Im Brand new to this, What do I need to feed and water chickens

[daniel-delarosa]

I just about have my coop completed, now I need to start gathering the basic equipment. My old neighbor used to just throw out handfuls of of feed on the ground and used a trash can lid for watering. My wife said I could do this whole chicken thing, IF it wasn't hillbilly looking. lol What do I need and where can I get it? Also, what kind of chickens are good. It seems there are dozens of breeds and everyone likes different ones! I just want some brown eggs.

 

[DPC poultry]

1 gallon waterer,cracked corn laying mash mix,black giants and rhode island reds get the supplies at a local Feeders Supply get the birds off of Craigs list I hope this helps

 

[Lisa202]

hi,
I learned alot from the mypetchicken.com website. In the left side navigation bar, towards the bottom, there's an e-book. Read that...that should get you started...and they sell what you need and have info on the chickens, including a chicken selector that helps you figure out what chickens are best for you based on the questions you answer. good luck and enjoy every stage.

 

[Winggedheart]

You can find about everything you need at Tractor Supply Co. Especially in the spring, when they're selling baby chicks.
You'll need a waterer; you can buy special chicken waterers online, and at the afore-mentioned store. Lol. Or you can use something like a water trough, low enough so they can bend and drink, and perhaps thick enough so they can stand on the side. You can buy bags of scratch at a local feed-store, if you have one, and also layer pellets, if you're looking to help boost egg supply.
If you want several sexed chickens, you can get 25 (minimum) off this site here: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html which sells good birds for a decent price. Or you can look at a feed-store, or in the newspaper, etc, for chicks, or pullets.
There're lots of different breeds that lay brown eggs. If you're looking for a common-type bird, red stars, RIRs, or NHRs are a good place to get. Black Australorps are also very well-mannered birds, though they can be a bit flighty---they lay well. Barred rocks are also good, and whatever sort of orpington.

When you feed the chickens, you can just scatter it on the ground---they'll scratch at it anyways. Lol. And also, if you get a pen on the ground, they love some grass to peck at.

Out of curiosity, what kind of coop are you building? Over ground, or set on it?

 

[daniel-delarosa]

It is above ground, 4x8. Im making a 8x16 covered run too.

 

[TomG]

Your coop and run look great! Any good farm supply can fix you up with what you need in the way of feeders, waterers and feed.

 

[midget_farms]

If you only want some brown eggs & are not too worried about mass production I recommend Buff Orpington. They are very tame, lay large brown eggs & being a dual purpose breed once they are done laying you can eat them!

I have Aracauna's too & they are much more skittish - They have finally figured out peope = food so they come when called - but it took a while.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

What more do we need but funny chicken love

?

I gotta put in for Purina feed. Its all good; the Start-n-Gro, the Flock Raiser, the Layena, our little flock of backyard chickens always "Look Marvelous" when we feed them that. Then when we run out of it, buy other brands (especially Nutrena...

gaaak........) the chickens look all ratty. During the green growing warm months, its hard to get them to touch their feed, so we sometimes limit their options until at least SOME nutritious Purina chicken feed has been consumed for the day.

Now that the ground is frozen solid, I have them locked in their coop until 10 a.m. with just Purina Flock Raiser feed to pick at while they're bored, and they're a lovely, fluffy, beeeutiful bunch of birds again!

For storing the feed, we invested in those shiny metal 18 gallon trash cans with tight fitting lids (around $21 at Ace Hardware), because they match the galvanized steel shiny metal waterers and the shiny steel hardware cloth in the run. Coordinates nicely. Feels more "Martha Stewart" than "Hillbilly". A purple stemmed dark green mint grows around the run, they pick and scratch at it, resulting in minty freshness in the air. Attractive brackets and hardware to hang up your tools and their waterer/feeder/toys will make everybody happy, too.

 

[annaraven]

I also recommend the Buff Orpingtons. My Buffy is a big fluffy goof and just the friendliest sweetest girl. Good layer too.

Your coop looks great. Good luck with it!

 

[Rainwolf]

Depending on where you are you can get birds and chicks from other local BYC peeps. Visit "Where am I? Where are you!" and find your local chicken peeps!

I suggest a waterer you can either hang at mid chest level on the birds (so not to spill or get dirty) for in the coop or water nipples (which I use)
and a low trough like waterer for outside run that you can just take out dump and hose off..

For feeder I just a J Feeder inside the coop and just toss scratch when I call them in the run so they always come when called. You can get a large feeder for main food and a small one to offer things like oyster shell etc.

visit the hardware store and get a ceramic light fixture on a cord that you can use for the babies and sudden cold snaps if the birds are not full adults.

anyhow thats my ideas... since thats what I use..