2018 Newbie Chat!

[llombardo]

Finally catching up on this thread! We started on our coop this weekend! Let me tell y'all this heat is no joke. Here's our forecast.
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We worked Saturday and Sunday in the heat. Monday my loving husband banned me from working anymore though. We are waiting on our hardware cloth and our door for the run to arrive. We cleaned the shed all out and took out some shelves and moved them into his work shed. We need to make some windows and vents, nesting boxes, and roosts for them.

This was our backyard before we took the pool and deck down. I'm kind of regretting not keeping the pool with this ridiculous heat and only having 7 weeks left of pregnancy!
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Now it looks like this(this was an hour after we started Saturday morning around 11 am and it was already 90 degrees.)
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We've got a roof put on and chicken wire across the top. (I haven't taken an updated picture yet.) It's set up with electricity so we are planning on putting a fan in there for them as well.

We absolutely love our cockerels so I'm not sure how we will decide who goes and who stays. IF their temperaments remain the same.

Here's an updated photo of Casper(my fave)
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Then we have Big Red
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Next is Deadpool(my kids named him)
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And finally Dwight! Our resident crower and man in charge.
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While I was getting updated photos to compare how fast our cockerels have grown in just a few weeks, Kat got curious and wanted to be in front of the camera. She's my Fave girl!
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Sorry for the long post!

So how many boys and girls fo you have?

I can almost see the light here. The weather is extreme one way or the other. Today it was muggy and it poured rain. I have a pool too. It's a mess because last year I got a staph infection in my finger and I couldn't do anything. So I drained most of it on Sunday and Monday while I was working. That is the next project.

A friend at work made the duck house for me. I almost cried when I saw it. It's just beautiful and I still can't believe he took 8 hours out of his day to make it for me. It means a lot to me. I told him he should make them and sell them. Once here I will take a picture.

 

[Cbarr00]

So how many boys and girls fo you have?

I can almost see the light here. The weather is extreme one way or the other. Today it was muggy and it poured rain. I have a pool too. It's a mess because last year I got a staph infection in my finger and I couldn't do anything. So I drained most of it on Sunday and Monday while I was working. That is the next project.

A friend at work made the duck house for me. I almost cried when I saw it. It's just beautiful and I still can't believe he took 8 hours out of his day to make it for me. It means a lot to me. I told him he should make them and sell them. Once here I will take a picture.

We have 4 RIR. 2 boys and 2 girls.
We have 5 SS. 1 boy and 4 girls.
And we have one BO all male.

I really loved our pool. It was here when we bought our house 3 years ago and we only used it the first summer we lived here. It's so hard to maintain and keep clean and chemicals get expensive. We decided to take it down to have more of a backyard. We are planning on building a porch off our backdoor and if we would have left the pool and deck up along with our shed and chicken coop we would have literally no yard left. My poor husband is so sad he has no grass this year.

Building coops and runs is hard. Are you doing all the work completely alone?

 

[llombardo]

We have 4 RIR. 2 boys and 2 girls.
We have 5 SS. 1 boy and 4 girls.
And we have one BO all male.

I really loved our pool. It was here when we bought our house 3 years ago and we only used it the first summer we lived here. It's so hard to maintain and keep clean and chemicals get expensive. We decided to take it down to have more of a backyard. We are planning on building a porch off our backdoor and if we would have left the pool and deck up along with our shed and chicken coop we would have literally no yard left. My poor husband is so sad he has no grass this year.

Building coops and runs is hard. Are you doing all the work completely alone?

So what is your plan with so many boys? I got my first four and 2 turned out to be boys. I then went and got 4 more girls. Still not sure how it will work out. I found a rescue for the roosters if they are to rough on the girls, too loud(neighbors) or fight. I'm more worried about the girls and fighting. Fingers crossed.

I have done 95% of the work on my own. I've put a lot of hours into this enclosure. Goal is to have them out there Sunday. I took Mon and Tues off work because I know I'm not going yo be able to sleep with them out there at first.

 

[Cbarr00]

So what is your plan with so many boys? I got my first four and 2 turned out to be boys. I then went and got 4 more girls. Still not sure how it will work out. I found a rescue for the roosters if they are to rough on the girls, too loud(neighbors) or fight. I'm more worried about the girls and fighting. Fingers crossed.

I have done 95% of the work on my own. I've put a lot of hours into this enclosure. Goal is to have them out there Sunday. I took Mon and Tues off work because I know I'm not going yo be able to sleep with them out there at first.

We are planning on only keeping two as of now. It depends on who gets along with who and their temperaments towards us and the pullets after hitting puberty. Dwight is my husband's favorite and Casper is mine. Casper is at the bottom of the pecking order right now poor guy. I've read if they grow up together and understand their place it's supposed to be less fighting between the roos. I'm hoping a 2:6 ratio will work. If not we are keeping our prefab coop and will just house a couple boys separately if we feel we absolutely cannot part with our males and if they all are pretty well behaved. I've heard all male flocks can work too.

 

[Kirk-a-doodle-doo]

Just wanted to share a story...

A couple of nights ago, I was just watching the chicks do their thing in the run and one (Vonita) was making a noise I hadn't heard before (I'm still a newbie) and stomping around. She's the bossy one of the flock so I didn't pay much attention but a few more minutes of her tantrum lead me to investigate.

Earlier in the day, I had blocked off an area in the coop where the girls were roosting. I was trying to encourage them to roost on the roosting bars in the other corner of the coop instead of on the supports where the nest boxes will eventually go.

I followed Vonita into the coop and she got louder and stompier . It was then that I realized she was NOT HAPPY about the changes I made. Silly girl! I picked her up and put her on the roosting bars and she finally calmed down and then the other chicks joined her. Her first tantrum was too cute!

 

[BBZZZZTT]

15.5 weeks!
Look at that lovely face (Moana)

 

[llombardo]

We are planning on only keeping two as of now. It depends on who gets along with who and their temperaments towards us and the pullets after hitting puberty. Dwight is my husband's favorite and Casper is mine. Casper is at the bottom of the pecking order right now poor guy. I've read if they grow up together and understand their place it's supposed to be less fighting between the roos. I'm hoping a 2:6 ratio will work. If not we are keeping our prefab coop and will just house a couple boys separately if we feel we absolutely cannot part with our males and if they all are pretty well behaved. I've heard all male flocks can work too.

My ratio is 2:6 and I'm hoping that works as well.

 

[Angel&Luxie]

I'm new to this forum but have a serious question to ask! I have been told many time oatmeal is wonderful for chicks and chickens alike. My question is can the way artificially flavored peaches & strawberries and cream oatmeal? I know the sugar is bad but not sure exactly how this would work.. My Luxie is my world I would love any kind of feed back!! Thank you and I'm so glad to be apart of this community. It has helped me many times in the past, and I can't thank everyone enough..

 

[PolishChickMama]

Hello Everyone,
I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate this site. I just asked a question in another forum but have no idea where to find my answer, if anyone replies. UGH! Hopefully I'll figure it out. Anyhoot, when I originally posted about our 3 new Polish Laced babies, I thought we had 3 girls... turned out we had a rooster in the hen house! LOL So, had to give Ira (formerly named Irene) to a local farmer. We just finished building their run and attached their coop to it last weekend. We had a bad storm here 2 days ago and the pine shavings are wet. I've turned them in hopes they will dry soon. Any advice on the best way to get the shavings dry after a storm? Here's a few pics of Sally & Loretta's new run. If any of you see anything funky or that you know is going to cause a problem, please let me know. Appreciate all the advice anyone cares to share. Hope you all have a nice weekend.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Very unrelated to chickens but you guys come up with the best names! My husband and I are extending our small homestead and just purchased three Nubian bottle babies, all doelings. I need some name ideas?

On a related chicken note. I got my first four egg day two days ago so my Ameraucana are finally laying. I guess some say that they don’t start laying until six months old!!!