Spring 2017 first timers post!

[OhsoClose]

Hello, brand new here. I was wondering if I need a heat lamp for chicks if I live in a very hot climate?

 

[chicken life for us]

I am working on my first coop, the brooder will be in the coop and I am using the Mama Heating Pad. I am getting 7 chicks the first week of April 2017. I was hoping to get a few of us newbies together who are gearing up for our first time this spring! Lets post pictures of our coops, our birds when we get them and see who gets the first egg!

Who is in?

Gary from Idyllwild Ca here

Any tips you can give us? We are first timers as well looking to start in the next week. Pretty anxious to see how this adventure turns out! Hope your new flock is all well

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Any tips you can give us? We are first timers as well looking to start in the next week. Pretty anxious to see how this adventure turns out! Hope your new flock is all well

Just read and ask questions, use thsearch tool. A great community of people to help.

Gary

 

[lilmarie84]

I

my little Aphrodite

my little Backup

my little Tiny who is now the biggest one out of everyone

and my little camera hog and a mama's boy Hermes

they are all 4 weeks old as of tomorrow but I wanted to share one of each breed + my lil mama's boy there they are growing so fast

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

When I first let my girls into their coop it didn't have a door to the run yet we had to cut one but they were too big for their brooder and we were having pecking problems because they were in too small a space. So they were in their coop without a door for about a week and a half. When we first cut the door and they could go outside they would do it in little spurts and then go back in. I have never had an issue with getting mine to go in as it gets dark they usually start roosting about a half hour before sundown. Maybe you could try confining them for a few days to the coop establish it as "home base" then let them back outside.

P.S. When I need them all in the run/coop for some reason the jet spray from the waterhose works great and its not too stressful for them. I just chase them with the spray not actually getting them wet except for a bit of mist maybe.

Ours now go willingly into the coop a little before sunset and head up to the roosts. The whole "bedtime" process took me less than a week to train.. in at dark, up on roosts. I have to manually shut the hatch door from run to coop each night. When I go into the run now to do that no one comes to meet me unless I have timed it too close to when they are "figuring out" who goes where on the roosts. That has only happened one time though in many, many weeks. My only problem now is a buff orpington doddler, but that is for another post!

 

[dobermanacres]

My flock turned a month old today

We had a big wind and rain storm in Alberta today (+30 [90F] yesterday and +8 [45F] for a high today), so the flock didn't get to spend any time outside! Instead they got warm by the fireplace after spending part of the day with no power!

 

[lilmarie84]

Does anyone have suggestions on how to get them to sleep on their roost they sleep on the floor of the coop instead

 

[Blooie]

They are fine. They'll do that until they're ready to change. I used to worry about it all the time with my first batch of chicks - would go out after dark and play musical chickens. Put a couple up there, turn to grab a couple more only to have the first two jump back off. So I stopped sweating it. Seven new batches of chicks later, they all teach themselves. As new chicken owners, we already automatically worry about so many things. That one is small potatoes and they'll fix it all by themselves. Good luck!

 

[lilmarie84]

Thank you I was just confused with the fact that they look for any reason to roost on my hand when I hold them but they sleep on the floor instead of the roost

 

[Blooie]

They are only on your hand for a few minutes. They roost for hours. So yep, they want everything exactly how they are used to sleeping when it's bedtime. I'll bet if you sneak out there a time or two during the day, you'll see one or two of them getting up on the roosts for a few seconds and checking out the view before they jump back down. You have to be just as sneaky and fast to catch them at it, though! That should happen about anytime. Some of mine sneak on there so I won't see them and get my hopes up when they are just a few weeks old, some closer to 2 months. But eventually they will roost, unless they aren't known as a "roosting" breed. Many Silkies never do roost...all of mine do.