Gonna be a chicken mamma soon; but . ..

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Me and hubby have different goals in this. Admittently he knows more about it than me; buuutt, I want to go the "I don't know what I am doing; willing to learn; how about let's start with 10 route" and he is the "chicken plants are being burned to the ground . . . see, here is the evidence, let's get 40 birds" camp. Ughhh. I want/need to be successful at this and seems to me starting with, say 10 chicks, then adding later when I am more comfortable would not be WRONG. Geeesh.

What I would like to know now is, I am thinking of keeping the chicks in my sewing room. We are in GA, so it is not cold outside; but, we still need to build a coop and he says they won't be grown enough for a coop right away anyway so go ahead and start buying them before they go through the roof. Oh, I am looking to acquire Dixie Rainbow chicks and/or brown leghorns.

Would it stink to try and keep the babies in my home for safety?

 

[sourland]

Yes. Build your coop first, provide supplemental heat if necessary and raise them outside.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Yes. Build your coop first, provide supplemental heat if necessary and raise them outside.

Okie, thank you.

 

[My Bagurks]

It all depends on what you two are ok with. I’ve brooded in our bedroom, living room, and back porch. A few chicks are manageable. A flock can get annoying really quickly. Chirping, scratching, your other pets. Keep these in mind. But it’s what your willing to put up with.

As far as which camp to vote for. I understand both absolutely. But I’d go with 10 first. It’s an easy number to manage. And you don’t want to get 40 chickens that you end up not liking or that won’t help with your end goals. I started with 10 Rhode Island Reds. Awesome layers, healthy birds, didn’t mind souther summers or winters. But I got a few colder hearty birds so that egg supplies don’t dwindle in the winter. Diversity is a good thing.

AND, you will find out what all goes into raising them from chicks and transferring and such with 10 and you may find you weren’t ready for 40 at all. But doing 10 then more means you have to think about separation and introductions. Down the road.

 

[Blooie]

I always, always raise my chicks outdoors. Always. I did that “heat lamp in a brooder box in the house for weeks” thing with my first batch of chicks and swore never to do it again. I also swore off heat lamps in favor of using Mama Heating Pad. It’s been 8 years and I’ve never regretted the change from the conventional for one minute. By the way, our springtime chick season temps here in Northern Wyoming are still in the 20s, dipping into the teens. I’ve never lost a chick to cold. My chicks absolutely thrive being raised almost exactly as a mother hen raises hers.

There are threads on here about Mama Heating Pad, and raising chicks outdoors. You will not believe the dust, the noise, and the headache of raising chicks indoors for weeks. So if you can, build your coop BEFORE you get your chicks. And I agree with you about starting with 10 or so. If you get 40, you’re looking at an average of 30 eggs PER DAY!! That’s 210 eggs a week!! Can you possibly use that many??

 

[junior67]

I started last year with 10 chicks. We didn't have our coop built. I was using an XL dog crate (with hardware cloth around the edges to keep them in and my cats paws out. LOL) they were in my daughters room. The chicks probably could have gone outside before we got the coop and run ready so I do wish we started the coop first even just had it partially done. They were getting big and outgrowing the crate. but I used some wood and made a little "shelf" for them to get them an extra spot to go and a bit more room which did work.

This year I got 12 new ones to add and brooded them outside in the coop with a MHP for heat and OMG it worked out GREAT! I did want to keep an eye on them so had them inside the first week then put them out in the coop in a separate section then my big ones, which you don't have to worry about. I will say as of right now my first batch that I had inside so could spend more time with them easier were more friendly than this batch at the same age. I am also working this year and wasn't last year so couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked with this group so maybe if I was home 24/7 they would have been just as friendly.

So from doing both I say both are great ways and work well just be sure you have a big enough spot for them if your build takes longer than you think it will. Also as far as the 10 vs 40 be sure you have the proper space (about 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop and 10 sq ft in the run), enough ventilation and roost space for how many you are planning on ending up with at the end. I built mine for 18 chickens and wish I built it bigger. LOL

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

I always, always raise my chicks outdoors. Always. I did that “heat lamp in a brooder box in the house for weeks” thing with my first batch of chicks and swore never to do it again. I also swore off heat lamps in favor of using Mama Heating Pad. It’s been 8 years and I’ve never regretted the change from the conventional for one minute. By the way, our springtime chick season temps here in Northern Wyoming are still in the 20s, dipping into the teens. I’ve never lost a chick to cold. My chicks absolutely thrive being raised almost exactly as a mother hen raises hers.

There are threads on here about Mama Heating Pad, and raising chicks outdoors. You will not believe the dust, the noise, and the headache of raising chicks indoors for weeks. So if you can, build your coop BEFORE you get your chicks. And I agree with you about starting with 10 or so. If you get 40, you’re looking at an average of 30 eggs PER DAY!! That’s 210 eggs a week!! Can you possibly use that many??

We are greedy guts. Hubby has me on three a day. Add his three; that is six eggs daily between us times seven days is 42 eggs. He listens to a lot of You Tubers speaking about what is on the near horizon and he swears we NEED them. Not arguing that, but I do want to be successful in this venture for us and the birds.

He also is going to have birds. It was me that decided I wanted MY own flock because we do things differently. I want my ladies to have a clean, nice environment. When he kept chickens in FL I felt his set up was a hot mess. All I want from him is the building of the coop. Everything else I will learn from here.

 

[Mamasaurus04]

Me and hubby have different goals in this. Admittently he knows more about it than me; buuutt, I want to go the "I don't know what I am doing; willing to learn; how about let's start with 10 route" and he is the "chicken plants are being burned to the ground . . . see, here is the evidence, let's get 40 birds" camp. Ughhh. I want/need to be successful at this and seems to me starting with, say 10 chicks, then adding later when I am more comfortable would not be WRONG. Geeesh.

What I would like to know now is, I am thinking of keeping the chicks in my sewing room. We are in GA, so it is not cold outside; but, we still need to build a coop and he says they won't be grown enough for a coop right away anyway so go ahead and start buying them before they go through the roof. Oh, I am looking to acquire Dixie Rainbow chicks and/or brown leghorns.

Would it stink to try and keep the babies in my home for safety?

My are currently in my in home office until they get big enough to go into a coop… maybe by 2 months? We haven’t built a coop yet… this is our first spring/summer at our house

The last time we had chickens we had a very small house and we had a tote in our bathtub for a long time until they were old enough to go into the outside coop haha

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

I started last year with 10 chicks. We didn't have our coop built. I was using an XL dog crate (with hardware cloth around the edges to keep them in and my cats paws out. LOL) they were in my daughters room. The chicks probably could have gone outside before we got the coop and run ready so I do wish we started the coop first even just had it partially done. They were getting big and outgrowing the crate. but I used some wood and made a little "shelf" for them to get them an extra spot to go and a bit more room which did work.

This year I got 12 new ones to add and brooded them outside in the coop with a MHP for heat and OMG it worked out GREAT! I did want to keep an eye on them so had them inside the first week then put them out in the coop in a separate section then my big ones, which you don't have to worry about. I will say as of right now my first batch that I had inside so could spend more time with them easier were more friendly than this batch at the same age. I am also working this year and wasn't last year so couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked with this group so maybe if I was home 24/7 they would have been just as friendly.

So from doing both I say both are great ways and work well just be sure you have a big enough spot for them if your build takes longer than you think it will. Also as far as the 10 vs 40 be sure you have the proper space (about 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop and 10 sq ft in the run), enough ventilation and roost space for how many you are planning on ending up with at the end. I built mine for 18 chickens and wish I built it bigger. LOL

I do know they will be free range when ready. I have read when free ranging the coop does not need to be as big since it is only for sleeping at night. (Hopefully I overstood that properly). The hatcheries seem to indicate 10 as a minimum purchase. That's big enough for me to start out (in my mind).

In my head the coop will be a weekend build. I want it simple. He seems to like an Amish style one and he likes one that is mostly 2 x 4s and some type of metal fencing (I forget). Ventilation won't be a problem. Put a roof on it and that should do it from the instructions I printed out.
Thank you so much for responding.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

My are currently in my in home office until they get big enough to go into a coop… maybe by 2 months? We haven’t built a coop yet… this is our first spring/summer at our house

The last time we had chickens we had a very small house and we had a tote in our bathtub for a long time until they were old enough to go into the outside coop haha

I like your style! Go 'head with your bad selves.

I am thinking having them inside WITH me will promote our relationship. I never held chickens when we lived in FL. This time I want to be emotionally involved and learn to not mind holding them. You know, in case I have to inspect their lil vents at some point.