Posted: 3/4/2010 2:07:31 PM EDT
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After much thought and research we finally decided we were ready to start raising a backyard flock. Back in January we purchased a locally made coop and today we went out to the feed store to purchase our supplies and the chicks. The brooder is just a cardboard box with a waterer, feeder and a 250W heat lamp. It's clamped onto the wall stud but I'll be adding a chain this evening and suspending it from the seedling shelf that's above the brooder. Layered newspaper, pine shavings and paper towels in the bottom. Should I leave the paper towels or just let them peck around in the shavings? In the box and fresh from the store   The brooder we hastily threw together  They seem happy enough  Gotta include a pic of the yard apes and their new friends   |
| The pics of those chicks make me think about when I worked maintenance at the hatchery. Biggest headache come 4 in the morning wore slap out from running from one side of the hatchery to the other with 60 Lbs of tools and extra parts in hand. When ever it came time to pull them out of the hatchers seeing all of them chirping made it all worth it. |
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Quoted: Any Picks of the Coop you purchased that would be great if you could add those. thank you Of course! The dimensions are: 5 ft. Tall, 5 ft. Long and 2.5 ft. Wide. Living quarters are 2.5 ft. floor to roof. One side opens up for interior cleaning and nest box access. I'll be building a covered outside run so they'll have a dry, shady place to hang out under when they're not free ranging the back yard or inside the coop.     |
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Quoted:
Nice work, now if I could only get started on mine. If I can do it, anyone can. Have 11 hens and 1 rooster. They started laying around Christmas and we get 4-8 eggs a day. ETA: for The floor my chickens love straw. I can leave a bale in their pen or stacks on teir coop floor and they will spend days disassembling it. It also sops up moisture and helps keep things clean in the coop and is pretty easy to rake out and chuck into the compost pit. I had bought a big thing of cedar shavings but apparently they are bad if inhaled. I use the cedar shavings with the Cornish still, they only need their lungs for a little while. This summer I am going to make a semi-portable roof area so I can keep a bare patch of ground for them during the winter. This winter I moved the little coop under the eave of the garage and put up a simple pen for them. It is set up so they can get in and out and their pen stays snow free, but the dogs can't get in and bug them. I have one hen that is gregarious and craves attention like a cat. She will follow us into the house sometimes. Another fun game when they are chicks is to use them to peck the flies that buzz around windows. We were catching flies and feeding them to the chicks but then got the idea to let the chicks get them on their own. One other bit of weirdness. My dogs never bothered Cornish Cross birds. Not even as chicks. I did not lose a single one. They decimated my first batch of pullets. Only one out of 10 survived, the aptly named "Speedy". The dogs have not bothered the second batch of hens, I think Partly due to the addition of Rooster, the rooster. We only lost one hen from the second batch and I think it was from an owl or it might have gotten lost after getting out of the yard. |
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Quoted:
Quoted: Any Picks of the Coop you purchased that would be great if you could add those. thank you Of course! The dimensions are: 5 ft. Tall, 5 ft. Long and 2.5 ft. Wide. Living quarters are 2.5 ft. floor to roof. One side opens up for interior cleaning and nest box access. I'll be building a covered outside run so they'll have a dry, shady place to hang out under when they're not free ranging the back yard or inside the coop. http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/1766/1000631m.jpg http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/6356/1000632mz.jpg http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/114/1000633h.jpg http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/702/1000634op.jpg thank you that looks real nice. |
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Quoted:
How certain are you they are pullets? We bought 10 last spring from TSC ( I know I know) and 7 of those were roosters. From a hatchery U can buy pullets , straight run ( pullets and cockeriels) or just cockeriels. Most of the time they are pretty good as sexing them. 1 problem is they some times throw packing penuts in with the chicks you order. IE you order 5 buffs and they throw a handful of some other kind in there to keep yours warmer. This happens if you live in a cold climate and order your chicks early in the year. As far as TSC im fairly certain they get straight run. Alot of people will just raise the cocks up to fryer size and wack em |
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We have a place right up the road that sells started pullets. I don't think I would even bother with the chick stage again. Going to get 5 more commets in June.
http://www.shookpoultry.net/ Ummm, one thing I've learned, if your girlfriend and grandson (your family) makes the chickens pets they will die of old age before they will eat them LOLLOL. Sooooooooo, if you are going to raise chickens for meat, hide them some where. |
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Suggestions:
-Get some cheapo sheet vinyl and cover the floor, easier to scrape up the poop and clean. -Round off the corners of your roosts, easier on the feets. -Use pine shavings instead of straw. -Don't forget to give them treats.........yogurt/oatmeal/raisins mixed together (lots of calcium), grind up their eggs shells, etc. My old winches will eat anything except garlic, onions and tomatoes. |
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ETA 3-8-2010: It was 64° and sunny this afternoon and thought it would be nice for the girls to get some fresh air outside. I grabbed four 4 ft. long wire shelf pieces, twist tied them together and put it out in a sunny spot. The chicks were a bit apprehensive at first but I scattered some of their feed on the grass and they quickly started scratching and pecking! As the weather permits I will get them outside to help them acclimate to their eventual home. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. This makeshift cage is probably what I'll use in the basement when the chicks outgrow that box but I'll have to come up with a way to build up the sides. NEW PICS!!   |
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Yep, those chicks will die of old age LOLLOL....... the kids are hooked +1 My middle boy had a fit whenever I mentioned killing "his mean roosters". He had been bit several times by one but he still loved him. I ended up trading it with another for two more hens. He named one of those hens pancake. He's a big fan of pancakes. |
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UPDATE: 3-25-2010: We had to move them to a big cardboard box that a bathtub came in. They've got plenty of room to run around in it. I added the pole yesterday and they're already roosting on it. This is the way I found them this morning. NEW PICS: The girls are pretty close to one month old.    |
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Quoted:
UPDATE: 3-25-2010: We had to move them to a big cardboard box that a bathtub came in. They've got plenty of room to run around in it. I added the pole yesterday and they're already roosting on it. This is the way I found them this morning. NEW PICS: The girls are pretty close to one month old. http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/246/1000669z.jpg http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/5889/1000671h.jpg http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/3986/1000672a.jpg Outstanding.... 
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