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

[aart]

I love this thread! Kudo's to the Thread Starter and all who have contributed your experiences.

I will add from another perspective:

I'm glad I decided to do months of reading here and on other forums before I get my own chickens this spring, even tho I have several years of experience chicken sitting for friends.
There is a plethura of information about chickens on the web, alot of it is not good. After spending hours and hours reading I am sorting out the excellent (cutting and pasting notes into my own document) from the ridiculous (ignoring or trying to steer towards enlightenment). I've discovered things I would not have thought of by learning from other people's mistakes.

Predator protection, space requirements and ventilation are the 3 most important aspects I've found to research thoroughly before building coop and run.
The Coop & Run - Design, Construction, & Maintenance and Predators and Pests forums is where I've learned the most to research my planning.

 

[colburg]

1 thing wish I would have known about...

Fermented Feed sooner. Less smelly poo and they eat about 1/2 as much as they used to.

 

[MamaKat]

1 thing wish I would have known about...

Fermented Feed sooner.  Less smelly poo and they eat about 1/2 as much as they used to.

Do u make the fermented food? Or buy it? I need to google it!

 

[colburg]

Do u make the fermented food? Or buy it? I need to google it!

It's extremely easy to make. No need to google, just start with this BYC thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds Tons of info in there.

The title states it's for meat birds, but you'll quickly see that it evolves into FF(fermented food) for everything from meaties to layers to day old chicks to turkeys, geese, quail, even dogs and cats.

I am feeding 38 7-month old chickens the same amount of feed I was feeding 52 4-week old chicks, 1.5 gallons. It's good for boosting immunity, preventing cocci, promotes feather shine, eliminates runny poos in almost(but not all) cases, and makes the protien more readily available(the equivalent of upping the protien 8-12% depending on who you ask).

 

[wendoes]

Build as big of a run/coop as you can afford. You will not regret this!

Also, easy to clean nesting boxes, roosts higher then nesting boxes, and slanted roof on nest boxes to prevent chickens (in my case the turkeys) from sleeping on top of them.

I fell in love with my poop board + PDZ under my roosts it saves the shavings and there is no smell in my coop. I just scoop it like cat litter.

Hi,
I am a newbie... have had my chicks for less than a week, currently living in a plastic box under my bathroom sink ;-)
What is a poop board + PDZ?

 

[bayoudragon]

Check this thread out dedicated to poop boards. It has helped me tremendously! PDZ is a horse stall freshener.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/621363/poop-board-convert-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures

 

[Basel]

It's extremely easy to make. No need to google, just start with this BYC thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds Tons of info in there.

The title states it's for meat birds, but you'll quickly see that it evolves into FF(fermented food) for everything from meaties to layers to day old chicks to turkeys, geese, quail, even dogs and cats.

I am feeding 38 7-month old chickens the same amount of feed I was feeding 52 4-week old chicks, 1.5 gallons. It's good for boosting immunity, preventing cocci, promotes feather shine, eliminates runny poos in almost(but not all) cases, and makes the protien more readily available(the equivalent of upping the protien 8-12% depending on who you ask).

Do you have any bearded birds, and if so, what do you do about the feed getting all over their beards and faces?

 

[cluck-cluck]

Do you have any bearded birds, and if so, what do you do about the feed getting all over their beards and faces?

I have bearded birds and they simply get messy. If I were to show them, I'd feed them dry a while before the show. But if I really drain the food well (and there is one brand of feed here that is more crushed grains which drain well) then they don't get too messy. But I'm finding the crumbles and pellets are made of much finer ground stuff, and becomes pasty and hard to drain. I find that mash works best.

 

[colburg]

Do you have any bearded birds, and if so, what do you do about the feed getting all over their beards and faces?

No bearded birds over here. But it's covered rather thoroughly throughout the thread. Just search the thread for beards, or sizzle's or one of those types of birds and you'll get lots of info. There's quite a few pics of it as well.

 

[Queen Bee]

I was really sorry that I had not designed my coop to be able to divide or extend easily! No matter how large your coop is, you will want/need more space!

Think about-: 1. where will you put a sick or injuried hen. 2. Where will you put my half grown chicks --before they are big enough to go in to the big girls room. 3. You might decide you want a breeding pen. 4. Your broody hen needs a quit place....

Build the door higher than ground level.. I spent too many hours raking the stuff away from the door so I could close it at night... I wish I had built the door about a foot off ground..