Hello... I just adopted 22 Chickens and 1 Rooster and I have no idea what I am doing

[courtneybcca]

Hello

I am very excited to start this journey and have started looking through your posts already.

They are about 7 months old and in pretty dirty conditions. I think the house too small for the amount in it but I could be wrong. What size of house should be required for his large of group? I have absolutely no experience raising chickens and need all the advice I can get.

I started cleaning out all the poop yesterday and I am trying to decide if I should dig all the poop out of the coop or put mulch over top of it. I live in the Southwest in the desert and the ground is very dry. (I am not sure if that matters).

I am going to be building them a new coop in the next couple of weeks and will be moving these ladies to a new home. I have been looking through all these coop plans online and am getting lost in the sea of information...

One of the ladies is brooding... I believe that is the correct term. I am not sure how long she has been siting on her eggs or what I should do with her. If I am planning on moving them in the next couple of weeks should I allow her to continue to do this?

I put fresh hay in their nesting boxes, feed them, gave them fresh water, and made sure they have shade. What else is essential for them?



Thank you so much for your help

 

[chickmomma03]

Everyone has their own preference on bedding. I started off with straw and switched to pine shavings (don't use aspen or cedar, they aren't safe, it needs to be pine). I still use straw in the run when we are getting a lot of rain though (live on slanted property too slick even with muck boots).

For feed, I feed mine non-medicated chick feed because I have a rooster. You can look into all flock too. Supplementing the girls with oyster shells is important. Roosters' bodies can't process out the excess calcium in laying feed.

For coop, I think the minimum for 23 is 8x8?

They need to have roughage. Being in a desert area it's probably hard for them to get it. You can pick some green veggies up at the store for them. Mine love spinach, cabbage, lettuce, and things like that.

Scratch, you can use it to entertain them, but don't give too freely. I don't buy scratch, but I will toss a couple hands full of feed down on the ground and let them go at it, they love that.

Treats, there are some things they can't have, and some things they can. Fruits (avoid acidic), veggies (avoid potato skins and raw potato), meats (no raw, cooked and cooled only), bread (in very limited amounts), they like cooked noodles (in limited amounts), and several other things. They can't have some seeds from fruits, so I core and cut up fruits for mine, with the exception of watermelon, I just cut that open and let them have at it.

Watermelon is great for a cool down treat during the summer.

Make sure they always have access to clean, cool water. You'll want to try to find a shaded area for their water.

I'm probably leaving things out.

 

[MeepBeep]

They won't venture outside at night, they are essentially blind and utterly defenseless at night as they can't even flee well since they can't see... If the run is secure you can skip the coop door, but either way, the door provides another line of defense... If a predator does get into and breach the run, if the door is open it's a clean shot to a chicken buffet... On the other hand if there is a door it's another barrier they will have to defeat before the chicken buffet starts...

 

[Greg88]

Everyone has their preferences, Here are mine:
1) hay in next boxes
2) Pine shavings on floor of coop (light layer of shavings once a week to cover fresh poop, clean out once a month.
3) free choice grit (not in food)
4) free choice oyster/eggshell (not in food)
5) All flock or unmedicated chick feed if non layers are in flock (chicks or rooster)

 

[RodNTN]

First off, make sure they have enough space. Use Pine shavings for their coop bedding. I use: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...ium-pine-shavings-covers-8-cu-ft?cm_vc=-10005. And i use http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-layer-pellet-16-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005 for their feed. Dumor layer feed. Don't put mulch over their poop, clean it out and cover it with fresh pine shavings. Clean it out every 2-3 weeks. Keep their water cool if its hot. And keep their water in the shade.

 

[RodNTN]

Do you want your broody hen to hatch eggs? If so, when you move them you should move her along with her eggs carefully to a nesting box. How long has she sitting on the eggs?

 

[limited25]

Make sure they can get grit; I just mix a little with their food. It is small rocks that grind up their food so they can digest it. Also, laying hens need oyster shell (or dried, crushed egg shell) so the shells on the eggs they lay will be hard. How many chickens do you have? Recommended 4 sf coop space per bird, and 10 sf run space per bird.

Good luck and

 

[chickmomma03]

Quote: It says she adopted 23 birds. I thought for coop size it was around 8x8 for 23 of them?

 

[limited25]

I must be blind, read this 4x and still don't see where she posted how many she has.

, but ok, 23.

8x8 would be 64 sf, divide that by 4 sf = 16 birds. Some people give theirs a little less room and some people have smaller birds though.

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens. When figuring room in the coop, you don't include roosts or nestboxes