53) I took 14 eggs out of my coop and put them in the incubator to see if they were fertile. I happened to wander into Tractor Supply and guess what... it's CHICK WEEK! Seeing as I don't have a great track record of good hatches I bought six more chicks. (Total: 59) I still had the 14 eggs in the incubator but I didn't think most would hatch. Well, guess what.. 13 of them hatched! (Total: 72) This is where we stood until my dog ate 12 of them, now I have only 60. And.. I'm really fighting the urge to fill the incubator again. Coop Math is similar to Chicken Math. I was going to start out with a 4x6 coop, but that was before I brought my little fuzzy butts home. Since I had more than the agreed upon 4 chicks, I decided I needed to go a bit larger and ordered a 6x8. Then I saw the 8x10 wasn't much more money.. but wait.. the 10x16 was only a little more than the 10x12 so lets go with that one. I had to call the shed company back twice to change the size. So my shed arrives and I realize I can't put all my chicks together because of the age difference. I had to have someone come over and build a wire mesh wall to divide the coop. Now my BO's are in one side and my 22 sexed pullets are on the other. But what to do with my 13 babies that hatched??? I had to put their brooder in the shed and I think I need another coop! When my husband asked me how many chickens I have, I told him THREE! I have BO's, Teenage Pullets and the new babies... that's three, right? That means I can still get one more to bring me up to the agreed upon four chickens! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 My advice is DON'T read too much! A lot of people appear up confuse chickens with people, and get very worked up if they don't think you're doing it right (i.e. their way). It's kind of funny, as long as you don't get sucked in... I wasted months between setting up the run and building the coop, and actual getting chickens because I kept worrying about 'doing it right' until I remembered that they're animals - they need food, water, somewhere to dry out and sleep safely and ways to mimic wild behaviour (a perch, and a place to scratch). Depending in where you live you might need to think about (but not over think) extreme weather conditions. I am definitely not an expert - we've had our three for 2 weeks! - but I wish I'd stopped thinking and reading and started doing months ago. We got 5 week old chicks that no longer needed special care (lights to keep them warm), but were still 'babies'. They're so funny and interesting to watch! It took them a week to learn to use the ramp to their sleeping area, and another few days to figure out that they should head to bed as it gets dark. They haven't yet figured out 'shelter', though, and spent a very wet day yesterday under a bush, rather than in the covered run/coop area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganCupcake Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 We now have five. We started with three last spring and they are great, but we wanted more! They really are easy to take care of and fun to watch. My chickens (at least the older ones) are too dumb to use a nipple waterer. We tried to teach them, but gave up after a couple of weeks. I used to be vegan, but my homegrown eggs brought me over to the dark side. :) Our chickens free range our backyard and they lay the most wonderful, delicious eggs. A supermarket egg cannot compare. One thing I did a bit differently with my second batch was I got them at 8 weeks instead of a few days old. There is a woman (probably local to you, too, since you don't live too far from me) who sells them "coop ready" in many, many varieties, as well as newly-hatched chicks. Coop ready was worth it to me. I got really tired of the stinking brooding box in my basement last spring. When they are very little, it doesn't stink too much, but after a few weeks, there is a definite stink to it, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Storey's has a good book on chickens. I would get that and call it good. Over thinking chickens is easy to do. Also realize that more space in the coop is better than less. I see coops sold as for 10 chicken and I can only imagine 5 being happy in the space. Raise from chicks becaus it is fun and they're so cute at first too. Think about how many eggs you eat a day or week and use that to judge what you need. If you only use 1-2 dozen eggs a month DONT get 10 chickens. Almost a dozen eggs a day gets a little crazy fast if you make my mistake. I have since learned to like eggs and now have 4 chickens/eggs a day and that is about a normal breakfast for us and we don't eat eggs every morning so it works out well now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I like this book for questions that may pop up. "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow This is the most comprehensive guide I have read. Backyard Chicken website will answer a lot of questions too. As a previous poster wrote: Don't worry too much. Make sure that they have chicken food and water. If there are predators in your area (and there are in most areas), make sure you can lock the coop and there is a roof that will keep predator birds from picking off your chickens. Fencing should go deep into the ground so foxes, etc., cannot dig into the enclosure or coop. Provide some type of roosting/perching pole. The wooden poles used for curtain rods at Lowe's / Home Depot work very well. AND remember - if you have a hen set on eggs and hatch chicks, they are NOT mammals, they do not suckle, there is nothing to suckle on. The chicks need their own food. Someone once suggested to me that chicks must be fun to watch when they suckle from the Momma Hen.... :lol: I've been educating people ever since. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Thank you Thank you everyone. Berta, your chicken math story was hilarious! You definitely have only 3 chickens and really need to get one more. OK, I like the idea of four chickens in the coop. There is an area along the fence that I am thinking of making into a chicken run--it would be about 10 by 20 feet. Would I just fence that off with chicken wire? Do I need to cover the top with wire as well? I could let them free range in the back yard, but if I do that will they destroy my garden? And will they get over the fence? I have to be somewhat discreet about this because technically based on our lot size ( 1/4 acre) our city would only permit us to have one chicken--yes, just one. Funny thing is they say it doesn't matter if it's a hen or a rooster. I figure if a neighbor decides to complain about my hens I can offer to trade them in for a rooster :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I was advised to paint the inside of the chicken coop as the paint fills nooks and crevices so If you get red mite there are less little crannies for them to hide in. the finish makes it easier to wash down too rather than raw wood. Also Diatomaceous earth is great to use from day 1. Sprinkle it on the ground under the bedding of the house and rub some into the and in little piles at either end to help keep mite at bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Can anyone suggest one or two varieties of hens that will be decent egg layers and friendly with the family? I've heard some varieties are quite laid back and sociable but others can be rather aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 My Buff Orpingtons are calm, friendly birds. I also have to say my other favorites are my Barred Rocks and Easter Eggers. I know Rhode Island Reds are prolific layers but mine have been flighty and not as friendly as the other girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 My neighbor wants to attach chicken wire across the ground of the run to prevent raccoons from getting in while she's out of town so if we don't make it over to close them in the coop at night they'll still be okay. Does that sound safe enough for them? I would hate to discover it wasn't! Do chickens still scratch and eat okay through chicken wire on the ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganCupcake Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thank you Thank you everyone. Berta, your chicken math story was hilarious! You definitely have only 3 chickens and really need to get one more. OK, I like the idea of four chickens in the coop. There is an area along the fence that I am thinking of making into a chicken run--it would be about 10 by 20 feet. Would I just fence that off with chicken wire? Do I need to cover the top with wire as well? I could let them free range in the back yard, but if I do that will they destroy my garden? And will they get over the fence? I have to be somewhat discreet about this because technically based on our lot size ( 1/4 acre) our city would only permit us to have one chicken--yes, just one. Funny thing is they say it doesn't matter if it's a hen or a rooster. I figure if a neighbor decides to complain about my hens I can offer to trade them in for a rooster :rofl: Chickens will eat your tasty garden, so you do have to protect your plants from them. Garden seedlings and plants are irresistible to them. They can get over a fence pretty easily unless it's 5 or 6 feet high, and even that could be jumped if they got a boost from the roof of a coop or some other midway point. One night last summer, I discovered my three roosting on the top of our six-foot privacy fence. They had hopped up there somehow from the roof of the coop Some of our run is covered for shade and protection from rain, but most of it is not covered. We haven't had any swoop-down predators come after ours. Chicken wire is good for keeping chickens in, but it is not so great for keeping predators out. Hardware cloth is better for keeping predators out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 My Buff Orpingtons are calm, friendly birds. I also have to say my other favorites are my Barred Rocks and Easter Eggers. I know Rhode Island Reds are prolific layers but mine have been flighty and not as friendly as the other girls. Thank you for the recommendations! Do they get along better if all are of the same breed, or does that not matter? Maybe I could get one each of several different breeds. It would be fun to get different colored eggs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Chickens will eat your tasty garden, so you do have to protect your plants from them. Garden seedlings and plants are irresistible to them. They can get over a fence pretty easily unless it's 5 or 6 feet high, and even that could be jumped if they got a boost from the roof of a coop or some other midway point. One night last summer, I discovered my three roosting on the top of our six-foot privacy fence. They had hopped up there somehow from the roof of the coop Some of our run is covered for shade and protection from rain, but most of it is not covered. We haven't had any swoop-down predators come after ours. Chicken wire is good for keeping chickens in, but it is not so great for keeping predators out. Hardware cloth is better for keeping predators out. We do have a 6 foot privacy fence around most of the yard, but I am thinking I would rather put a fence around the chickens than around the garden. I don't think predators will be a problem during the day, and as long as they are in their coop at night they should be fine. We have had raccoons around in the past, though I haven't seen any since a neighbor trapped the resident family two years ago. I hadn't thought about them getting from the top of the coop to the fence, but that is a good thing to consider. Better put the coop away from the fence if I'm going to let them roam around it. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions and experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganCupcake Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thank you for the recommendations! Do they get along better if all are of the same breed, or does that not matter? Maybe I could get one each of several different breeds. It would be fun to get different colored eggs... When I got our first three, they were all different breeds. It doesn't seem to matter in terms of how they get along--they will develop a pecking order no matter what, and then they will generally coexist peacefully after that's determined. We have two Buff Orpingtons (our newest ones), a gold sex-linked, a Barred Rock, and a black star sex-linked. The black star is the least friendly to humans and will peck us. I found out this year that they are known for being kind of aggressive. Our other breeds are fine with my kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 We like barred rocks the best. They are not so flighty. We have had buff orpingtons, black astralorp, golden sex links, road island reds, cucko marans, and easter eggers. The only ones we really had a problem with were the ones who turned out roos. They get really mean! As far as chicken wire. Chicken wire is to keep chickens in, not predators out. Coons can get their hands in chicken wire and will tear apart a chicken piece by piece and pull it back through. This of course would only likely happen at night while the chickens are roosting. Wire mesh is what keeps raccoons out. We used it over the window cut outs to our coop, that way we can leave them open at night in the summer. Yes, chickens will love to eat a garden, so better keep them fenced out of it. Also, our chickens had to have their wings clipped to keep them from flying over the 6' fence. It was easy to do in the evening when they had roosted. You can get different breeds, but it is best to get them about the same age. It is harder to get the pecking order established without too much bullying if you have very small chicks and larger birds. They really can be mean to each other. As for the water nipples. They work well when the chicks are a bit older (about 4-6 weeks or so). I just put it in the brooder with them and tapped on the nipple. It makes a clinking sound that was interesting to them. Once one of them gets the idea, all of the others will follow. After a day or two, I removed the chick waterer and they never had a problem. This is the second flock I have used them with. Both flocks figured it out in just a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 We have a variety of chickens (15 chickens in all). Our Buffs are the friendliest of all of them. People seem to think our Americauna eggs are cool though...greenish blue. They lay about 9-12 eggs in the summer and 5-6 a day in the winter. We originally let our chickens free range but they used our raised beds for lovely dust baths and ate all the veggies in them plus there was chicken mess all over the patio....they make a lot of mess. Now they are fenced into their own yard and are much easier. My husband made the fence using a really cheap snow fence and it keeps them in. It was going to be temporary but we kinda like them confined to one area. We coop them up tight at night. We recently lost one chicken who was probably egg bound but otherwise we've had really good luck. A neighbor's dog got one who scared out of the fence last year but she survived with some TLC. We had to separate her out from the others but where they could see her because the dog pulled all the feathers off her back and neck so she was bloody. We covered her with blue-cote and in a few days returned her to the coop at night. They forgot she hadn't been with them all along. Ha! We did a lot of reading on the internet before we got our chickens and ordered Backyard Chicken magazine. It might have been best to just get them and read what we needed to know as we went along or ask our chicken-owning friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thank you for the recommendations! Do they get along better if all are of the same breed, or does that not matter? Maybe I could get one each of several different breeds. It would be fun to get different colored eggs... Age is more important than breed. I have Buff Orps, Barred Rocks, Easter Eggers, Ameraucana, Black Sex Links, Cinnamon Queen (also very friendly), Black Australorps, Black Copper and Blue Copper Marans and probably a few I can't think of at the moment. Integrating them when they are different ages can be tough. I would decide how many chicks you think you might want, then get twice that amount lol. This will save you the hassle of messing up the pecking order and having to integrate new chicks in a month or two when you realize how cute and fun it is to have four chicks....so eight chicks is double the cuteness and fun. Skip the chicken wire. It's good to use inside your coop but not on an outside wall. Predators of all kinds can easily get through it. Get 1/2 inch hardware cloth and use that to keep out predators. I have it all around my coop on the ground so dogs (my biggest predator to date) cannot dig under the fence. My neighbors dog dug a hole under my fence and got one of my girls. After that I laid down the hardware cloth and that has solved that problem. In this pic you can see the hardware cloth on the ground on the outside of the coop. I zip-tied it to the bottom of the coop so it can't be moved. If you have grass around your coop it will grow up and cover the wire, you won't see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 We got our 11 chicks 5 weeks ago. They are great! We have buff orps (my fave), white plymouth rocks, barred plymouth rocks, Rhode Island reds, barred plymouth rocks and two brown leghorn bantams which I hope are not Roos, but might be. My dh has been frantically building the Fort Knox of coops: hardware cloth on the sides, and floor of the run, tuftex roofing on the top, my older son and are planning our elevated coop which will go inside the secure run. The run is 16 feet by8 feet, they will free range also. The coop willbe 8 feet by four feet. The general standard is 2 sq feet per chick inside, and 4 outside, but that can vary. We live in a warm climate so i don't have to worry about them getting too cold, and they will be out a lot. The floor of the run is a layer of gravel, then hardware cloth, then playground sand. The coop will be floored with linoleum for easy cleaning and then layered with pine bedding. We will put a poop board under the roosts. I will put in a dirt bath with DE and a little garden for sprouts, my chicks love sprouts! Based on my understanding, hardware cloth is critical. Problem is, it is expensive. We found a very cheap source online, wayfair.com with free shipping. Cost for our entire run including hardware cloth will be about 1000 bucks, far more than dh expected, but then again, we initially planned on 4 chicks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Nothing helpful to add, just wanted to say I'm jealous. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 We've got/had mixed ages and mixed breeds and not had a major problems with integrating them. The only time we've had bullying is when the oldest ones are on their way out and they get weaker and the younger ones sometimes take advantage. There definitely has been the odd fiesty chicken amongst them. We had one who was only pleasant when broody and absolutely nasty and noisy the rest of the time, she went to live with friends who have a rooster and is much more pleasant now, she didn't bully exactly but she definitely made her presence felt at all times and you ahd to watch yourself arund her as she was a pecker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 This is my original coop (converted shed) and run. It is completely covered in hardware cloth. This is the entire coop nearing the end of adding on the left side run. That is my baby pen/grow out pen in the middle. Close up look at the baby pen. This is what you see when you open the big doors to the coop. I have a wire wall with two doors that lead to two separate coops. I saved four feet in the front to store feed, etc. This is the dog kennel extension, complete with pool and misty mate mister on the roof to keep them cool. Some of my eggs And their "salad bar".. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Can anyone suggest one or two varieties of hens that will be decent egg layers and friendly with the family? I've heard some varieties are quite laid back and sociable but others can be rather aggressive. Orpingtons are my all time favorites. Even the roosters are calm and fairly docile. (we've had several buff roos and never had any of them attack a person) Don't put wire on the floor of your run. Chickens won't be able to scratch and it's hard on their feet. As far as digging creatures, we dug a trench around the perimeter of the henhouse. Then we put in a layer of concrete (just a few inches) and buried the edge of the chicken wire in the wet concrete. We've never lost a hen when the chickens were properly closed up at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachskittles Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 The main advice I will add is to make sure they have an enclosed run, with a roof if you have predators that can eat them. Make sure at night you get them into the coop. This is our first year with chickens and I have to say, this has been incredibly stressful because we are using the landlord's chicken coop and chicken run. No wonder all the owner's chickens died and the landlord's chickens died. *sigh* We lost a bunch last night due to the run not being properly constructed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 This is the coop I am buying, including a small enclosed run. I think I will build a fence around this to make a larger uncovered run for them to roam in (this is in my friend's yard, I haven't decided yet where to put the coop in my yard). This coop is about 6 years old and in excellent condition, I believe they spent about $1000 building it initially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 This is my original coop (converted shed) and run. It is completely covered in hardware cloth. Berta, your set-up looks truly amazing. And those eggs are so pretty... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 OK, a couple more questions: 1) When would be a good time to get chicks? We have cold winters, if that makes a difference. I have read of getting chicks in October so they are ready to start laying in the Spring. Are chicks normally available then or only in the Spring? 2) What do you all do with your chickens when they get older and stop laying? TIA, Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 We do not have very cold winters (we get in the teens a few times each winter), but it if I did, I would probably wait for the spring to get them. Alternatly, you could just make sure you keep them in a heated brooder until they are fully feathered. I let mine in the coop in the spring when they are mostly feathered, but I wouldnt do that in the winter. By winter my hens are full grown and able to handle the cold well. We are vegetarians, so we do not eat them. We have a friend who comes and picks them up when they are too old to lay well. They use them for soup chickens as the meat on an older hen is tougher. This family also eats any hens that turn out roos. I like this arrangement because I dont have to kill them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Love the salad bar. Is the mesh over it so they can only eat the grass when it gets long and not destroy as they normally would? Do you put anything other than grass in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I don't think predators will be a problem during the day, and as long as they are in their coop at night they should be fine. Consider how this is going to be managed - manually or automatic? We've been locking our chickens up at 8:45 since that is when they've finally all gone in. The other night we were out a little late and got home about 30 minutes after the usual lock up time and in that time something got in and got a chicken and 3 other chickens were out of the chicken yard too, they must have been quite panicked to manage that. We have a run that keeps chickens in and hawks out, but it's not really secure for anything else - logic was closed up at night for nighttime safety. I'm starting to wish I'd made a more secure coop because I really hate knowing that my lack of diligence cause my chicken to die. I really need to add some of the salad boxes, love that idea. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Here is our run as of today...not painted yet but very secure. All 11 girls are spending their first niht outside tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I put my babies out in the baby pen brooder around a week old. I have a heat lamp inside the brooder. Our temps can go down in the 40's most nights during the winter with occasional cold snap in the 20's. But it warms up during the day. I can lock the babies in the brooder (it's a 3x4 doghouse) with the heat lamp on if it's really cold. My first set of babies were hatched on Christmas. I kept them inside for almost 12 weeks because my coop was not finished. Never again!! I love the salad bar. It is a wooden box made out of the wood from a deck we took apart with chicken wire stretched out over it. I put three different varieties of grass seed and it grows in quickly. They can stick their beaks down there and get the grass as it grows but they cannot scratch it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganCupcake Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I love the salad bar. It is a wooden box made out of the wood from a deck we took apart with chicken wire stretched out over it. I put three different varieties of grass seed and it grows in quickly. They can stick their beaks down there and get the grass as it grows but they cannot scratch it up. We just set up something similar in our new run. It hasn't grown very much yet, but I can't wait until it does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylou Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 $1,000? What was the roof made of? GOLD?! Wow. Love the salad bar idea! We used hairy vetch as a cover crop in the garden over winter. They LOVE it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I heart chickens. No advice. I'm just here being jealous and wishing. :) Edited: Because for some reason WTM boards keeps making my font super duper small...grrr... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 OK, a couple more questions: 1) When would be a good time to get chicks? We have cold winters, if that makes a difference. I have read of getting chicks in October so they are ready to start laying in the Spring. Are chicks normally available then or only in the Spring? 2) What do you all do with your chickens when they get older and stop laying? TIA, Sarah We got out chicks on an Easter Sunday. They were supposed to arrive on Monday but the mail distribution center called to let us come get them so they wouldn't get too cold. For the first few weeks...until they were feathered, we kept them in the garage in this (see the photo at the bottom of the blog post) and we moved the heated lamp up a bit each week as they grew. They had enough space to go under the light for heat or get away from it if too hot. We waited until spring because of our cold winter and to get the kinds of chicks the kids had picked out of the catalog. We will just keep ours when they get older and stop laying. Our original plan was to put them in the freezer when this happened but we are a bit too attached and they all have names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 We got out chicks on an Easter Sunday. They were supposed to arrive on Monday but the mail distribution center called to let us come get them so they wouldn't get too cold. For the first few weeks...until they were feathered, we kept them in the garage in this (see the photo at the bottom of the blog post) and we moved the heated lamp up a bit each week as they grew. They had enough space to go under the light for heat or get away from it if too hot. We waited until spring because of our cold winter and to get the kinds of chicks the kids had picked out of the catalog. We will just keep ours when they get older and stop laying. Our original plan was to put them in the freezer when this happened but we are a bit too attached and they all have names. Donna, those chicks are adorable; my kids would be in heaven. Where did you order them from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Donna, those chicks are adorable; my kids would be in heaven. Where did you order them from? McMurray Hatchery...you have to order 25 chicks at a time (they keep each other warm in the box) and we only wanted 16 so we split an order with a friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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