getting 8-12 week old pullets--- no idea what im doing

[mtnchickenmomma]

i am getting 2 barred rock pullets, 2 silver laced wyandottes and 2 silver laced cochins.

we just finished their coop today and are very excited to get our pullets. although, im starting to think i dont know what ive gotten my family into.

please excuse the million questions:

any recommendations on food?

can they be in their coop full-time? i do live in the mtns, temps around 80 during the day and 55 at night.

do i need a lamp for them outside? keep indoors? and where do i keep such big pullets indoors with 2 young kids already?

training?

treats?

predators? should i only let them out to free-roam when i am there to watch for predators?

and any other helpful advice for a first time "chicken mom"

 

[sumi]

When are you getting your chickens and are they ranging in age from 8-12 weeks old? Let's see, questions...

I'm not 100% sure about their age here, so I would say flock raiser or grower feed for these guys. When they are close to laying age (over 16 weeks at least) you can start thinking about giving them layer feed, though I personally prefer feeding grower until I see the first egg and then switch, or start offering oystershell on the side for extra calcium until I run out grower. Feed brands I cannot help you with, sorry! Wrong country. But pop in at the Feeding & Watering Your Flock section for feed discussions and recommendations.

Preferably they should spent some outside time as well, unless the weather is really awful (heavy snow/rain/wind) and you have a spacious coop for them.

At the age of 8 weeks and older they do not need additional heating (heat lamp) any more. They will be fine outside, in a run or free ranging, as long as they have a coop they can return to at night and take shelter in during the day when the weather turns foul.

I'm not sure what you mean with training?

Treats ideas here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/21530/feedback-on-learning-center-treats-chart

Predators, always a concern for chicken owners! I don't know where you live, so I can't tell you exactly what to prepare and look out for etc, but here are some articles on the most common predators and pests that chicken owners have to deal with:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-predators-pests-how-to-protect-treat-your-flock

I also highly recommend browsing through our Learning Center and have a look here for some more frequently asked questions and links to discussions (chicken questions, post #2):

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/204/backyardchickens-forum-faq#post_1198

Enjoy the forum and your chickens!

 

[RonC]

Again Welcome. Sumi gave some excellent advice.Any major brand (Purina,Dumor) chick starter,grower or flockraiser will work till they start laying, not that some of the lesser names are not as good. I find they waste less feeding pellets over the crumbles at that age. Other than predators,food and water they take pretty good care of themselves.

 

[Bullitt]

How large is your coop? Do you have a run connected to the coop? If so, how large is the run?

It might be wise to only allow the chicken to freerange when you are around to watch the chickens. If you are in the mountains, there will be many predators that can easily kill large chickens that can barely fly. If you just plan to have chickens for eggs, I would suggest getting some Brown Leghorn hens. These hens can fly up into the trees to avoid predators, and will provide more eggs than just about any breed, other than some of the other Leghorns, such as the White Leghorn.

You can feed the pullets regular chicken feed at that age. You might want to feed them laying feed starting at about 5 months to help them produce more eggs.

 

[Lisa202]

http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-care/guide-toc.aspx

Try this e-book. It will help you.

 

[The Chickeneer]

i am getting 2 barred rock pullets, 2 silver laced wyandottes and 2 silver laced cochins.

we just finished their coop today and are very excited to get our pullets. although, im starting to think i dont know what ive gotten my family into.

please excuse the million questions:

any recommendations on food? I would feed them chick grower crumbles at this age. At around 15 weeks of age, switch them to layer crumble or layer pellets but not mash because it gets wasted.

can they be in their coop full-time? i do live in the mtns, temps around 80 during the day and 55 at night. Keep them inside the coop for one week, this is to make them used to the coop and so they know where home is. after that, you can let them out, and they will return by themselves at dusk. Chickens will do fine in your climate.

do i need a lamp for them outside? keep indoors? and where do i keep such big pullets indoors with 2 young kids already? Chickens are hardier animals than you may expect, they do not need any type of special accommodations unless it gets close to below freezing. In the winter, since the days get shorter, its best to put a lamp in the coop and have it on when its dark at dawn. Chickens naturally lay more eggs in the summer because of the longer daylight hours, the added light in the winter will help stimulate them to keep laying throughout the winter months instead of decreasing their egg production like they would in winter normally.

training? There is 3 thing you should train your chickens to do. The first is that they should come to the coop at night by themselves, you can do this by keeping them locked in the coop for the first week.

The second is to train them all to come when you say certain words. Every time you feed them, yell "Chick chick chick chick" really loud and fast. They will associate these words with food. They will get used to this and after a while whenever you yell "Chick chick chick!" they will come running to you. This is useful for whenever you have table scraps and you want them to come, or when you have people over, and you want them to come.

The third thing to train them is to lay eggs in the nest box. When they first start laying, they will lay on the floor or wherever. Hens like to lay their egg where other hens lay eggs, so put a golf ball in each nest box, and the chickens will lay there thinking that the golf balls are eggs.

treats? Anything leftover from the kitchen except potato peels, cake with a lot of frosting or anything else that is overly processed. Good treats to feed them are leftover: grapes, tomatoes, pasta, salad, eggshells(it's for extra calcium, and yes you can feed them their own egg shells) bread and the list goes on an on....I do believe there is a chicken treat chart somewhere on site, you could look it up in the search bar.

predators? should i only let them out to free-roam when i am there to watch for predators? Since you live in the mountains, there could be a number of thing lurking out there waiting to gobble up your hens. It would be best to let them out on days when your home, but you don't necessarily have to watch them the whole time, just check on them. They will go back in their coop at night, so make sure to close the door once they're all in to keep predators out.

and any other helpful advice for a first time "chicken mom"
If you are really worried about predators, I would suggest getting 3 or so guineafowl and add them to your flock. If you haven't heard of these, they are a game bird native to Africa, they are kind of wild, and have better instincts than the chickens. They sound the alarm by getting extremely loud whenever a predator or something threatening comes near. We have a Guinea Fowl section in this forum that you should check out if you're interested.
If you can't get guineas, then you should get a rooster, they also help to protect a flock of hens, but from my experience, guinea fowl are far better than any guard dog, plus they never get sick.

I hope this helped, Good luck with your chickens and you can PM me if you have any more questions.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

You've been given great advice above so I'll just say Good Luck!!!