Hi!! and I think maybe HELP!!

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aj1785

aj1785

In the Brooder
7 Years
Apr 29, 2012
27
0
24
Hi all!!

I am new to BYC as well as the poultry world. People keep assuring me that taking care of chickens is pretty basic and I would have to TRY to mess it up, but this site has me all concernced and worried that I have no clue what I'm doing (which is fair because I don't!!)

I'm wondering what I need to know to keep my new little feathered friends happy and healthy, and please don't be afraid of offending me by starting with the very basics; as I mentioned, l've never done this before!!

Here is a general overview of what we have going on at the moment. . . .my hubby has wanted to get chickens since we bought our farm (July of 2011) and it came with a set up chicken coop. (The farm we bought was his grandma's, so he grew up with her and her coop full of chickens). I finally caved in and said ok, although I don't really know what l'm up to...

Our coop is large, approx 12x18feet. Inside we have the main section, as well as a section approx 6x5 feet that is fenced off. Currently, our new (and only!!) girls are ins this area as they aren't big enough yet to need access to the full coop and I'm hoping this will help to keep them out of trouble. We have our feeder hanging from the ceiling a little lower than the tops of their backs and they are getting crumbles. They have about 2-3inches of dry cedar shavings for bedding, a waterer up on blocks to *hopefully* help keep them from kicking too many shavings into it, and a 3 rung high roost. They are approx 5 weeks old and pretty well feathered out, but the Wisconsin nights are a little chilly right now so we also have a heat lamp set up for them approx 2.5 feet above the ground.

We picked up our chickens last night. Somehow what started as intending to order 6, turned into 8, and we came home with 10. The owners of the local feed mill are also family friends, so we went in and talked to them about what we were thinking and that's where we were sold a feeder (had 2 waterer's already), the shavings, and a bag of crumbles. She told me we could take some of the 3 day old Goldstar chicks she had in the store, order some chicks, or if we wanted to wait a week she would have a bunch at their farm that would be feathered out and needing to relocate. We opted to wait for some that were a little older, about 4-5 weeks, as I'm hoping they will be a little hardier and she is sure that they are all hens.

Currently, there are 3 buff orpingtons, 3 aracana's (sp?), 2 white rocks, and 2 gold stars. They are all about the same size and were in a pen with approx 60 total birds prior to us picking them up. Being that all of the birds came from the feed store (which has to be NPIP certified) and that all of the birds looked pretty healthy, l'm not worried about any type of illness for now.

Is there anything I am missing? Should I be worried about getting them some veggie scraps/grit/scratch (which, btw, what the heck is that???)??

My apologies if this is the in wrong spot, but I have no idea where to post this! If there is a better area for it, please let me know!!

Looking forward to my adventures in the chicken world and hearing from anyone with advice!!!
 
just wanted to point out i heard arcaunas are mean, but idk for sure im new to them to my chicks are 3 weeks old right now.
 
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sounds like you are off to a good start,
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happy chicken raising .
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..you'll love them and their fresh eggs!~Charm1704
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Grit is a gravel like thing that chickens eat and keep in there gizzard to help grind down food. scratch is grain/seed that makes chickens go crazy but can be given as a treat. jus don't give them too much their eggs could become thin shelled.hope this helps. p.s. sorry but im blanking what does the sp by the aracauna stand for?
 
Hello and welcome!!!

You guys are going to have so much fun. And to think, you already have a huge coop! You can get a million more chickens!

Grit is crushed gravel bits, basically. There is a specific "Chick grit" that you will need to buy, as it has smaller pieces than the adult bird grit. Chickens need the grit to digest things that they eat, other than their starter crumbles.

Scratch is a mix of, from what I understand, junk food for chickens. I don't think they are supposed to have a lot of that when they are young, they will get much better nutrition from the crumbles.

Also, if you haven't heard of it, I recommend looking into apple cider vinegar (ACV) as an additive to the water. We used an electrolyte mix when the babies were in the brooder in the house, but once we moved them outside, we started to add the ACV - the unfiltered, organic kind. It is very healthy for the chickens and it also has the added bonus of keeping the waterers from getting slimy.

Hope this is helpful - I've only been at this for two months, and have learned so much from this forum! Good luck!
 
The (sp?) was my way of saying I'm not sure I spelled aracauna's right--still not sure if I did! Has anyone else heard of them being hostile? My daughter is only 4mos old now, but eventually I'm sure she will want to be involved and I'd like to have something that's not going to try to peck her!!! I picked the orps because I'd heard they are pretty friendly, and the white rocks and goldstars were recommended for their ability to lay?
 
Sorry to keep replying to my own post, but was just perusing the breeds tab and l'm thinking maybe what I really have could better be described as Easter Eggers.............time will tell but they are showing no signs of tufts of any sort.
 
My buffs are very friendly, and my friend has a very friendly easter egger. I don't have any experience with rocks. The gold stars are hatchery bred to be friendly and good egg layers, so you should be okay there. But each chicken will have its own personality...as long as you handle them lots when they are young, you will have the best chance of them being friendly, I think.
 
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from Ohio!

Sounds like chicken math got you. LOL Doesn't take long does it?

One comment on your set up. I notice that you are using cedar shavings for bedding. Cedar is not recommended for chickens. Pine is one type of shaving that is commonly used. The rest of your set up sounds great.

You have a good breed mix. You may find that your Araucanas are actually Easter Eggers which are usually sold by farm and feed stores. Easter Eggers are fun, inquisitive, and busy birds. Have lots of fun and good luck to you.
 

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