2018 Newbie Chat!

[PNW_Peepers]

So sweet!!!! They are so adorable! We’ve been having so much fun coming up with names. Our oldest group of gals (almost 9 weeks old) are named Ash, Cottonwood, Rosewood, Juniper, Ebony, and Ivory. So far in our most recent batch we have Jacaranda, Myrtle, Sassafras, Lilac, Bonsai(crossbeaked chick), Magnolia, and Fig.

 

[janetdieter]

My coop My chickens come in 10 days!! I opted for 4-9 week old pullets - I didn't feel I could do the day old chick thing first time around. I was able to get 6 different breeds that I was interested in. I can't wait!! I'm worried about putting the "babies" into the coop - if they are only 4 weeks old can they go into the coop with a warmer in northern Illinois weather in March?? What about if they are 8-9 weeks??

 

[BBZZZZTT]

View attachment 1268146 View attachment 1268147

My coop My chickens come in 10 days!! I opted for 4-9 week old pullets - I didn't feel I could do the day old chick thing first time around. I was able to get 6 different breeds that I was interested in. I can't wait!! I'm worried about putting the "babies" into the coop - if they are only 4 weeks old can they go into the coop with a warmer in northern Illinois weather in March?? What about if they are 8-9 weeks??

From my understanding, as long as they are fully feathered and not temperature shocked they should be fine. As in, make sure they are acclimated. Going from an 80 degree brooder with 100 of your siblings to highs of 40s is a big change right away. There are for sure plenty of others that ask the same question, so keep an eye out or use the forum search. I'm sure you can find some more detailed answers.

Edit:
Mine are chicks now and I plan on getting them out in the coop as soon as they are feathered- In Milwaukee. Probably will be about the same time frame as your pullets.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

View attachment 1268146 View attachment 1268147

My coop My chickens come in 10 days!! I opted for 4-9 week old pullets - I didn't feel I could do the day old chick thing first time around. I was able to get 6 different breeds that I was interested in. I can't wait!! I'm worried about putting the "babies" into the coop - if they are only 4 weeks old can they go into the coop with a warmer in northern Illinois weather in March?? What about if they are 8-9 weeks??

You’ll want to wait until they are at least 8 weeks old as it generally takes that long for them to be fully feathered. Very cute coop! I love the color of it! What different breeds did you get & How many birds do you plan on having in the coop?

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Today I upgraded my chicks brooder.
They seemed a little crowded before I did the upgrade. I’ve been gauging how much room they have by how often I need to clean the brooder. I’m a little OCD so a filthy brooder just isn’t for me and I was needing to change it every other day and that’s too often for my liking. So I added two more panels onto it and they seem to be thrilled! They are now pretty efficient flyers too! They have a natural day/night cycle now as well!

 

[JMotuzick]

my girls arive in about 10 days. 3 of us went together and have 20 total coming. this will be my fist batch of chicks in 30 or so years! last ones where ducks and i was in 1st grade. we have 13 hens that came to us last summer/fall so I have gotten into chickens pretty heavy ! 8 of the chicks will be staying here. the other 12 will head off to my friends places as so as we can ID them!

i'll snap a picture of my shipping crate brooder and post directly from my phone... much easier then uploading to the PC!

its 2ftx8ft and i just added legs to keep the floor space under it and to keep the chicks off the cold garage floor. hoping to move them to the coop at about 5 weeks and then after a week crack the door...

 

[JMotuzick]

Shipping crate brooder!

 

[BBZZZZTT]

Wow! Okay, I know everyone says they grow so fast... But it's a bit crazy when you go to sleep, wake up, and all of the sudden they have twice the wing feathers and bigger feet!

Here are two welsummers and an Easter egg peeking through, 4 days old.

 

[platypusGold]

Got my first chicks 2 weeks ago. 1 Barnevelder, 1 Plymouth Barred Rock and 1 Welsummer.
Here they are as day olds.

In the last 24 hours they seem to be more tolerant to touch, which is good because at the moment the only non-fermented feed they have been willing to eat is Frozen Watermelon (it was 40degC plus here one day - these photos are them at 1 week old.) I was planning on buying their love, but haven't been able to yet.

Welsummer:

Plymouth Barred Rock (upon escaping the photo shoot, she is the most active of the three):

Barnevelder (at the moment the most shy)

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Got my first chicks 2 weeks ago. 1 Barnevelder, 1 Plymouth Barred Rock and 1 Welsummer.
Here they are as day olds.View attachment 1269447

In the last 24 hours they seem to be more tolerant to touch, which is good because at the moment the only non-fermented feed they have been willing to eat is Frozen Watermelon (it was 40degC plus here one day - these photos are them at 1 week old.) I was planning on buying their love, but haven't been able to yet.

Welsummer:
View attachment 1269450

Plymouth Barred Rock (upon escaping the photo shoot, she is the most active of the three):
View attachment 1269452

Barnevelder (at the moment the most shy)
View attachment 1269455

Welcome! Cuteness overload! You ferment their feed? I’ve been curious about fermenting, the feed I use is best fermented so I may just give it a try. I’ve been slowly winning mine over with boiled egg, & tiny live meal worms.