Chicken math

[grandmaduck]

If your brooder is too full--just start another one!! I now have four in my laundry room in the basement. One is an antique wooden playpen we have modified to accommodate our 5 wk olds. I will try to get pictures on tomorrow. Our problem is--chicks are getting so big and crowded and weather has not warmed enough here in Maryland to get them outside. Of course, I only wanted 6-8 and now have 8 EE's, 4 Australorps, 6 ISA Browns, 3 Novogens, 3 silver laced Wyandottes, 2 gold laced Wyandottes, 1 RIR, 2 Silkies, 3 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Barred Rocks. I am just starting and wanted a little variety. Due to TSC and their "chicken math" where you must buy 6 at once, I now have 34 chicks!! I will be rehoming any roosters and possibly some others ( like the silver laced that keeps trying to peck me because I have to put clean food and water dishes in his home--I say him because a girl would be grateful I think). Please don't get upset all rooster lovers--I can't keep them--don't want upset neighbors. I had already warned my grandsons "if it crows, it goes" before the first chicken was purchased. They are pleased that the first 2 EEs they claimed are now 5 weeks and seem to be girls. So Queen and Freckles will be staying !! (As will most of the others--the chicken coop being built is going to be a little larger than planned two months ago)

 

[pioneerchick816]

I have three brooders & one is already in a grow out pen on the side of our shop

 

[SunHwaKwon]

If your brooder is too full--just start another one!! I now have four in my laundry room in the basement. One is an antique wooden playpen we have modified to accommodate our 5 wk olds. I will try to get pictures on tomorrow. Our problem is--chicks are getting so big and crowded and weather has not warmed enough here in Maryland to get them outside. Of course, I only wanted 6-8 and now have 8 EE's, 4 Australorps, 6 ISA Browns, 3 Novogens, 3 silver laced Wyandottes, 2 gold laced Wyandottes, 1 RIR, 2 Silkies, 3 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Barred Rocks. I am just starting and wanted a little variety. Due to TSC and their "chicken math" where you must buy 6 at once, I now have 34 chicks!! I will be rehoming any roosters and possibly some others ( like the silver laced that keeps trying to peck me because I have to put clean food and water dishes in his home--I say him because a girl would be grateful I think). Please don't get upset all rooster lovers--I can't keep them--don't want upset neighbors. I had already warned my grandsons "if it crows, it goes" before the first chicken was purchased. They are pleased that the first 2 EEs they claimed are now 5 weeks and seem to be girls. So Queen and Freckles will be staying !! (As will most of the others--the chicken coop being built is going to be a little larger than planned two months ago)

I'm in Maryland and I moved my 3 weeks old outside this morning! My five almost six week olds have been outside for about four weeks Yes, even with nights in the 20s.

 

[grandmaduck]

I'm in Maryland and I moved my 3 weeks old outside this morning! My five almost six week olds have been outside for about four weeks Yes, even with nights in the 20s. 

 

[grandmaduck]

What are you using for a heat source? We have a TSC coop with pen that we had planned on using until chicken math caught up with me ( we are keeping it as an isolation pen for the future). I was planning on putting the oldest in there until our real chicken coop is finished but it is so small that I was afraid to put in one of the hot brooder lights. I have been taking them out on really warm days so they can start their foraging habits. They seemed happy out there this afternoon but as the temperature dropped, they were huddled together making me think that they may not be ready yet.

 

[grandmaduck]

 

[grandmaduck]

The pics above are out Brooder Room. Started with a 40 gallon Rubbermaid thing, bought a 100 gallon tub and split the chickens based on age. Next we brought in a metal washtub for the new chicks. This week we got the antique wooden playpen and now have 5 wk olds in it, 3 and 4 week olds in the 100 gal, 2 wk olds in the 40 gal tub and 1 wk olds and 3 day olds in the metal washtub. With 34 chicks, it is now the brooder room and secondarily used as my basement laundry room.

 

[pioneerchick816]

That's the way of chicken math

@grandmaduck

 

[kbowman123]

My math - I wanted to end up with 6-8 hens only that my pre-fab chicken coop could hold. I buy 8 to start at tcs. They only have pullets in one type and that wasn't the type I wanted so I get chickens anyway. Duel purpose -the roosters will go as soon as they are big enough. I go to a different tcs and they have some different breeds I get 6 more. I start reading on here about how to tell the roosters from the hens it looks like all but the pullets are roosters from the first batch, the second batch I can't tell. I go away for the weekend and I stop with my brother at yet a different tcs I get 6 more because I really want to end up with about 8 hens and my math is telling my I'm getting way too many roosters. I get 8 more because I was joking with another customer about leaving some bantams for me and he left 4 instead of the 2 I planned and then I got a clerk who sorted about some hens for me. Then my brother decided he wanted 8 and that they could stay at my house till it was time for them to go outside. I got home and discovered that 4 of his did not look the the 2 of mine that should all have been buff orpingtons and that 4 of his (feathered dark legs with 5 toes) after talking with local tcs are probably silkies( not sure how much she really knows because I really don't trust tcs) and are not the best for eggs and meat so I go get 6 more chicks and am now talking about how to expand my prefab chicken coop or re home some hens if that plan fails . I should have just ordered the pullets online.............

 

[SunHwaKwon]

What are you using for a heat source? We have a TSC coop with pen that we had planned on using until chicken math caught up with me ( we are keeping it as an isolation pen for the future). I was planning on putting the oldest in there until our real chicken coop is finished but it is so small that I was afraid to put in one of the hot brooder lights. I have been taking them out on really warm days so they can start their foraging habits. They seemed happy out there this afternoon but as the temperature dropped, they were huddled together making me think that they may not be ready yet.

Nothing now (I took it out last night). I use mama heating pads typically, unless I have too many chicks and have to set up a third brooder with a lamp.

My oldest and biggest (large fowl) six week olds have been off of heat for about 2 weeks, in a little TSC coop. The six week old bantams were in my brooder coop with heat pads. And my overflow three week old bantams and LF were on the front porch in a dog crate with a heat lamp. But I moved the 3 week old LF out to the brooder coop yesterday and I am kicking some of the six week olds out of the TSC coop and to the big coop this weekend so I can do some more rearranging based on level of feathering and size.