Hello everyone! Newbie here :-)

[Sandra04]

I am just starting out. Planning on 3 or 4 chicks to raise as pets and enjoy the benefits of the fresh eggs! Yum! Any help and tips welcome. I am in Tampa, Fl and have 2 dogs who have never been around chickens, so i an searching all info from set up before getting the chicks, care for them, the meaning of all these new terms i see, proper introduction to the dogs to not stress the little ones, all info welcome!

 

[Pyotr Koecher]

Hullo Sandra! For your question I will give you the story on how I started out. I did about a half-years research on what chickens I will get, what the cost for feed would be per month, what do about predators, and what they´re coop/home would look like and how much it would cost to build. A good place to buy chicks is Murray McMurray, (you can order a catalog off their website) and they sell quite a lot of chicken varieties. My favourites are the Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Red (RIR as you see on this website) and the Suxxex chicken, which are all offered from Murray McMurray´s. About dogs...what kind are yours? We have two small dogs that don´t bother the hens, but if you want (if they are big dogs) you could slowly introduce your chickens to them. If they don´t want to be nice, you could use a shock collar, or just try to keep them away from them. Hope all goes well, please post later (or try to send me a message) on how they work out!

Sincerely, Pyotr Koecher

 

[Pyotr Koecher]

Hi again! I forgot to say that you should NOT let your dogs near or by the chicks until they are AT LEAST 7 weeks old, or full-size.

 

[Sandra04]

Thank you for the feedback, i am looking up everything chicken and their care, tips from people with experience is always helpful so thank you. A nice guy from my feedstore is building a small coop for the outside, i have thought of using it as part of what i would like to eventually build them, somehow incorporate it with the big chain link dog fence its 6 x 6, i used it for my pit, Diesel 1 year old, but he never uses it anymore since he is kind of a couch potato lol and i also have a small dog, Lucky the boss who is 12 years old, Diesel has never been around anything other than other small dogs and runs from the random huge from in the yard lol so im just concerned on how to introduce when the chicks are old enough, he is crate trained so im thinking having the chicks around so he can get used to seeing them while he's in the crate? Lucky doesn't care, he's been around every animal because of the time I was with him in Peru, he may smell, lick them and lay back down lol. I was told to put down paper towel on top of the pine shavings while they are still tiny to avoid problems. What type of problems would that cause? How long do i keep the paper towel covered?

 

[Sandra04]

I was also told about a tunnel and keep something like a heating pad to keep warm instead of a light bulb, do i need the light bulb? I read about the red one, a 75 regular bulb and the ceramic for reptiles ones so im confused, i do want them to know when its time to sleep, so i turn the lights off while they are inside in the first couple of weeks and when they go outside they know at nights its time to go in to keep them safe from any random critters who may hurt them, theres lots of outside cats in my area...

 

[Pyotr Koecher]

Hi Sandra! I live in Minnesota, where in March/April it is still snow-covered and cold But in Florida it may be warm enough to not be tooooo much trouble. How I started by hens was taking an oval tin box ( about 3´ wide and 6´ long) covered with ultra-fine saw-dust kind of stuff. I would advise not to use pine shaving as they are large and the chicks can have a hard time getting a grip and can hurt their legs, so use something fine. I also used 1 light (red is best, helps them from attacking each other for some reason). And supplied them with water and feed. Make sure you get the kind of feeders that they can not fall into and drown. Hope it helps, need anything, just ask!

Sincerely, Pyotr Koecher

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

The idea to put paper towels down is to keep baby chicks from eating the litter/pine shavings etc. New chicks don't know what food is. You have to show them where the feed is and also dip their beaks in water to show them to drink it. Once they have gotten this down, you can remove the paper towels.l

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!