Dumb? questions from a new chicken mama

[SouthernChick54]

Getting our first pullets in July. I think we are ready but I have some rather dumb-sounding questions. Please forgive me!

Feeder and waterer -- hang, or sit on bricks on the ground? If it's hanging, how to you keep it/them from swinging around?

Dust bath -- in the coop or in the run? Our run is covered. The dust bath container (an under bed storage bin) also has a cover, I can move it in the coop when we have heavy rains. Is this a good plan?

Food and water - -in the coop or in the run? Or both? What about when they are free ranging outside of the run? I live in southwestern NC.

Rain -- should you leave your chickens in the coop in the rain?

"First aid kit" -- what should I have to be able to deal with chicken illnesses/injuries?

I told you -- dumb questions. But I can't find answers anywhere else! Thanks!

 

[nuthatched]

Getting our first pullets in July. I think we are ready but I have some rather dumb-sounding questions. Please forgive me!

Feeder and waterer -- hang, or sit on bricks on the ground? If it's hanging, how to you keep it/them from swinging around?

Dust bath -- in the coop or in the run? Our run is covered. The dust bath container (an under bed storage bin) also has a cover, I can move it in the coop when we have heavy rains. Is this a good plan?

Food and water - -in the coop or in the run? Or both? What about when they are free ranging outside of the run? I live in southwestern NC.

Rain -- should you leave your chickens in the coop in the rain?

"First aid kit" -- what should I have to be able to deal with chicken illnesses/injuries?

I told you -- dumb questions. But I can't find answers anywhere else! Thanks!

What's best depends on your coop and environment.

You can hang your waterers or put them on bricks, the weight of the food/water keep them from swinging.

Dust bath in the run. Peatmoss and/or plain ground dirt is best.

Whatever you have the room for.

Chickens can get wet, they don't care if it's raining or not.

First aid kit: Corid for Coccidosis, nutra drench for ill chickens, vitamin E capsules, B complex tablets, neosporin, fish mox, calcium citrate for egg disorders, syringe etc.

The vitamins you can get at the grocery store

 

[aart]

No questions are 'dumb'...if you don't know, it's smart to ask

Dust bath -- in the coop or in the run? Our run is covered. The dust bath container (an under bed storage bin) also has a cover, I can move it in the coop when we have heavy rains. Is this a good plan?

Ehhh, might not need to bother with this. They might use it or they might just dig up some ground on the run to make their own.

the weight of the food/water keep them from swinging.

Depends on how they are hung, best to put them on blocks, especially the water.

I live in southwestern NC

Welcome to BYC! @SouthernChick54
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[5Australorpasaures]

We hang the feeder inside, bigger birds will knock it over, water on cinder block. Water provided inside and outside. Dust bath they more or less make their own in the run or wherever they happen to be free ranging. Thet don't care about the weather. I keep no drugs on hand because I don't want them sitting around and not being used as shelf life deteriorates. Our farm store is close enough to pick up what we may need. Don't stress yourself, watch your birds, they'll let you know.

 

[The Welch Chickens]

Don't stress yourself

 

[Ridgerunner]

Feeder and waterer -- hang, or sit on bricks on the ground? If it's hanging, how to you keep it/them from swinging around?

You can buy a lot of different kinds of feeders or waterers, many of us make our own. There is no one way to do any of this, just many different things that can work.

Dust bath -- in the coop or in the run? Our run is covered. The dust bath container (an under bed storage bin) also has a cover, I can move it in the coop when we have heavy rains. Is this a good plan?

Depends on what your coop and run look like. I use Aart's method of letting them make their own wherever they want to but your run might look different to mine. Since yours free range letting them take care of it may be the way to go.

Food and water - -in the coop or in the run? Or both? What about when they are free ranging outside of the run? I live in southwestern NC.

Some people feed and/or water in the coop only, some in the run only, some do both. We all have our own reasons for which way we do it.

Rain -- should you leave your chickens in the coop in the rain?

I let mine decide. Sometimes, especially if it is a fairly severe event, they seek shelter. Often they are out looking for earthworms the rain is driving to the surface.

"First aid kit" -- what should I have to be able to deal with chicken illnesses/injuries?

I had to think about this, injury or illness are so rare I don't have much. I have a separate place I can isolate a chicken if I need to. It is a built-in brooder in the coop that can be a broody buster as well as a hospital or holding pen if I need it. I also have a medicine dropper so I can out drops of liquid in the tip of the beak if I need to give them something. I have a bottle of bleach down there that I use to sanitize their drinking water bowls when they get algae growing in them. That's all I can think of.

I told you -- dumb questions. But I can't find answers anywhere else! Thanks!

No, not dumb questions. The dumb question is the one not asked. You'd hate to harm your chickens because you were afraid to ask a bunch of strangers a question. The problem you'll find is that there are so many different ways of doing practically anything that there is no one answer that works for everyone. For example, if you have a specific feeder in mind we might have some specific suggestions for it.

 

[cmobley]

My feeders are plastic totes with the ports cut into the sides. The totes hold anywhere from 50 to 300lbs of feed. This way you can leave a week and they have food. My waterers are 5 to 20 gallon screw lid buckets with drinker cups all of these and feeders sit on 8x8x16 cenderblocks. This works for me but everyone has to try different things to see what’s best for them. I can leave my birds for a month at a time and I used to when I traveled for work. Now it just makes it convenient not to have to feed and water everyday.

 

[lomine]

Either hanging or sitting is fine, as long as it works for you. I used to hang my feeder but somehow the birds kept unscrewing it and spilling a bunch of feed when it came apart, so now it sits on blocks.

I keep my feed inside the coop but... I have a very large coop compared to the number of birds so there's no spacing issues. Snow is common in the winter for my location, so I don't like keeping feed outside.

The chickens like to take a dust bath in the deep litter and they've found a few spots outside too (free range). I don't provide a specific container. Unless you get monsoon weather and your provided container would never dry out, I don't see why you couldn't leave it outside. Make sure it has drainage holes.

Coop door stays open during the day. My chickens don't care much for the rain, so they'll normally go back in the coop on their own during a storm. The ducks love it so they stay out.

I haven't had a lot of illness to deal with so don't keep much first-aid on hand for the birds. I usually like to have some kind of antiseptic spray on hand though for all the animals. Haven't had to use it much on the chickens.

 

[Sueby]

@Ridgerunner brings up a good point - a small dog crate is a fantastic thing to have ready. At some point you will probably have a broody that needs to be broken or a sick bird you need to keep an eye on. I have a little feeder & waterer that hang on the crate & come in so handy when I have to break my broody.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Feeder and waterer -- hang, or sit on bricks on the ground? If it's hanging, how to you keep it/them from swinging around?

My main feeder both hangs and sits - best way to prevent knocking over is to do both, if possible.

Waterer sits on an overturned 5 gal bucket which is the recommendation of the manufacturer.

Dust bath -- in the coop or in the run? Our run is covered. The dust bath container (an under bed storage bin) also has a cover, I can move it in the coop when we have heavy rains. Is this a good plan?

Run for sure, it gets VERY dusty. Really no reason to move it, just remember to cover it or keep it covered during rains. Here's mine during a flood, contents stayed bone dry no problem:

Food and water - -in the coop or in the run? Or both? What about when they are free ranging outside of the run? I live in southwestern NC.

Depends on your set up. I keep water outside to ensure coop stays dry. I have food inside and out in multiple locations (dry food in, wet feed out).

Rain -- should you leave your chickens in the coop in the rain?

No, they don't melt. Let them decide where they want to be.

"First aid kit" -- what should I have to be able to deal with chicken illnesses/injuries?

I don't tend to accumulate stuff because of expiration dates, so I only get medications or other items with shorter shelf lives when needed. Items that don't go bad (or that have multi use, like I use some stuff on myself, dogs and chickens) are good to keep around - vet wrap, neosporin w/o pain relief, vetricyn, plastic syringes, box cutters, nail trimmers/files.