HELLO FROM ARKANSAS!

[what's kickin' chicken]

Hi

 

[Desert Rooster]

Hello

and welcome to BYC

from Hesperia, Ca

 

[OldGuy43]

Howdy from Austin, Texas.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I Love this forum/website. I do have a few questions tho....

1)In central Arkansas what would be a good time of spring to get chicks?
2)How long do they need to stay in a smaller box-type area until they can be put in the larger house and let out to free range the yard?
3)Looking for a good organic feed. What do I feed first, second and finally every day? Is it possible to make my own feed?

Thanks! for all the wonderful advice in advance.....

Anyone else from Central AR??????

1) You can get them anytime. Spring seems to be the most common time of year that people get chicks. I think this is mainly because Spring is when the feed stores get chicks in. But you can certainly get chicks anytime of year.

2) Do you mean a brooder? They stay in the brooder because baby chicks cannot regulate their own body temperature so they need to stay warm by a heat lamp. You can purchase these heat lamps at any feed store. The temperatures in the brooder should be 95 degrees for the chicks first week, 90 degrees the second, 85 degrees the third etc. Keep decreasing by 5 degrees every week. But also pay attention to the chicks body language. Are they all huddled under the heat lamp? Perhaps they are cold. Are they all scattered away from the heat lamp? Perhaps they are too hot. They should stay in a brooder until they are fully- feathered. If I remember correctly, my girls were fully feathered around 6 weeks.

3) Chickens need food all day long. They will not over eat. They should have food available at all times. You can make your own homemade feed or buy commercial feed. If you go with commercial feed, you should feed your chicks "Chick Starter Crumbles" and then "Starter Grower" And then once they reach 16 weeks, you can feed them "Laying Pellets". There should be a chart on the back of your feed bag that will tell you how long to feed each stage of feed. There are many recipes on here for homemade feed. You just have to look around.

By the way! Glad to have you here.
Also, to find out if there are other members from Central Arkansas, go to the "Where are you? Where am I?" Section of the forum and look for your states thread.

 

[ChickenPeep]

Welcome, from Kansas!!

Were happy you're here!

Have fun!

 

[TigerLilly]

 

[greymane]

 

[kidcody]

from Washington State glad you joined us!

 

[The Red Rooster]

Welcome to BYC. Hoping to see more posts from you.

 

[kidcody]

from Washington glad you joined us!