beb444
Chirping
Welcome! This is a list of things I wish I knew/thought about before I started my flock! I hope this helps you think of things before you get yours so that they can have the best life possible
1-Sunlight where your coop will be.
So I am so lucky that my coop/run got placed where it did because if it was literally 1 foot over there would have been no sunlight. So, before you place your coop somewhere, you will need to check out that spot periodically throughout the day to see if it gets sunlight and for how many hours throughout the day.
2-Don't waste your money on the runs that you can get with a house.
I wasted a good amount of money on a very small run. If you have a handy husband/dad just get them to build it. You will end up saving money and I guarantee if you buy a run with those houses you will end up building on to it.
3-Research health related problems with the breed you are thinking about getting.
I had no idea that chickens would have so many health problems. Make sure you do your research on medical problems you might have, not just how to raise and take care of chickens For ex. apparently easter eggers are prone to getting cross beak. This was found during my research for cross beak when my little 2 week old easter egger developed it
She ended up not making it
4-PRINT OUT A TREAT CHART
Every time I wanted to give my chicks a new treat, I would always look it up online to see before hand if they could eat it. Now, I have one printed out in my kitchen and I just look at it when I need it. MUCH easier Here is a great treat chart https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens
5-Hawks won't rip the roof off
Ok-So for those of your that aren't/weren't paranoid about hawks probably won't get this but as I was building my coop I was SO worried that the hawks would rip off the top and then proceed to grab all of my chickens. This will not happen. They will NOT have enough force to get through any mesh/net/hardware cloth you have on your run. Even if this only helps 1 other person, I know that if that person is like me, they will spend time indoors with much more ease now
6-Put garden fences up against the hardware cloth
So this is like tip #5-for those of us that are overly worried. What I did was get little black garden fences(like the type in this picture-you can buy them at stores like Home Depot)
Then, I staked these into the ground directly in front of the hardware cloth. Again, it just helps me know that the chickens have extra protection. I just feel like people might not think about this one-so if I could get the idea out then mission accomplished
I have many more that I will probably think of later and add on but this is what comes to mind now! Please feel free to add on if you have more helpful tips!
1-Sunlight where your coop will be.
So I am so lucky that my coop/run got placed where it did because if it was literally 1 foot over there would have been no sunlight. So, before you place your coop somewhere, you will need to check out that spot periodically throughout the day to see if it gets sunlight and for how many hours throughout the day.
2-Don't waste your money on the runs that you can get with a house.
I wasted a good amount of money on a very small run. If you have a handy husband/dad just get them to build it. You will end up saving money and I guarantee if you buy a run with those houses you will end up building on to it.
3-Research health related problems with the breed you are thinking about getting.
I had no idea that chickens would have so many health problems. Make sure you do your research on medical problems you might have, not just how to raise and take care of chickens
For ex. apparently easter eggers are prone to getting cross beak. This was found during my research for cross beak when my little 2 week old easter egger developed it She ended up not making it4-PRINT OUT A TREAT CHART
Every time I wanted to give my chicks a new treat, I would always look it up online to see before hand if they could eat it. Now, I have one printed out in my kitchen and I just look at it when I need it. MUCH easier
Here is a great treat chart https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens5-Hawks won't rip the roof off
Ok-So for those of your that aren't/weren't paranoid about hawks probably won't get this but as I was building my coop I was SO worried that the hawks would rip off the top and then proceed to grab all of my chickens. This will not happen. They will NOT have enough force to get through any mesh/net/hardware cloth you have on your run. Even if this only helps 1 other person, I know that if that person is like me, they will spend time indoors with much more ease now
6-Put garden fences up against the hardware cloth
So this is like tip #5-for those of us that are overly worried. What I did was get little black garden fences(like the type in this picture-you can buy them at stores like Home Depot)
Then, I staked these into the ground directly in front of the hardware cloth. Again, it just helps me know that the chickens have extra protection. I just feel like people might not think about this one-so if I could get the idea out then mission accomplished
I have many more that I will probably think of later and add on but this is what comes to mind now! Please feel free to add on if you have more helpful tips!
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