How 'extra' do I have to be?

[meglynnie]

Probably not...but go by behavior.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

Thank you for your information! It will greatly help!

 

[Cryss]

Do not use chicken wire for the run! Chicken wire is for keeping chickens in, not for keeping critters out. A raccoon or other critter can rip that chicken wire like paper. 1/2 inch hardware cloth is your best friend!!

Ok, I wanted to make sure you know not to use chicken wire. Predator protection is serious business. You know how good chicken tastes? Well EVERYTHING loves chicken and their eggs! If they can squeeze through the fence for a free meal I guarantee they will. But what if they can't squeeze through or rip through flimsy type wire? Those critters WILL dig underneath that fence! You can extend that hardware cloth coverage down 2 feet into the ground around the entire perimeter of the run AND the coop, or extend it out 2 feet as an apron. This will discourage diggers. You want to include the coop because if they get underneath they will then be able to get into the run, or they will gnaw holes to get inside. At best they will crawl under the coop and safely raise their young. Think rats, mice, snakes, even fox and raccoons. Take extra care to protect the corners as that's a favorite spot to start a dig.
What about flying critters? Or climbers? Hawks can grab them with you standing next to them. Owls too. Raccoons, snakes, mice, rats, weasels, opossum, etc. WILL climb in. Hardware cloth to the rescue!

Don't get discouraged. Many, dare I say most, new chicken owners go into it thinking all they need is a place for them to sleep, lay eggs, eat and run around inside a chicken wire fence. Yup, me too. I even believed the manufacturers of "coops" when they labeled them as accompanying X amount of chickens. Mine said 8, I was getting 4, perfect!...NOT!!!!
Newbies don't know what they don't know. I found out fast it was big enough for one and one half standard chickens, maybe 2 if they were bantys. Add to that the "attached run"...omg mega fail.
Then I found BYC!
Do this correctly from the start and you won't suffer the "ADJUSTMENTS" I've been through. Get it all in place and you will be rewarded with a most beautiful enjoyable and easy hobby. That being said, as someone else said, don't worry about perfection. One you have a safe and comfortable environment the rest is like arranging and rearranging furniture.
Pay attention to advice on ventilation (most important item after predator protection), nest height, roost height, ventilation height. And, no, your grown birds don't need heat even in winter.
Keep asking questions here. We love to help newbies get a good start. Oh, and we also love PICTURES! Chicks, young birds, adults, eggs, coop builds as they progress and change...we're addicts here, all chicken all the time!
Very excited for you!

 

[JurassicBawk]

If the coop is inside such a run, as mine is, remember to subtract the square feet of the coop from the square feet of the run for a more accurate available run size.

Yup. I'm guessing your coop will be too large to be raised with the number of birds you have, so if you can find somewhere that sell individual panels you can always expand the run. Building out from an existing fence as one side helps too. I found kennel sets (3 solid panels and 1 gate panel) for $199 at my local co-op store. My chicken house is 4x4 but raised up on a stand, so they have the full area under it where I put their hanging feeder/oyster shell/sand pit and don't lose floor space.

 

[meglynnie]

Ok, I wanted to make sure you know not to use chicken wire. Predator protection is serious business. You know how good chicken tastes? Well EVERYTHING loves chicken and their eggs! If they can squeeze through the fence for a free meal I guarantee they will. But what if they can't squeeze through or rip through flimsy type wire? Those critters WILL dig underneath that fence! You can extend that hardware cloth coverage down 2 feet into the ground around the entire perimeter of the run AND the coop, or extend it out 2 feet as an apron. This will discourage diggers. You want to include the coop because if they get underneath they will then be able to get into the run, or they will gnaw holes to get inside. At best they will crawl under the coop and safely raise their young. Think rats, mice, snakes, even fox and raccoons. Take extra care to protect the corners as that's a favorite spot to start a dig.
What about flying critters? Or climbers? Hawks can grab them with you standing next to them. Owls too. Raccoons, snakes, mice, rats, weasels, opossum, etc. WILL climb in. Hardware cloth to the rescue!

Don't get discouraged. Many, dare I say most, new chicken owners go into it thinking all they need is a place for them to sleep, lay eggs, eat and run around inside a chicken wire fence. Yup, me too. I even believed the manufacturers of "coops" when they labeled them as accompanying X amount of chickens. Mine said 8, I was getting 4, perfect!...NOT!!!!
Newbies don't know what they don't know. I found out fast it was big enough for one and one half standard chickens, maybe 2 if they were bantys. Add to that the "attached run"...omg mega fail.
Then I found BYC!
Do this correctly from the start and you won't suffer the "ADJUSTMENTS" I've been through. Get it all in place and you will be rewarded with a most beautiful enjoyable and easy hobby. That being said, as someone else said, don't worry about perfection. One you have a safe and comfortable environment the rest is like arranging and rearranging furniture.
Pay attention to advice on ventilation (most important item after predator protection), nest height, roost height, ventilation height. And, no, your grown birds don't need heat even in winter.
Keep asking questions here. We love to help newbies get a good start. Oh, and we also love PICTURES! Chicks, young birds, adults, eggs, coop builds as they progress and change...we're addicts here, all chicken all the time!
Very excited for you!

Wow this is all wonderful information and tips! This is great Thank you so much! I have been thinking about my coop and run and still trying to decide what I want to use and how to build coop. Simple but necessary pieces that need to be consider like how you mention with nest height, roost height, and ventilation height.

 

[aart]

I'm guessing your coop will be too large to be raised with the number of birds you have

Errr...don't think a coop can be too large, no matter the number of birds

 

[JurassicBawk]

Errr...don't think a coop can be too large, no matter the number of birds

I didn't say there such a thing as a too large coop. I mean that for 10 birds, which would be about 40 sq ft minimum, that size of a coop would be too large to try to make into a raised coop to avoid losing run floor space. Mine is 4x4 so it fits nicely on a raised platform. I wouldn't try that with a 10x4 coop. She'll probably have a walk-in coop, and if so would therefore have less run space in the same 10x10 area.

 

[Cryss]

Yup. I'm guessing your coop will be too large to be raised with the number of birds you have, so if you can find somewhere that sell individual panels you can always expand the run. Building out from an existing fence as one side helps too. I found kennel sets (3 solid panels and 1 gate panel) for $199 at my local co-op store. My chicken house is 4x4 but raised up on a stand, so they have the full area under it where I put their hanging feeder/oyster shell/sand pit and don't lose floor space.

Errr...don't think a coop can be too large, no matter the number of birds

I think this is meaning that the height of my coop is too big to be able to be raised up on legs affording more run room, not the square feet size.

Absolutely true especially since my 6 foot tall dog run is covered with hardware cloth. I heartily encourage OP to build an attached coop rather than putting one inside the run since she will need 40sqft! As for mine, I dug down several inches right where the (horrible too small prefab) coop was going, put down riverstone several inches deep, wrapped underneath and sides of pallets with hardwood cloth, set that on top of stones, covered that with linoleum, then placed said horrible coop on top of that. When horrible coop had been directly on the dirt the horrible attached run gate would often be impossible to open due to dirt being scratched up and blocking or even freezing. Now it opens and closes easily year round and is only about 3-4 inches higher than before. You can see how all that was done in this thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/altering-my-terrible-ts-coop.1267790/

That being said, I am in the process of building a walk in coop outside of the dog kennel run. Pictures of progress will be in a thread I will start but be prepared for it to go veeeerrrryyy sloooowwwlllyyyy. Every single human in my house has serious back problems so we take long breaks.

 

[aart]

I didn't say there such a thing as a too large coop. I mean that for 10 birds, which would be about 40 sq ft minimum, that size of a coop would be too large to try to make into a raised coop to avoid losing run floor space. Mine is 4x4 so it fits nicely on a raised platform. I wouldn't try that with a 10x4 coop. She'll probably have a walk-in coop, and if so would therefore have less run space in the same 10x10 area.

Apologies...I must not have read carefully enough.

 

[Cryss]

I didn't say there such a thing as a too large coop. I mean that for 10 birds, which would be about 40 sq ft minimum, that size of a coop would be too large to try to make into a raised coop to avoid losing run floor space. Mine is 4x4 so it fits nicely on a raised platform. I wouldn't try that with a 10x4 coop. She'll probably have a walk-in coop, and if so would therefore have less run space in the same 10x10 area.

Or it means this.

 

[Chickassan]

Honestly, hand sanitizer and rubber boots will get you through with little to no disease fanfare.
What you really need to be fretting over is getting your plans together and getting your hubby working on a coop like yesterday!
You are so pressed for time you don't even know lol!
BTW Welcome, and enjoy the world of chickens!