First Time Chick Parents, Spring 2016

[keesmom]

You need to contact your town/city hall to find out if chickens are allowed. If they are indeed allowed you need to find out what regulations there are regarding numbers of birds and any restrictions on coop placement. You really need to put this at the top of your list.. Using "Well someone on the internet said it was okay!" won't work as a defense if chickens aren't allowed.

Second step would be build a coop. Last step would be to get some chickens.

Also, if you are part of an HOA, any of their regulations are on top of town/city ordinances. If a town allows chickens but your HOA does not, you are out of luck.

 

[Blooie]

Thank you to those offering condolences for the loss of my two chicks last night. I can now say with confidence, I think I know what happened and I will share what NOT to do when using the mama heating pad cave technique.

this is how I had the little cave last night. On a diagonal in the corner. It got down to 38 degrees and I checked a dozen times last night and all chicks were under the cave. But then when I got up at 6:15 am I had two dead chicks laying BEHIND the cave in the corner. I believe they both got accidentally shoved out the back of the cave and could not find their way back in. So my advice from learning the hard way...... put your mama heating pad cave up against the back wall or shoved in the corner. (I rearranged and put it in the corner so two of the sides are up against a wall) and make sure that all sides are secure so the little chirps can't slip out and freeze. I guess part of the issue is I didn't use bent wire like the original design. I had a wire basket and I attached little legs to it, larger in front and lower in back and I can just add PVC pieces as the chicks get bigger. So there is a small gap between the floor and the basket....well not anymore! I have pine shavings piled up around it now and nobody is slipping out anywhere!!

It was a heartbreaking lesson for me to learn. I am just so thankful that I didn't lose more!

Thank you for sharing that. I know it was hard. I always set mine up so that the towel is larger than the frame of the pad. Then it drapes down in the back all the way to the floor, folded outward against the back of the brooder. The sides are tucked underneath the sides of the frame, sort of like backwards wings. These little stinkers are very good about finding ways to escape, but very bad at how to find their way back. I am so glad that you have resolved the issue.

I almost lost a chick the first day we had them outside. She got out and was running all over the run with the big girls, and thankfully they didn't bother her. Tried to figure out how she got out of the brooder and just couldn't! Ken and I went back out a couple of hours later and she was out again. But this time we found the gap. Caught the little stinker and put her back in. Barely a big enough space for an ant, but that's all it took. Ken double checked to make sure all were accounted for, and found one dead between the dust bath bin and the side of the run. He handed it to me (I was still standing inside the brooder pen) and I laid that cold, stiff little body up on the shelf while we fixed the gap. Her legs were extended behind her, neck was extended, she was ice cold, stiff, and her eyes were closed. She laid up there for about 10 minutes while we worked, then I picked her up and started wrapping her in a plastic grocery sack for the outside trash can. There were absolutely no life signs at all.

But I thought I saw her mouth move just the slightest bit. I wasn't even sure - I thought it was just a movement that I made while none-too-gently wrapping her up. But it was enough. Ran her inside and put her in the incubator with the eggs I had in there until we could get the other heating pad set up. The first photo shows her in the incubator. I had to try to tuck her legs up under her so she'd fit. The videos will tell you what happened next.


Stiff and cold.

I didn't think Ken heard her squeak...I hollered at the poor guy as he was coming down the hallway!

At this point I was pretty sure that this little Explorer was going to be okay.

Didn't have to figure out what to do with him all night after all - a little over 2 hours from finding him he was back outside with the others, under Mama Heating Pad and none the worse for his near-death experience. This is twice we have done this - the first time was a little chick named Scout who was hatched under a broody and got out from under her just hours later. Found him just like we found this little one, with the same result. Just 2 hours after warming him up and giving him some sugar water, he was back outside reunited with his mom.

I've sure learned never to believe these tough little critters are dead just because they look like it. I can't tell which one of the 3 little White Orpington chicks out there is the one we threw into the incubator unless I look hard at the wings. They can find more ways to kill themselves, yet come back from the brink sometimes. Silly little chickens! So I always have an emergency backup for warming them quickly, and give them sugar water and Nutri-drench as soon as they start waking up.

BTW, talk about coming back from the brink - Scout's story can be found by clicking the link in my signature - Frostbitten Feet, the Adventures of Scout.

 

[mamatink7]

hey, im getting 3 pet chickens and i was just wondering if im aloud to have pet chickens in park ridge, illinois
plz answer if you know the answer to my question PLZ.

i also had a couple questions on raising chicks and ive been searching for a while, but i want to get an answer from someone now, not from like people in 2003, 


when do they start laying eggs

how old untill they can go into the outdoor coop :cd

what types of friendly chickens do you recomend as pets and egg layers, im considering new hampshire reds - female -

THANK YOU  

Start laying eggs between 18-25 weeks, depending on feed and breed.
Outside in coop between 5-8 weeks, once weather stays warmer during day and night but also they have to have their full feathers for protection. There are those here that swear by letting them outside from the beginning-w warmers of course.
I also suggest reading some chicken books and talking to those have chicks already.

 

[Jensownzoo]

hey, im getting 3 pet chickens and i was just wondering if im aloud to have pet chickens in park ridge, illinois
plz answer if you know the answer to my question PLZ.

i also had a couple questions on raising chicks and ive been searching for a while, but i want to get an answer from someone now, not from like people in 2003, 


when do they start laying eggs

how old untill they can go into the outdoor coop :cd

what types of friendly chickens do you recomend as pets and egg layers, im considering new hampshire reds - female -

THANK YOU  

Here is a link to the laws/ordinances forum where you can look at the database or post your question about laws: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/37/local-chicken-laws-ordinances-and-how-to-change-them

It varies tremendously according to breed/time of year/individual when they start laying eggs. The sex-links seem to start laying the soonest, but their production tends to drop off dramatically after the first year. If the daylength is decreasing, you may need to add supplemental light to your coop in the morning to make up the difference...there are hormones related to lay that respond to daylength.

You can brood chicks right in the coop if you have access to electricity. One of the safest methods is using "mama heating pad" cave.

I have 3 New Hampshire Red pullets and they are very friendly and are supposed to have excellent egg production. The other breeds I got with those same characteristics are: Dominiques, Barred Plymouth Rocks, White Plymouth Rocks, Golden Buffs (sex-links), and Buff Orpingtons. I got them in January and am anticipating first eggs in the next month or two.

 

[misslogan019]

So I have 9 slw chickens around 9 weeks old, they get in their coop at night and go up inside the top of it where the nesting boxes are. I have hay in it to give them padding to sleep and they seem to love it, but I started to wonder if I have hay in the nesting boxes and outside of the nesting boxes will they still go to the nesting boxes to lay eggs? Should I have hay in ONLY the nesting boxes?

 

[AmandaMBG]

Has anyone come across this??? One of my chicks stopped walking. No signs of straddle leg or any loss of moter control. Eating, drinking and pooping like normal. Sits on its haunches partly standing to eat. The rest of the time it lays down. If I put my finger under her and kind of support her she will stand on her own but only for a second before laying down on my finger. To move she scoots from one place to another. She and the rest of the runts/small/gentle chicks (6 total) have been put in their own brooder away from the "mob" aka the other chicks. I just did this today and am wondering if I should have done it sooner and she got trampled enough to sprang her hip joints or something. It's almost like it's painful so she is choosing not to do it. Idk. Any advice or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[realsis]

Has anyone come across this??? One of my chicks stopped walking. No signs of straddle leg or any loss of moter control. Eating, drinking and pooping like normal. Sits on its haunches partly standing to eat. The rest of the time it lays down. If I put my finger under her and kind of support her she will stand on her own but only for a second before laying down on my finger. To move she scoots from one place to another. She and the rest of the runts/small/gentle chicks (6 total) have been put in their own brooder away from the "mob" aka the other chicks. I just did this today and am wondering if I should have done it sooner and she got trampled enough to sprang her hip joints or something. It's almost like it's painful so she is choosing not to do it. Idk. Any advice or ideas would be appreciated.

Hock walking/sitting can be a sign of riboflavin defiency. You might try to get a good poultry vitamin that is heavy with riboflavin. You can get some really great poultry vitamins online at FirstStateVet.com. These vitamins are especially formulated for quick absorption and less loss. Most are put into water. Hope this helps. I'd start the riboflavin as soon as you possibly can.

 

[AmandaMBG]

They have had quick chic in their water from day one. Il have to read the riboflavin amount and see if my other ones I have happen to have more. Thanks for the advice. Do you know of any treats of any kind that I could give her that are naturally high in it?

Hock walking/sitting can be a sign of riboflavin defiency. You might try to get a good poultry vitamin that is heavy with riboflavin. You can get some really great poultry vitamins online at FirstStateVet.com. These vitamins are especially formulated for quick absorption and less loss. Most are put into water. Hope this helps. I'd start the riboflavin as soon as you possibly can.

 

[AmandaMBG]

They have had quick chic in their water from day one. Il have to read the riboflavin amount and see if my other ones I have happen to have more. Thanks for the advice. Do you know of any treats of any kind that I could give her that are naturally high in it?
** edit: I looked it up online and it said eggs (I gave some scrambled today but wasn't watching to see if she ate any) and sesame seeds are both high in it. Would sesame seeds be okay to give her??

 

[realsis]

...

They have had quick chic in their water from day one. Il have to read the riboflavin amount and see if my other ones I have happen to have more. Thanks for the advice. Do you know of any treats of any kind that I could give her that are naturally high in it?
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NO I don't but you can probably find out with a quick Google search. Make sure to give chick girt with any extra treats. I sure hope she gets better soon.