Hatching my own!

[Sudola3]

Hey y'all! I am a newbie to chickens and to this site. I have a few questions. I own a barn with a coop in it so I'm using that to put my new babies. I bought chickens from tractor supply so for now I'm going to keep them in my basement in a large tub. How long do I keep these babies in the house? As I set up the barn I am curious to any special things/ needs these chicks might need I have the basics food container, water container, heat lamp, and the nesting boxes. The boxes are kept up high from the previous owner...is that okay? Do they need anything further? And the last question seems silly to me but next year as my son gets older I want to hatch our own eggs. A would I need to add a rooster to my chicken family to hatch my own eggs? The whole egg process is like humans right? The guy at tractor supply threw me for a loop when he told me my chickens would just need to sit on the egg! I'm not sure if he just didn't understand my question or what. So how would I go about hatching my own babies soon? Thank you so much everyone!!!

 

[araminta37]

definatly need a rooster, he will fertilize your eggs and protect the hens

 

[farnorth]

You will need a rooster to fertilize the eggs but you will also need a broody hen to sit on the eggs and hatch them. Not just any hen will sit on the eggs and hatch them...and even if you have a broody hen you have to wait until she decides she feels broody before she will sit on egg. I use a Buff Orpington and an Autralorp. The other alternative is an incubator.

As for your coop you need bedding on the floor, nest boxes for them to lay eggs in (it's fine if they are up high otherwise the chicks will jump in there and poop all over when they are young). Also, Feeder, Waterer, Roosting poles for them to sleep on at night, if they are confined they will need a container with grit (it's like small gravel they need it to digest their food) and later when they start to lay they will need a container with calcium in it. The coop must be secure so that weasels, rats, skunks, cats, dogs and other predators can't get in and kill your chickens..

 

[Sudola3]

Great thanks for all the help!! So a rooster is only needed when I want to hatch my own eggs? For now I can just have my hens and gather my eggs as they lay them?

 

[farnorth]

Great thanks for all the help!! So a rooster is only needed when I want to hatch my own eggs? For now I can just have my hens and gather my eggs as they lay them?

yes, no rooster needed unless you want to hatch the eggs....otherwise just enjoy the hens and their yummy fresh eggs.

 

[Sudola3]

And a roosting pole can that be a ladder? The previous owners have a ladder hanging horizontally high off the ground like the nesting box

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is just personal preference. But you do need a rooster for fertile eggs.

Your hens will be quite happy laying eggs without a rooster around. They won’t lay any less and they won’t lay any more if a rooster is not around.

It also makes no difference for them to go broody is a rooster is around or not. They don’t know if the eggs are fertile. Whether or not the hormones that make them go broody kick in has nothing to do with whether a rooter is around or not.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That ladder should work fine for a roost.

 

[Sudola3]

Thank you guys you rock!!!