2019 Newbie Chat!

[mimipeaches]

I just joined but my chickens are already 8 and 6 months old but because we got them so late we don't have any eggs yet! What would you guys recommend to make a nesting box out of for cheap because I can't seem to find anything to make it out of and my hens should start laying soon they probably won't but I always like having high hopes!!

 

[southernbound13]

I just joined but my chickens are already 8 and 6 months old but because we got them so late we don't have any eggs yet! What would you guys recommend to make a nesting box out of for cheap because I can't seem to find anything to make it out of and my hens should start laying soon they probably won't but I always like having high hopes!!

Really anything will do. We've used milk crates, rubber horse feeders, buckets, pallet wood etc.

 

[mimipeaches]

Really anything will do. We've used milk crates, rubber horse feeders, buckets, pallet wood etc.

Thank you!!!

 

[HuffleClaw]

I’m technically not a 2019 newbie, but I like this thread. Thanks @Cyprus for making it happen! I’ll be filling along and doing my best to help, learn, and hopefully even share a few laughs with you all. Good luck peeps! Pictures always appreciated

 

[Bird Bouquet]

I will post to keep this at the top of the list.

My current dilemma is about if I want to brood from day 1 outside in walk in coop, or if I want to use the play pen inside my rec room for a few weeks. I will be using a heat plate and could easily make a draft guard out of some cardboard....so the coop could work. Temps will be "low", but most likely not freezing. Way less messy outside, but then again it means the chicks are further from the humans and it takes more effort to go out to check on them/hang with them.

Could brood them inside the house in the rec room for a while, but it would be stinkier and messier. Although they would be down with our stinky dog, so the smell is already not the best down there. Brooded quail down there before and it wasn't THAT bad of a smell.

Decisions, decisions.

I vote inside. Friendlier chooks are easier to care for and fun to be with. Ask me again in 12 weeks when my basement stinks and is filled with dust.

 

[paneubert]

I vote inside. Friendlier chooks are easier to care for and fun to be with. Ask me again in 12 weeks when my basement stinks and is filled with dust.

Yeah..............we are going all in and will have them in a playpen in our living room next to the kitchen. So sort of like your comment about checking in at week 12......you should check in with me at about day 5 when I already regret all my life choices. Haha.

Really the plan is to have them there for a week or two max. Then most likely to the coop outside.

 

[Bird Bouquet]

We had four chickens that we raised from chicks a few years back but we’re way too spontaneous in our decision making and ill prepared to winter birds over in our inadequate setup. Live and learn. We spent last summer and fall building our dream coop and predator proof 96 sq ft run. Our expected hatch date is February 4 and I am nervous and excited. We have RIR, Australorps, Marans, EE, OE and an Orpington ordered. Thanks for starting this thread. I feel like I need the kind of support one gets in Lamaze class. So nervous! I don’t want to screw this up.

 

[Dandelyon]

I'm so nervous too! I tend to be super pessimistic about anything that sounds exciting (kind of the opposite of spontaneous, lol) so it's been a real psychological exercise gettng myself to go for it this time.

Today is Chickens Eve for me, and I think I'm ready (but what if the brooder tips over? What if my cat gets into them? What if they get a mysterious sickness? What if the house burns down? What if...)

 

[Dandelyon]

They're here!!

They've mostly been sleeping for the last hour. Is that normal?

ETA: not long after I posted that they all came out and started eating and drinking a bunch. They seem pretty happy.

 

[southernbound13]

ahhh what cuties! And yeah they'll just eat drink and sleep the first few days. As long as theres lots of the first two happening they're fine.