Hello out there!

Date sort Score sort
hilchicks11

hilchicks11

In the Brooder
8 Years
Apr 18, 2011
12
0
22
Arkansas
My husband brought home 20 cute baby chicks from TSC last week. Found BYC trying to figure out what to do with them! WHAT DO WE DO WITH THEM!!!!! We are about to build a coop. Is salmonella a worry around kids? When will they be old enough to put in a coop? How long do they live? Can they be "harvested" for a meal?
roll.png
When can you tell if one is a rooster? ...... Am I going to regret this????
 
Last edited:
Quote:
Holy cow you've got a lot of questions! But don't worry, that's pretty common for first time chicken owners
big_smile.png


So first off, WELCOME! We are glad you're here, and trust me you'll find tons of answers. Now, I'm going to answer your last question first. NO! You will never regret this - 85,000 people and counting agree with me.

I assume you've already got a box (brooder) or something for them to live in until they are old enough to go into a coop.
Always ALWAYS wash your hands before and after handling your chicks. Just get into the habit of it. This is especially important for kids, of course.

It's not an exact science to put your chicks in a coop at a certain age. Mostly it's if they are safe enough, warm enough, and if you are ok with it! For me, I wait a little longer than most because I have full grown chickens already in my coop. But my young ones are ready to go outside when they have a nice coat of real feathers (not just the fluff). Depending on your weather, you may be able to put them out sooner without keeping heat lamps on them. Some people put them out at just a few weeks, some people put them out later. I waited until nine weeks this time because the weather got colder and mine were bantams. The big girls I put out at 7 weeks because they had more than enough feathers.

Uh.. you can harvest poultry for a meal, but you'll have to find the thread for that somewhere else.

An easy way to tell if one is a rooster is to post a pic on here under "What Breed or Gender is This" thread, because we all just love to help you figure out what you've got
lol.png

If all your chicks are the same breed, then the ones who show significant growth in the comb/wattles are a really easy way to tell if you've possibly got a roo. If you've purchased your chicks as pullets, you'll have very few roosters, if any.

If you've got more questions, please ask. You can always private message me, I'm more than willing to help ease your worries. You'll be a great chickie momma!
thumbsup.gif
 
Thanks for the info. He brought them home about 8 days ago from TSC, any guess how old they might be? Most are yellow, 4 of them are a reddish brown. Still cute and fuzzy.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom