- Jul 15, 2014
- 8
- 0
- 7
Hello new friends!
Five weeks ago I started out on a journey to start raising chickens, we started out with 4 (Daisy, Lily, Bubbles, and Nibbles) and have recently acquired 4 more (Rose, Scarlett, Little Wing, and Tipsy). I am an avid gardener and have read such wonderful things about fresh eggs, and chicken fertilizer.
THE CHICKS
These are the 4 little ones that we got 5 weeks ago when they were only a few days old.
^ That is Lily in the front, and Daisy in the back. (Lily had developed more into a multicolored wing, and Daisy is now mostly white with some grey)
^ That is Bubbles on the left, and Nibbles on the right (Bubbles has COMPLETELY changed colors. She is now completely black and white, and Nibbles has a bright golden neck)
This is them at 2 weeks old (3 weeks ago).
^ From left to right: Lily, Nibbles, Daisy, and Bubbles. (You can tell they are starting to grow more into their colors)
This is them at 4 weeks, a little over a week ago.
^ Nibbles is really taking on the golden color now. I love it!
^ Bubbles is turning almost completely black and white. This is my little crazy bird, always running in circles.
^ Daisy is my sweet girl. She is much more passive than the other birds. Her feather are MUCH more white now (see later pictures)
^ Lily has very unique colored feathers. As time goes on they take on more and more colors. The gold around her neck is definitely more developed now than in this picture.
This is all 4 of the birds a few days ago.
^ Daisy, Nibbles, Bubbles ^ Bubbles, Nibbles, Lily, and Daisy
These are our 4 newest additions: Rose, Scarlett, Tipsy, and Little Wing
^The red one in the middle, Scarlett, is probably the sweetest of all 8. She will eat right out of my hand and LOVES to be held. She follows me around everywhere I go. The small black one on the right is Little Wing. I just love her little white tipped wings. She was the tiniest of the bunch, but definitely the most daring.
THE COOP
This is definitely a work in progress, but we based the plan off of one we found online that said it would comfortably house 15 chickens. We don't plan on getting any more than the 8 we have until we move out onto our 25 acres in 5 years. The coop (not including the nest box) is 5ft wide x 5ft long x 4ft tall. The roof adds another 18 inches of space. The nest boxes are another 2 feet long and 1.5 ft tall each, and we have 6 of those. We also installed 1 window (working on doing a second one), and two perching rods inside.
^ Here you can see the perching rods inside, the side window, and the side door without the front panel in place. The other two are what the coop looked like when I finished putting the front panel on, and painted the whole thing grey and white. The last picture shows what the roof, with the shingles and solar panel look like. I installed a solar powered light for days that it is too dark inside the coop, or if I have to go out there at night.
^This is where we are working on the runner. You can't tell, but they have a bunch of space behind the coop under the deck. We did that area because a) they love the dirt, b) it is already covered by the deck, so we didn't have to spend the extra money on covering that section of the runner for protection, and c) I think the closer they are to us the less we have to worry about predators. The total runner area is probably 20ft long and 30ft wide.
Okay, so now that you have seen my chicks and their set up. Please let me know what you think! I do have some questions.
Thanks so much for taking some time to get to know my birds!
Five weeks ago I started out on a journey to start raising chickens, we started out with 4 (Daisy, Lily, Bubbles, and Nibbles) and have recently acquired 4 more (Rose, Scarlett, Little Wing, and Tipsy). I am an avid gardener and have read such wonderful things about fresh eggs, and chicken fertilizer.
THE CHICKS
These are the 4 little ones that we got 5 weeks ago when they were only a few days old.
^ That is Lily in the front, and Daisy in the back. (Lily had developed more into a multicolored wing, and Daisy is now mostly white with some grey)
^ That is Bubbles on the left, and Nibbles on the right (Bubbles has COMPLETELY changed colors. She is now completely black and white, and Nibbles has a bright golden neck)
This is them at 2 weeks old (3 weeks ago).
^ From left to right: Lily, Nibbles, Daisy, and Bubbles. (You can tell they are starting to grow more into their colors)
This is them at 4 weeks, a little over a week ago.
^ Nibbles is really taking on the golden color now. I love it!
^ Bubbles is turning almost completely black and white. This is my little crazy bird, always running in circles.
^ Daisy is my sweet girl. She is much more passive than the other birds. Her feather are MUCH more white now (see later pictures)
^ Lily has very unique colored feathers. As time goes on they take on more and more colors. The gold around her neck is definitely more developed now than in this picture.
This is all 4 of the birds a few days ago.
^ Daisy, Nibbles, Bubbles ^ Bubbles, Nibbles, Lily, and Daisy
These are our 4 newest additions: Rose, Scarlett, Tipsy, and Little Wing
^The red one in the middle, Scarlett, is probably the sweetest of all 8. She will eat right out of my hand and LOVES to be held. She follows me around everywhere I go. The small black one on the right is Little Wing. I just love her little white tipped wings. She was the tiniest of the bunch, but definitely the most daring.
THE COOP
This is definitely a work in progress, but we based the plan off of one we found online that said it would comfortably house 15 chickens. We don't plan on getting any more than the 8 we have until we move out onto our 25 acres in 5 years. The coop (not including the nest box) is 5ft wide x 5ft long x 4ft tall. The roof adds another 18 inches of space. The nest boxes are another 2 feet long and 1.5 ft tall each, and we have 6 of those. We also installed 1 window (working on doing a second one), and two perching rods inside.
^ Here you can see the perching rods inside, the side window, and the side door without the front panel in place. The other two are what the coop looked like when I finished putting the front panel on, and painted the whole thing grey and white. The last picture shows what the roof, with the shingles and solar panel look like. I installed a solar powered light for days that it is too dark inside the coop, or if I have to go out there at night.
^This is where we are working on the runner. You can't tell, but they have a bunch of space behind the coop under the deck. We did that area because a) they love the dirt, b) it is already covered by the deck, so we didn't have to spend the extra money on covering that section of the runner for protection, and c) I think the closer they are to us the less we have to worry about predators. The total runner area is probably 20ft long and 30ft wide.
Okay, so now that you have seen my chicks and their set up. Please let me know what you think! I do have some questions.
- Do you think my 8 chickens will have enough room in their coop?
- Do you think that the space in their runner is adequate for providing them with a happy life?
- At what point should I start introducing my 2nd flock to my first flock? (4 weeks apart in age)
- What are some treats I can occasionally feed my chickens?
- Feel free to take your best guess on breeds! I am thinking mostly Ameraucanas based on other feedback from people who have bought their little ones from the same feed store.
- Any tips on food and water that will reduce the amount of shavings I keep having to pick out?
- Currently I am shutting the door to their runner every night so that they can't get back out in the middle of the night. I want to train them to go back in at night. I didn't let them have access to their runner for 2 weeks after moving them to their coop, so they already seem to have associated it with home. Do you continue to close the door every night, or should I leave it open?
Thanks so much for taking some time to get to know my birds!
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