new chicken owner!

We are new chicken owners and could not be more excited. We ordered 12 pullets and 1 rooster. Picked them up Apr 27. On day 2, the rooster died. On day 5 we found another mill that had chicks the same age as ours so we purchased 1 rooster and 4 more pullets. So we have 4 Rhode Island Reds, 4 Black Australorps, 4 Barred Rock, 4 Speckled Sussex and 1 RR rooster. Our brooder is set up in our enclosed porch. We borrowed a kiddie pool, chick waterer and a chick feeder from a friend. Set up 2 heat lamps and put up 3' high cardboard as draft protection. They all seem to be doing fine.

There is one (one of the 'new' ones) that seems to be pecking at the other chicks beaks and feet. I push her away every time I see her do it. She is very persistent and usually goes right back at it. Other times she is just fine. I'm going to assume this is just pecking order behavior and she is lobbying for Head Chick.

Coop design is nearly complete and the spot is staked out. Found lots of good building supplies laying around in our barn, So I'm hoping to put this together as cheap as possible. With an extremely handy husband, I'm sure we'll make it happen. I can't wait to post pictures of the building process.

I have enjoyed this website and look forward to many years of fun with chickens!

Welcome! Sounds like you have a nice setup, looking forward to seeing how it all goes. I too had lots of building materials lying around, coop building still cost more then I wanted.

If chicks(chickens) are too crowded they start bullying and feather plucking and sometimes worse. If you use a red bulb in the heat lamp that may help calm them down. Or you may be seeing the start of "pecking order." Giving them some diversions can also work - set up a low branch for them to practice roosting, a brightly colored small ball, to push around, cut openings in a small box, they can explore. etc.

Hi and welcome to our community. You seem to have the chicken bug good and proper - you are most certainly in the right place.

You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre (even if you have lots of experience)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center, and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

These links may help you for the moment.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/getting-started-raising-chickens
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks


You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread

All the best
CT

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

We already had the red light and a roosting stick. They also have a guinnea pig hidey-house. It's a plastic cave that they can go inside, with steps on the outside they can climb up. They actually seem to love this thing. It took a couple days for them to be able to get to the top but now they do it easily. I put a small pile of food on top. They also launch themselves off the top. I did add a small ball. They all seem very happy and busy. I've only caught the one chick pecking other chicks one time in the last few days. One day I found this same chick incessantly pecking one small corner of the newspaper and then the next day one area on the cardboard wall. I'm starting to think this chick is OCD! But yesterday and today everyone seems normal... It is so interesting to see their personalities coming out at such a young age.