Hi there from Tooele, Utah!

[Hicksnchicks]

Hey everyone. Wanted to introduce my Bf and Myself. We are the new proud parents of a couple black australorp chicks and we couldn't be more excited! We are currently looking at plans and ideas on building a coop and any suggestions would be more than welcome. We have never had chickens before so this is a whole new experience.
We are wanting the whole experience to be "green" and organic, so advice for recycled materials and non-medicated foods would be great.
Looking forward to raising our babies and having a great new experience!
Mike & Jenn

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have ya all joining the BYC flock

 

[Aacre]

Welcome and congrats to becoming chicken parents. I would suggest that you build your coop as large as you can because if you are like a lot of us, you'll end up with more than just 2 chickens! As for feed, you can start out your chicks on chick start feed that is non medicated. You can feed it dry or you can dive into fermented feed to get the most out of your feed. It makes their poo smell less bad and it starts up good probiotics in their digestive tracts. If you are interested you can search the threads for the fermented feed threads.

 

[gatorshark75]

Hey everyone. Wanted to introduce my Bf and Myself. We are the new proud parents of a couple black australorp chicks and we couldn't be more excited! We are currently looking at plans and ideas on building a coop and any suggestions would be more than welcome. We have never had chickens before so this is a whole new experience.
We are wanting the whole experience to be "green" and organic, so advice for recycled materials and non-medicated foods would be great.
Looking forward to raising our babies and having a great new experience!
Mike & Jenn

I start all of my chicks out until they are ready to go to the big pens on the medicated chick starter. Then i switch to a high protein layer pellet as far as organic read the ingredients as long as its animal byproduct free its as good as the so called certified organic feeds but they need laying feed for sure. I also build some of my coops and pens out of pallets they work great and look pretty neat. My laying boxes are actually old stainless steel kitchen sinks they work great and the girls love them. but keep this in mind some medications are absolutely needed to keep chickens healthy.

 

[Hicksnchicks]

Thank you so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it. I will take a closer look at the threads for fermented food. I'll also take a closer look at the required medications. Love the idea of the kitchen sink! Thanks again!

 

[gatorshark75]

Thank you so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it. I will take a closer look at the threads for fermented food. I'll also take a closer look at the required medications. Love the idea of the kitchen sink! Thanks again!

i dont like the fermented feed. Also i use a high protein feed like they use for fighting roosters it give my hens that needed boost during heavy laying periods. I give my chickens as much green leafy veggies as i can and grow rye grass for them to eat they love it. I give them worms and crickets and meal worms as they are in pens due to the high level of predators in our area and dont forget the vitamins minerals and calcium supplements.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on your new chicks! A great place to start reading is the Learning Center, lots of good articles on all aspects of chicken keeping. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
X2 You might want to check out pallet coops so far as using recycled materials go, they can be any size and as plain or fancy as you want... ie https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/550804/pallet-chicken-coop-ideas and don't forget to check out the BYC Coops section for a lot of coops that members have made, lots of them have very detailed plans listed.
Medicated chick feed usually contains Amprolium, it is actually a vitamin inhibitor that helps the chicks develop immunity against coccidia, most organic programs seem to allow it. Here is a nice member page on coccidia. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-and-medicated-feed I personally usually don't feed a medicated feed anymore but do the clump of dirt in the brooder thing, keep a close eye on them and treat with Corid etc if they have an outbreak. I do have them vaccinated if I get chicks from a hatchery that will.
And you might like to check out your state thread for your chicken keeping neighbors https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/24/utah

 

[Duckopolis]

Good luck with your chicken raising adventures, and I hope you find everything you need to know! Don't forget to take a look at BYC's very useful learning center (If you haven't already)! Glad to have you with us. Also, for help with your coop, check out BYC's coop ideas.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Lots of great advice has been given here. And Yes, build it bigger than you think. Your obsession with chickens is guaranteed to grow and it is easier to build big now than expand later.

Great to have you aboard and enjoy your new adventure!

 

[Starfire669]

Hi, I'm new here also. I have had my chicks for 6 weeks. I built their coop and run from a mix of recycled and new material. And I can already see I'll need to add to it! So yes build bigger than you think you need, chickens need room to grow! And they grow fast! Enjoy them and spend lots of time with them, they will start to come running when their hear your voice, expecting treats and pets!
As for feed, I'm no help on that. I am looking for a organic feed for my birds, my local feed store doesn't carry a great selection of chick feed and no waterfowl feed at all. I do supplement my chickens with garden clipping and grow oat grass for them. I simply buy a 50lb bag of deer oats and sprout them, plant them and then harvest and feed it to the chickens and geese. They love it! They also get Brussels sprout leaves and turnip greens from my neighbors gardens, she loves feeding my birds from her garden, says she don't like wasting. Lol. So if gardener live near you, you an ask for some of their clipping for your babies, just don't over feed them treats while they are young. There are plants that are easy to grow if you like gardening that chickens love to eat. Nasturtium is a great flower for both beauty and is edible and chickens love it. I plan on planting some around my chicken run for them to have shade and a treat. Lavender is another great choice, and some herbs are mildly medicinal so letting chickens graze on them can be good for their health. Just be care as some plants like lantana, and wisteria (2 plants I have in my yard) are poisonous to chickens, dogs, cats, and people. Depends on how green you want to go.
Welcome and I hope your babies bring you as much joy as mine do!