New to Chickens in Bend, Oregon!

[BrittneyGaddis]

Hi there! I picked up my first handful of chicks in Bend, Oregon yesterday! After years of reading and wishing I finally moved to an area that allows them, and boy am I excited!

I decided to go with a mixed flock so that we could have a variety of egg colors and so that the hens would be easy to tell apart. I left the store (I purchased from a farm supply store this time) with a White Leghorn pullet, a Rhode Island Red pullet, a Black Australorp pullet, a Barred Rock pullet, and two Ameracauna pullets. One of the Ameracanas was given to us for free because she was weak. I tried nursing her through the night, but unfortunately she did not make it. The others are all doing very well.

After picking up the first group I went to a chicken class at another farming supply store and left with a Welsummer pullet as well (the eggs look irresistible!)

We have them in a large tote right now with a red light in the laundry room. Im working on getting the room the right temperature right now. Any tips? What are your favorite breeds out of these?

We do not have a coop yet, but my husband is a woodworker and we are brainstorming! It still gets very cold here at night and we had a bout of snow yesterday, so it'll be a while before they'll be moved anyway!

 

[N F C]

Adorable chicks! Sorry you lost one, it was worth the try.

If you haven't already done so, check out the Learning Center...there are a lot of helpful articles there. Good luck with the coop build, be sure to make it large enough for future chicken additions.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[drumstick diva]

Sorry you lost the chick, hope she wasn't carrying any illness that could spread to your others.

 

[OPPT]

Oh boy, are they cute. We've always had adult chickens and just started incubating our first batch of eggs, so seeing your little ones is very exciting. Hope they are all continuing to do well. Have fun!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - glad that you have joined us and congrats on your new chicks. Re: getting temps right etc, I'd suggest you go to the "raising baby chicks" section of the forum - there'll be lots of info, but basically, providing warmth for your chicks is not about the temperature of a room, but about giving them a source of warmth in a localised area, and leaving the rest of the area cool so they can go to the warm area, get warmed up, and then leave it for cooler areas. As a rule of thumb, if your chicks are huddled together, they are too cold, and if they are keeping as far away from the heat source as possible and have their beaks open, they are too warm.

Joining your state thread will also put you in contact with other BYC members in your area.

(https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread)

The members here are amazing - very friendly and helpful, so if you need an answer to a question or simply want some reassurance that what you are doing is ok, then post away - we all help each other out here at BYC.

All the best
CT

 

[bramblefir]

Welcome neighbor from across the Cascades!

You don't need to worry about having everything an exact temperature. Watch your chicks and adjust the height of the heat lamp based on their behavior. If they're moving all around the brooder and snoozing contentedly it's just right. If they're as far from the lamp as possible it's too hot; constantly huddled under the lamp it's too cold.

Of the breeds you got I prefer the Leghorns and Easter Eggers (unlikely to be actual Ameracaunas since you got them at a feed store).

 

[BantamFan4Life]

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