Age of chicks

[mommydollbabies]

Good morning! My 9 year is really wanting to raise a couple of chickens. I have no experience with them so I have a couple of questions. 1. How old are the chicks that you get at the farm store? 2. When can we put them into the outside coop? 3. Are you able to leave for the weekend once they are grown? 4. Also. I read somewhere that very young chicks, need all day care..like you can't even go to work. Is this true? Any information would be appreciated!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Well the chicks should be just a few days old when you get them, unless you get the started pullets from a hatchery. You can put them in the outside coop when they're fully feathered. Yes, you can leave them when they're grown. Chicks do need care, but it's not a all day thing. They will always need water and food out at all times, heat, and bedding and once they get bigger you may want to put a top on their brooder because they wil fly out.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:

1. Between a few days and a couple of weeks usually
2. When they have all their feathers. The feed store usually has a pamphlet that will guide you.
3. Depends... Have to leave enough food and water out for them. With a smaller flock this is a snap.
4. Nope, heat, water food and clean the bedding every other day. But I dare you to resist holding that little bundle of fluffyness. Welcome to the addiction.

 

[theFox]

1. How old are the chicks that you get at the farm store?

This varies it can be anywhere from 2 days to several days. It depends upon where the feed store gets its birds from.

2. When can we put them into the outside coop?

This depends solely upon your ability to provide the required temperatures in the coop until the birds are fully feathered.

3. Are you able to leave for the weekend once they are grown?

Sure provided you have them in a secure area, proper housing, and they have plenty of food and water to last until well after you expect to get home.

4. Also. I read somewhere that very young chicks, need all day care..like you can't even go to work. Is this true? Any information would be appreciated!

You are being told a line of baloney, you have to make certain they are in a place that is secure, at the proper temperature, know where their food and water are, have enough food and water to last until well after you expect to get back home.

You should get a decent book on raising chickens, one that covers pests, raising the birds from eggs to demise, housing, feed, and breeding.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum.

Glad you are here.

The chicks at the farm store are normally shipped from a hatchery the day they are hatched, so usually two or three days old the day they arrive. How old they are when you get them just depends on how long they have been there.

When they can go to the outside coop depends on your climate and set-up. My coop has electricity so I put my brooder in the coop. The coop is very predator proof and not drafty, although I still put up a draft guard. At 4 weeks I let them out of the brooder into the coop and at 8 weeks I let them out to the run. I am sure I could have let them into the run a lot sooner, but I had no real reason. They did fine inside the coop. Mine were hatched the middle of May so it was pretty warm here when I did all this. Your circumstances will probably be different.

There are a lot of different theories of when you can let them out. The safest, most conservative, is to start them out at 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and drop the brooder temperature 5 degrees every week. When you get down to the lowest nighttime temperature, you can let them go. Some say "when they are fully feathered out". It can be a bit breed dependent, but some people think fully feathered is 4 weeks, some think it is 12 weeks. Me, I don't know but I lean toward the earlier age. After all, very few broody hens keep their chicks warm for 12 weeks, usually not much over four, depending on the climate.

I never leave for the weekend or longer without having someone let them out in the morning and lock them up at night. Waterers can malfunction, get filthy dirty, or just run out. Same with feeders, just not as critical as water. I once found a possom in my coop when I went to lock it up at night. Some people do leave them for the weekend, but I always line up a neighbor's daughter to take care of them, pay her a bit, and let them keep all the eggs they find.

Many, many people take care of the brooder in the morning, go to work, and take care of the brooder when they get home from work. Is it better to check on them during the day? I think so. Is it necessary? No.

 

[mommydollbabies]

Thank you everyone for the answers. This is looking more and more feasible
A couple more questions come to mind... Do you eventually clip their wings so that they don't fly into the neighbors' yards? What do you do with the droppings and such from the chicken coop? (We live in a regular house in a neigborhood.) We also have a bunny, will it be safe in the yard with chickens? We are thinking of getting an Americauna and one other, any suggestions on breed?

Thanks again!

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
1)they can be anywhere from day old to a few weeks
2)you can put them outside after 8 weeks (depending on your climate and weather)
3)and i would imagine you could
4)baby chicks need alot of care...and it is an all day job
and for breeds, it really depends on what you want them for? example: eggs,meat, just to have ect

 

[mommydollbabies]

So we are only getting two chickens, we want them mainly as pet/project, but would also like to get a few eggs once in a while. Also, I don't want to disrupt the neighbors with chicken noise, are there breeds that are quieter than others?

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
Australorps are amazing pets, and amazing layers but they can be kinda loud ( we have one that never shuts up lol)
Orpingtons are very sweet, and lay well
Comets, Sussex, and SexLinks are nice pets, and exelent layers
and
Rhoad Island Reds are very sweet and lay nearly everyday
Bramhas ar very pretty,sweet, and u get a few eggs out of them
if you just want something pretty, try a polish or a silkie
hope this helps!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd actually suggest starting with three chickens. They are social animals and things do sometimes happen. And three are not a lot harder to take care of than two.

Some people clip wings and some don't. Whether they fly into your neighbor's yard depends on how high your fences are, how much they are motivated to fly over there, and once they are grown, which breeds you have. Young chickens can fly fairly well but the full grown heavier breeds do not fly nearly as much. And some individuals of any breed just have a personality that likes to roam.

You are correct in that you need a poop managment plan. I compost my chicken poop. To me, if you can compost it, that is the best way to go. I don't have rabbits so I cannot comment on that question.

Are you starting with chicks or going with grown chickens? If you are starting with chicks, I'd suggest you look at the sex links. These are specific crosses where you can tell the sex of the chick by color or a specific marking. You don't want roosters so getting sex links helps with that. They are heavier birds so once they are grown, they should not be real flighty. They are usually fairly calm, docile, good egg layers, and don't often go broody. If you are getting birds old enough to be sure of the sex, any of the dual purpose breeds would be OK, but I'd suggest looking at ones that are not known for going broody and are docile. Henderson's chart may help with that.

The Henderson chart
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

Good luck and welcome to the adventure.