First time with baby chickens

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Atomiccarebear

Atomiccarebear

In the Brooder
May 20, 2017
13
8
29
Murfreesboro, TN
He guys!
I'm a first timer with chickens. We just got our 2-day old chicks today! Super stoked! I've been trying to convince my husband since we bought our new house 2 years ago and he finally caved! I will be asking a lot of questions so bare with me. We have 4 Ameraucana's, 3 Brahma's and 1 Faverolles.
We are currently looking for cheap ways to build a chicken coop. right now our plan is to use thick pallets and chain link fence but we are always looking for better options. I found a guy on craigslist that was giving away a play house that we could have built off of but come to find out it was way too big! We are also open to suggestions on organic chicken feed and food.

On to this new adventure!
 

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The bigger the better...Chickens are addictive. Also more room is best. Pallets work great I have my ducks in pallet coop now. Just make sure you have good ventilation. I used my daughters old captains bed to make chicken coop, but now I'm looking to expand. If you use a dog run for your chickens you may need strips/slats as coons can pull a chicken thru 1 in chicken wire. Check the predator proofing threads. Questions always welcome. And Good Luck on your new babies!
 
I would get the play house anyway, and you could use a piece of cardboard or something to divide it on the inside and make their area smaller and just remove it when they are bigger! Also, I'm in the same boat with my ducks, and I've been researching predator proofing their area pretty heavily and chain link fencing alone is not enough (bummer! Would have saved a load of money with my backyard already being fenced in!) You will want to line it, and at least 1 foot of the ground inward by it with some fencing called hardware cloth. Raccoons can tear up chicken wire and they can reach their arms into chain link and apparently they will grab the chickens and eat them through the fence like that! Also if there are hawks, falcons, and or eagles and vultures where you are you gotta do fencing or something over the top of their run too. if it's high enough that a raccoon wouldn't be able to reach the chickens from the top I would think feild fencing would suffice which is much cheaper than the hardware cloth. Also I noticed hardware cloth is a LOT cheaper to buy online than from my local tractor supply and home depot even after the shipping.
 
Oh and something I'm doing, I have an old crib at my house that was my oldest neices. I'm going to line it with chicken wire and do the same to the top of it and use it for a brooder - it even has wheels! Look around you and see what you have laying around, old cabinets and old furniture can be upcycled into just about anything!
 
Oh yeah! There's this youtuber, Beckys Homestead or something like that, she made nest boxes out of plastic totes! Of course you wouldn't really need those til later but it's something to keep in mind.
Also, if you have a lot of clay in your area, you might want to look into some videos and reading material on building cob structures. All you need is that clay, sand and straw! It's a lot of work but a very cheap and if you can find sand even FREE way to build things
 

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