Help, My 5 year old had to have it.

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widegauge

widegauge

Hatching
10 Years
Feb 27, 2009
2
0
7
hello all, I must say I always wanted to own a few chickens and now I do. I went to a feed store to pass the time one day and in the back they had some young "Easter egg" chicks. My daughter wanted to get one and my wife didnt mind the idea so we ended up getting two! I brought them home Saturday. right now they are in a rabbit sized wire cage and I have some starter food and a watering bottle. other then that I am here to figure out what is next. I do have a farming background but moved away after high school and never looked back. now I live in the city. but where I live I have looked into it and they dont seem to have a problem with chicks if they are quiet.

Louie in
Jacksonville Fl.
 
How old are they?

If they are under 4 weeks old, they'll need a heat lamp to keep them warm.

First week they need 90 degrees.
Second week they need 85 degrees.
Third week they need 80 degrees.
Fourth week they need 75 degrees...

By then they should be fully feathered and will just need to stay semi warm at night.

Welcome to BYC so glad you found us!!
 
Congrats on the new chicks!!! Keep a light on them to keep them warm and just keep plenty of feed and water for them- When they get their feathers its time for them to go outside though.
 
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Louie! Check out this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=305793 and you'll find many other members in Jax FL. This is a great forum with lots of helpful chicken-keeping folks to guide & support you. You & your family are in for a lot of enjoyment with your new chicks!
 
sorry forgot about the lamp, I have had a lamp in there since I brought them home. any my five year old and I made a small house out of a cereal box bottom
 
Might wanna check with others in florida and in your area and see if there are any issues you are not aware of. If you are in town and one ends up being a rooster.....well they are not quiet. In the not so distant future you are going to need some type of coop for them and to decide how they will get room to run. Either a fenced in run or free range in the backyard. There are some adorable smaller coops and in city limits you probably are going to want something that looks nice so the neighbors don't complain. Go ahead and plan on getting more birds when you build this coop just in case. Just type in chicken math. Flocks tend to grow.

Your girls, unless you got bantam, are not going to be tiny birds but they should lay you some beautiful eggs. EE's tend to take a bit longer to lay but don't give up. Fresh eggs are super yummy and you won't regret them. Other than a coop and an outdoor area to run, you need to look at a way for them to dustbathe. It could be a mini sand box. I would check into finding some DE food grade. It helps with mites and such and flys. Also line is good for smell. Before we moved to our farm we had the chickens in the city. Chickens will get smelly if you are not on top of cleaning. Every month I would completely clean out, not just spot clean but big time clean out. Then down went a bit of lime and DE and then litter on the floor which I would sprinkle with more DE. That really kept bugs and small pretty much non existent. I am sure the others will have Tons more suggestions. There are also some sticky links on the site for new chicken owners to give more in depth information and a better overview of this addiction we all share.

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and congrats on your new chicks! No one can have just 2(or in my case 40 chickens and 23 ducks)!
I don't know anything about rabbit cages, but if the floor is wire, you'll need to put something over the wire-chicks feet don't do well on wire.
Good luck with your birds.
Oh, medicated chick start is the best starter food until they are about 8 weeks old-then switch to grower feed. Once they are outside, I would get a little bowl and put some grit in it, free choice.
 

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