EDIT: Brand New, Getting 6 Pullets in TWO WEEKS. -cries-

[amour.chicks]

I'm brand new to the whole chicken thing. I'm getting six pullets tomorrow. My friend has some chickens and is giving me some advice. But I need a little more input.

~I'm getting six pullets. I don't know the name of the breed, but I want them to be yellow as a chick and white as an adult. Do you know what I'm talking about?
~I have a HUGE rubber maid for them to go into when we first get then home. We are going to get pine shavings for the bottom of it. Is that the right kind for baby chicks?
~I also have a heat lamp. It has a red bulb. That's correct, right?
~We're getting chick starter (like the feed). How many bags do I want to get? Do I want the medicated kind?
~How can I be sure that the pullets I get are healthy? Is there some kind of test I need to give them? Is there something I need to check to make sure they're healthy?

When do I move the chicks out to the coop? We live in Colorado Springs so it can get kinda cold, but I figured the best time to get the babies are in the summer so that they are bigger come winter. I've heard 2 months. Is that correct? How long do I keep them on the starter feed? Do I have to feed them anything else?

I'm not raising the chickens for eggs or meat, they're just going to be pets. I still will take the eggs they give me, but since we are in the city we can not have a rooster.

My dad and I are working on building the coop. Thank you so much for all of the pictures of coops you have on here! They are SO helpful! We have a nice place for the coop and we have a lot of ideas of how we are going to build it. We thought that getting the chickens now would make us HAVE to make the coop. We have so many other projects to do. (We just got cows! <333 Two little girls, Maggie Mo and Molly Sue)

If I'm forgetting anything PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

I'll post pictures when I get them!

Thanks a ton! Any advise is MORE THAN WELCOME! <333


Bekah <33

 

[debilorrah]

~I'm getting six pullets. I don't know the name of the breed, but I want them to be yellow as a chick and white as an adult. Do you know what I'm talking about?
~I have a HUGE rubber maid for them to go into when we first get then home. We are going to get pine shavings for the bottom of it. Is that the right kind for baby chicks?
~I also have a heat lamp. It has a red bulb. That's correct, right?
~We're getting chick starter (like the feed). How many bags do I want to get? Do I want the medicated kind?
~How can I be sure that the pullets I get are healthy? Is there some kind of test I need to give them? Is there something I need to check to make sure they're healthy?

When do I move the chicks out to the coop? We live in Colorado Springs so it can get kinda cold, but I figured the best time to get the babies are in the summer so that they are bigger come winter. I've heard 2 months. Is that correct? How long do I keep them on the starter feed? Do I have to feed them anything else?

The breed is probably white leghorns - yellow as chicks and white when grown. The rubbermaid container and the red lamp are perfect!!! For starter I would buy 1 50 lb bag. I don;t buy the medicated kind, but that is just personal choice.

Keep them on the starter til it is gone then feed them grower til they are of laying age, then layer.

They need to be fully feathered before they can be without a heat lamp. For example, it is 95 during the day here, so no lamp outside, but at night we cage them back up and turn the lamp on because it gets to around 50 here.

 

[amour.chicks]

Quote:
Thank you!!!!!!!!

What's the difference between medicated and unmedicated? Which is better for the chicks?

When should we move them out to the coop?

 

[debilorrah]

Medicated feed has some kind of treatment in it. I have never used it myself. You can move them to the coop at around 5-6 weeks providing the daytime weather is warm enough. Make sure they have a lmap at night until they are fully feathered - around 14 weeks.

 

[amour.chicks]

I read somewhere that the more sun your chicken gets the more eggs she will lay. Is that true?

 

[KnitswithChickens]

I got my chicks last week. They are in a large plastic tote with a 100 watt bulb for heat (seems to be working just fine).

I have pine shavings in the bottom of the tote.

I am not using medicated feed so am being meticulous about cleanliness, cleaning out the pine shavings and putting in fresh every other day (they poop a lot!) I also change the water daily, or twice daily as they poop in it or kick up pine shavings. I raised the waterer up on a wooden block to get it off the floor which did cut down on the mess getting into the water. I put marbles in the waterer base (it's a mason jar kind) so that they don't step on one another and drown in there.

I am going to have to put mesh over the top of the tote soon as they are trying to fly around and I don't want them getting out!

I started with a 25lb bag of feed for three chicks and I realize it won't last long because they are eating like crazy now. The suggestion for a 50lb bag is a good one.

Hope that helps.

 

[amour.chicks]

Quote:
Thank you SO much! That helped a TON.

I would do the marbles thing, but we have little kids in the house and my mom is freaking out about one of them chocking (I don't blame here), is there anything else i can put in the bottom of the waterer?

 

[GAchick]

Rocks in the water...

 

[ClairedeLune]

Good luck with your girls! Welcome to the world of cute fuzzy butts and...

! from Denver. Nice to see someone from CO!

 

[Crickett]

If you get the kind of waterer that a mason jar screw into, you won't have to put anything in it to keep the chicks from drowning.

I never used the medicated type of feed, I always figured why give medicine if they aren't sick?

Special treats, after they are two weeks old, smushed up cheerios, yogurt, cooked oatmeal (unsweet), crumbled egg yolks. If giving any bugs/worms/etc. make sure they have grit. (play sand works just as well)

When they first arrive, dip their beaks in the water. They drink ALOT! A chick's body is 70% water, so don't let them go without fresh water!

Sugar water is good to give them when they first arrive, it will help with the stress of moving.

If they get constipated, (you will know cuase poop will be stuck to their butt) Clean it off with warm water, gently! Then add some molasses to the drinking water.

There is a LOT of excellent info on this forum, just look around!