1 thing I wish I knew when I was starting out...

[amenfarm]

oh good one - putting the roost away from the wall for poop reasons - admittedly I had not even thought of that - I am in the planning stage I have been searching and researching - there is a 12x16 building on my hubby's newly acquired land it sure looks like a chicken coop to me - the fort Knox construction got that idea and will be doing everything I possible can. I'm not sure how much room let's say 6 chickens would need? I was thinking splitting the building in half - half coop - half storage. They will have a large run , half-hard covered and halve open but netted. Any input would be appreciated

Rule of thumb is a minimum of 4 square feet per bird-please allow more square feet if possible--so for 6 chickens it's 24 square feet, 4 hens to a nesting box and a minimum of 5 inches of soft litter to land in. You can grap a little more feet from either mounting the roosts with dropping boards over the nesting boxes, or I have the nesting boxes and roosts resting on cinder blocks--so the girls can use more floor space. I'm wanting my husband to change the nesting box from 4 in a row to 2 over 2--Somebody keeps laying eggs every once in a while under there and I don't like getting into the litter to reach for eggs! Read the thread about barn fire safety before you use the other side for any kind of storage other than feed.

 

[Kikiriki]

Kikiriki

I also live in Florida and know about the heat. This is what we did for our chickens last summer. We put a fan in the run(has roof) and also one in their coop(which is 3' x 6') aimed at the
nesting boxes. We also bought Vitamins & Electrolytes powder from TSC and put this in their water. Doing this made a big difference. Our chickens did great with the heat.

I used a pinch of baking soda in their water ( too much can cause the runs) and put those refreezable ice packs on the roof of the coop (cold sinks) under an insulating cover. I would wave the ice packs in the air inside the coop right before bedtime to drop the temp quickly. This all seemed to help them on those really bad nights we had whenit was so miserably hot and muggy... If I could insulate an AC vent run well enough, I would run it out from the house AC, which is oversized for our house. Just dont want rodents using it as a super-highway, though!

 

[cluck-cluck]

I wish I knew what kind of notes to take on my chicks. i mean, at first, I just wanted laying hens, now I'm interested in breeding (a little) and wish I had more detailed info on my birds when they were chicks. A chick evaluation form would have been great to have. I did take some notes, but not consistently and not thoroughly.

 

[Apollorising]

I'm a beginner as well and I am so fortunate to have found this site and that there have been so many great suggestions to this question. I am confused about something. I would like to use the dropping for fertilizer in my vegetable garden. Is PDZ safe to use in compost?

Thanks again for all the great help!

TR

 

[Shellz]

This is a great thread! I'm going to use sand this year. Great suggestion - tired of wasting money on all those pine shavings! A poop board will be another great addition. Thanks for the great tips folks!

 

[cluck-cluck]

I'm a beginner as well and I am so fortunate to have found this site and that there have been so many great suggestions to this question. I am confused about something. I would like to use the dropping for fertilizer in my vegetable garden. Is PDZ safe to use in compost?

Thanks again for all the great help!

TR

I'll venture to guess yes:
1) Adsorption - Which is the sticking of the ammonia gas molecule to the surface of the Sweet PDZ granule. When the Sweet PDZ granules desorb, or dries out, the ammonia odor molecule is driven off the surface of the mineral as nitrogen. This is why spent (used) bedding material that includes Sweet PDZ, works so well as a slow release fertilizer or as an enhancement to composting.

 

[tadpole98]

Slowly build up your flock. This is just a 'me thing' , I wish I hadn't gotten 100 chickens in one year, leaving no space to slowly build up.

S I wouldn't have top worry bout space when Jo hatches out two chicks.

Oh, and small hatches. You have more time to love on each different chick so they can grow more friendly.

 

[chicklittlel]

This thread is for recommendations, but based on what I've read I have a couple of questions.
We built the nesting boxes sticking out of the side of the house with a slanted roof that can be opened to get eggs. They are using it. But now I'm wondering how it can be used for brooding in the Spring? It is 3ft off the floor. How do the babies keep from falling out? I'm wondering if I should build a brooding area under the roosts and use a poop board. If I do, will they use the higher nesting areas for egg laying? I'm confused.
Also, I used an irregular tree branch (appr. 3 1/2" thick) for their roosts. I'm reading that the 2x4 is more comfortable for them. For Guineas also? I have guineas in with the chickens since there are only 4 of each for now. Thanks for the input.

If at all possible it's better to have a setting hen in a separate pen or at least somehow separated from the rest of the flock. I have several different breeds and I've had problems with all of them trying to steal eggs from the setting hen's nest or getting in the nest when the setting hen leaves to eat and laying more eggs. This is a real problem if you can't tell the eggs apart. I've also had hens try to take over the nest or join the first hen. I had 3 bantam hens setting in the same nest at the same time. It was kinda cute but they kept fighting over the eggs and rolling them out of the nest. They will also fight over who gets the chicks when they hatch and possibly injure the chicks. If you have to let them set in the nesting box, then try to attach a 3-4" board across the bottom of the opening to keep the chicks in. As soon as all the chicks hatch move them out of the box. Here again, it's better if they are in a separate area. Chickens can really be mean to each other and one may try to kill another's chicks. I can't answer your question about guineas--I've never raised them.

One thing I do when building a coop is to put linoleum on the floor. It makes it a whole lot easier to thoroughly clean the floor.

One thing I wish I had realized when I was starting to raise chickens was how smart and abundant the predators are. Any time I let my chickens out during the day I'm afraid a hawk will get them--most of mine are bantams. I had a raccoon find a way to get into one of my pens and kill the two roosters in it. I also had something-not sure what-probably a rat or weasel-go through my chain link pen, into the coop and eat only the head of one of my sleeping roosters. Now I am so paranoid that every night I lock the chickens up in their coops even though they're in secure pens. I'm also afraid some stray dog may find a way to dig in during the day. All this really takes a lot of the pleasure out of caring for my chickens.

One more thing--I wish there was a way to tell pullet eggs from cockerel eggs before they hatch 'cause I'm tired of being stressed by fighting roosters who try to kill each other. I wouldn't mind raising a pen full of roosters if they would just get along.

 

[crdoyle]

how much they can eat as free range chickens that can harm them,glass,plastics,fiberglass,make sure if freerange you check for broken glass.your chickenhouse should have electric ran to it.i use a light and a heated water bucket here in montana.i have 13 hens average 11 eggs a day.summer time i can more eggs then chickens.i keep they're light burning 24/7.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Slowly build up your flock. This is just a 'me thing' , I wish I hadn't gotten 100 chickens in one year, leaving no space to slowly build up.

S I wouldn't have top worry bout space when Jo hatches out two chicks.

Oh, and small hatches. You have more time to love on each different chick so they can grow more friendly.

Very good suggestion! I was kind of wanting to fill my coops by spring, but actually, your wise words will hopefully keep me from doing so. If I get only a few more pullets this spring, then wait until next year to add to them, I could actually try a bit of breeding, which would be fun. Plus, I'd stagger the ages of my hens so they won't "burn out" all at once. I'm noting this to myself so that hopefully I will follow it!