Hello, New to raising chickens

[iadrifter]

Hello my name is Will. We live in Western Kentucky. My wife made my wish come true by giving me six chickens for Valentines Day... may sound a little different I guess for that day but I loved it. So we got six Rhode Island Reds. I am completely new to raising chicks. We have them in a large tote with their heat lamp. I have been keeping it on all day. Changing there litter once a week, and keeping there water and food clean and fresh. I was just reading that I will be able to take them outside soon. So I guess this weekend I will have to build there coop. Not quite sure how big to make it yet but I'm sure I will find out real soon. Well that's about all for now. Look forward to learning more and talking to y'all.

 

[Kevin565]

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Welcome to BYC, iadrifter!

I'm sure you'll find lots of folks here that don't think getting chickens for Valentine's day is 'odd' at all! Good luck with your flock!

 

[DDNONIN2016]

What a fantastic Valentines day gift !

Welcome from Ohio...so glad you joined BYC

Enjoy your new chicks and good luck with that coop. Post pics so we can see your handy work

 

[RedneckGurl]

Welcome, welcome from north Alabama! Okay, I've just got to say I'm jealous. I don't have any chickens yet but hope to have some by June. A friend is re-homing some of her older girls to me so I can get up and running. In the meantime, I just have to live vicariously through the other members of BYC.

And why would you think getting chickens for Valentine's was strange? One of my best Valentine's presents from my DH was a lovely red Roto-zip saw!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, Will, and

! Great to have you aboard! Sounds like a great Valentine's Day gift to me! Good luck with your coop building. Visit the Coops thread below for ideas if you haven't done so already! One bit of advice...4 sq. ft. per chicken is recommended...make it bigger than you think you need - you may want to add chickens one day. Good luck to you!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coop_Designs

 

[farmin4fun]

Grats on your first chickens. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.

A small tip for coop size is a minimum of 4 sq ft per chicken. Extra space is always appreciated by the chickens. They love to run, jump and fly around when they have enough space. Also, I would plan on creating extra space for more chickens as almost everyone ends up with a lot more chickens than they originally planned on. I planned on 10-12. I now have 25 and two turkeys, and additional plans to hatch out more. There is an endless variety of different breeds, colors, sizes and eggs to experience. Best of luck to you and enjoy your chickens!!!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!

Glad you joined us!!

 

[iadrifter]

Yeah I was figuring I would get addicted to them and want more, already am.... I was basically going to build a small shed. Have drawing already made up I will post the final results. I don't necessarily think that it was a "odd" gift just not something most people get for V-day. glad I did though. Thanks all for the welcome. Talk to y'all soon.

 

[liz9910]

for sure make your coop/run bigger than you think you need!