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ChristieBuffOrp

ChristieBuffOrp

Chirping
8 Years
Apr 22, 2014
15
6
85
Tughill, NY
I've always wanted to raise chickens. Well, on February 3rd one of the Adirondacks worst snow storms of the season, my brother-in-law, who lives in Florida, decided to surprise me with 16 Buff Orpington baby chicks :jumpy . I received a phone call from the post office, "you have a package here with baby chicks, we need you to come pick them up"! I replied, "I did not order baby chicks". They replied, "Well, we need to come get them!!! There is an 800 number you can call, but you need to come pick them up"!!! Out into the snow storm I rounded up an infrared heat lamp, pine shavings, medicated feed, feeders and set up their first little coop in a Rubbermaid tub. Now about 12 weeks later I have 11 wonder Buffs:cd, 4 Roosters (to be) and 7 hens. It is my understanding I can only have I rooster. At present I built a 4x8 coop in the basement. They have two roosts and sand bath along with plastic cat toys with bells (they love to play with those). I try to spend about an hour a day in the coop with them and they seem to love me!!!! Buttercup loves to sit on my shoulder. Moving forward I have put an order in for some awesome coop and run plans where my chicks will be safe, secure and have room to roam.
WOW, I am sure long winded!!! LOL :cd :yiipchick
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
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Once birds are 6 weeks old and fully feathered they no longer need supplemental heat, and given a good coop could be outside now. Sometimes you can get away with more that one rooster if they grow up together, but usually they will start fighting over the hens, and you do not have enough hens for that many roosters. You could set up a separate bachelor coop for the boys if you really want to keep them, and just leave on in with the girls.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

What a wonderful story! Nothing better than surprise chicks in the mail!! You will love your Buffs. They are very docile, friendly birds. Great layers and very hardy as well. They will make wonderful pets too.

You can sometimes keep more than one roo together. Many times if they are raised together, they are more excepting of one another. But you want to also keep your ratio of hens to roos proper so the hens are not over mated or stressed. 1 roo to 10 to 12 hens. So just keep an eye on a couple of them and which ever ones get along the best, you should keep.

Enjoy your new birds! Make yourself at home here on BYC and welcome to our flock!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! That was a sudden introduction to chicken ownership! Glad everything turned out well. Good luck with the big coop build. X3, if you want to keep all your boys, a bachelor coop for them would be a way to go, could the smaller coop you have in the basement be moved outside and made predator proof?
 

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