Are they that hard to raise?

[porkchop48]

Quote:
There is no older chickens in the coop... It is empty empty empty :-(

The coop does have electricity, water and gas

Hot here is an understatement. I hope by the time i do get them this heat wave has calmed down a bit.

 

[Long Last Farm]

I would just start them in the coop, then--your set up sounds perfect for the chicks!. Just make sure the have a way to get away from the heat lamp if it is already HOT. You could check the temp. with a thermometer and decide if they really need the lamp at ALL with this heat. They will try to move away from the heat source if they are too warm, and will all huddle together and chirp in a distressed way if they are too cold. It won't be ther usual happy chirp-- you will recognizes it as a distressed, loud chirp. You will do fine! This is my second year for chickens. I started with day old chicks from the hatchery, and soon was hatching fertile eggs with an incubator!

 

[ChicKat]

Quote:
Porkchop48---

Lucky you, just about to get chickens. What fun lies ahead! Chicks are so adorable, but they are more work than grown chickens IMO. They also need a little more specialized equipment, and there is more risk.

I was both impatient for eggs, unable to spend the extra time for chicks, and without equipment to brood babies when I got my chickens (from Criaigslist). For me that was the route to go, and I am really glad that I did because one hen laid the day after she was here, and the pullets were old enough after just one month of waiting. I did get some health problems, but they were quite easily fixed and I learned a lot very fast.

Have you considered a breeder in your area? Searching the internet, I found one not too far from here that specializes in selling quite a lot of chickens in a variety of breeds, and there are also specialized breeders that concentrate on just one breed such as Maran or Ameraucana.
You may even check the classifieds of a local paper or a paper in a more rural area.
A feed store may know someone who will sell started pullets that are near point of lay, and you could always contact your county extension agent -- I guess for your area would Ohio State be the land-grant university?
Possibly a local 4H club would have someone with a chicken raising project, although most of those I have heard about here are for meat chickens...not layers, but you just never know.

ALSO--- BYC forum has a 'wanted to buy' and a 'for sale' section. Maybe there is something/someone in your area. Had to edit to add that one---because I posted before it hit me.


You may not only be able to populate your coop with more mature chickens, but also get a contact person or persons that are local for any questions that come up. It took me awhile to find what I was looking for on Craigslist, and I occaisionally visit it now to see what is there. At one point, I was going to take a drive past places that had the 'Eggs for Sale' sign to see if they had any hens that they would sell.

Good luck as you begin with chickens to fill your coop. Your set up sounds really nice for the chickens. Let us know what you finally end up with.

 

[RedDrgn]

They're surprisingly simple to raise. I have been very pleasantly surprised, so far anyway. Keep their temperature right, make sure they have proper access to the correct food and plenty of water, and keep them/brooder clean, and it's all good.

Honestly, the thing to do (that worked really well for us) was to take the time to read, read, read. Scour the internet, read all about raising chickens, and when an a question arises, track down the answers; do all of this BEFORE you order anything. If you can't research ahead, it's probably not the best idea to bother getting chickens (or any animal you're not already familiar with), because it'll just be a whole lot more stress for you and the chickens to "wing it".

 

[TheJuan-n-Only]

I'm a totally new, city boy, chicken owner......and I've had no troubles yet (knock on wood)... I did do a lot or reserch on here before i got them. I was totallt stressing...but what would you know, I was stressing for no reason! Currenlt have 7 happy chook's already in the coop and other than a pasty butt here and there I say it was simple!

Worse come to worse....I'll drive up from FLA to get the coop from you if you dont want the birds hehehehe

 

[off-grid hen]

You just have to make sure you read up on it.

As with any baby, there is a potential for things to go wrong. In my case, the only thing I ever had to deal with was pasty butt the first few days. I have a brinsea ecoglow brooder and it worked really well. I didn't have to worry about a fire starting, as I too left all day for work. I just made sure that once they all started scratching the shavings around, that shavings didn't get in the waterer and soak up all the water! I put mine up on some bricks (once I knew the chicks could hop up there) and it was ok. I had a very large brooder, and with the 16 chicks they outgrew it quickly. It's nice for them to have some room to run and play. Have fun, it's a great experience.