Ordered my first chicks!

[herechickychicky]

Well, I did it. I ordered my first ever chicks from My Pet Chicken. 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Partridge Rocks, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes and 2 Gold Laced Wyandottes. They'll be here in late May, that should give us plenty of time to get a coop built or a shed modified. I'm not sure which way we are going to go just yet. The structure will be at least an 8 x 10, so I'm thinking there will be more than enough room for 8. I have a space cleared out in my computer room for the brooder, have a heat lamp and the bulb on the way, we recently moved so we have MANY boxes (sooooooooo many boxes) to build a brooder with. The only things left is the feed, the pine shavings, and the little chicks themselves.

I've been looking at vitamins and stuff like that. Has anyone used that Gro gel stuff before? I'm thinking about getting some, but a little 4 oz packet feeds way more chicks than what I'm going to be getting.

 

[Fred's Hens]

If you can brood them in a breezeway, attached garage, detached garage, or even out in the chicken coop, you'd likely be much happier.
At a month old, the chicks take on adult behavior very quickly. They quintuple in size, run about, feather out and generally are poop machines of the first rate. The smell is, well, pretty stiff, shall we say.

But the dust!!! It is incredible. Chickens produces what seems to be pounds of it and it is everywhere and thick.

I brood, out in the barn, for that reason. Have never lost a chick, even when outside temps fall to freezing at night, they are safe and warm in the brood box, under their red lamp.

Just something for your consideration.

 

[herechickychicky]

I do have a mudroom that leads to the garage and backyard that I thought about using first. I was worried about drafts since we use that as our main entrance all of the time. I've never raised chickens before and I just wanna know they're going to be safe. But then it will be towards the end of May when they arrive, sooooo.....hmm... maybe the mudroom will be OK after all.

Thanks!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Well, you did say May, right? Late May? That is a warm time of year. They'll do fine out in the mudroom and you'd like it better too, I suspect.

By week three, they won't even be spending much time under the lamp. They "regulate" themselves. If they are cool, they stay under the red circle of the lamp. If they are too hot, they move away from the red circle.

I have a 250w red bulb I use at first. 14" above them. By week 4, I install a 150 watt bulb because they just don't require or like quite as much heat anymore. By week 5 or 6, they pretty much have their feathers and look all big and scraggy. That isn't the most beautiful stage. Given your time frame, this will be July and they will want to be outside in the coop and having some yard time during the day.

 

[blefky]

Fred's Hens :

If you can brood them in a breezeway, attached garage, detached garage, or even out in the chicken coop, you'd likely be much happier.
At a month old, the chicks take on adult behavior very quickly. They quintuple in size, run about, feather out and generally are poop machines of the first rate. The smell is, well, pretty stiff, shall we say.

But the dust!!! It is incredible. Chickens produces what seems to be pounds of it and it is everywhere and thick.

I brood, out in the barn, for that reason. Have never lost a chick, even when outside temps fall to freezing at night, they are safe and warm in the brood box, under their red lamp.

Just something for your consideration.

x 2 - just can't overstate the dust, it's like having someone cut drywall in your house on a daily basis. That kind of dust can't be good for your computer. On another note, congratulations on your new venture! Make sure to remember us with pics of your little ones when they arrive!

 

[herechickychicky]

Quote:
x 2 - just can't overstate the dust, it's like having someone cut drywall in your house on a daily basis. That kind of dust can't be good for your computer. On another note, congratulations on your new venture! Make sure to remember us with pics of your little ones when they arrive!

I didn't even consider how bad the dust would be. After dealing with drywall at our old house, yeah. Not good for computers at all. The mudroom it is, then. Thanks for the tips!

 

[catdaddy66]

I was stunned at the dust despite the warnings I had gotten here. "How bad could it be?" I thought. It is...unholy!