inheriting a flock and coop - MANY questions

[chicagochicknlady]

hello all!

I am incredibly lucky to be gaining an additional 13 chickens (1 roo) and 2 guineas in the near future. They have their own coop, we are in the Chicago area. I have a lot of decisions to make about their care going forwards and am eager to hear your suggestions, but there are a lot of details so this is going to be a bit long! I will try to be as concise and clear as possible.

First – I have 6 chickens of my own. I could maintain the flocks separately, or integrate. The main problem with integrating (aside from the fact that I would need to create a rather large grow-out section of the coop) is the roosters. I have a RIR rooster, Mr. Benedict, who is, well, not the nicest, but a fierce protector of the ladies, and the new flock has had some trouble with raccoons in the past. I am nervous primarily about how he will deal with another rooster. New roo is named Mr. Pants and is a bantam, very small - if they fought it could be really bad. Or maybe he will not be considered a threat? We are also hoping to rent the farmhouse that the flock comes with periodically, so the noise is an additional consideration.

Second – I won't be there every day. They have an automatic door and a feeder that can last up to a month, so the day-to-day care is minimal. I'm looking for suggestions on bedding - is sand the way to go if I won't be able to clean more than once or twice a week? Deep bedding method? Thoughts on poop boards vs not? Right now they have pine shavings, which I'm not a huge fan of, but it's been working so far I guess. (I know this is more of a coop question, but wanted to have everything in one place!)

Third – the previous owner has heat lights inside the coop during the winter, keeping it above freezing, and also keeps the whole flock indoors during the coldest months. I've heard many times that the heat lights are NOT a good idea, and also generally would lean towards letting them be outside all year round if they choose, but curious if folks have different opinions. It is a brick building, so fire risk is slightly lower? They do seem to be laying a lot more than my girls, even though the lights are red and not white.

That's most of it, I'll add something in comments if I think of it. Thanks very much in advance, sorry for the essay lol. Photos attached of new flock !

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!! Beautiful chickens!

1. New chickens should be penned where they can see each other yet quarantined from them for at least two weeks. So if you do that with your rooster, there's still going to probably be growing pains between them, but they'll work it out, usually.

2. I personally would use horse bedding pellets as we have them in our coop and don't change them but once a year. They absorb the poop and odors. I put stall freshener on the poop boards.

3. Lights 24/7 is not good for birds. If you want to keep the coop from freezing, I'd go with a black reptile heat bulb. We have a 150-watt one of those in our brooder and a separate led light strip. When it's night, it's lights out. For the coop, we keep ours from freezing too with a NewAir thin oil-filled radiant heater. Cheap to run too. Heat lamps are never considered the safest thing but the problem 99% of the time is the user's installation of them.

You mention wanting to let them outside, yet also mentioned raccoons and the fact that you're gone a lot. Unless you have a good dog to watch over the place, I wouldn't.

Good luck!

 

[aart]

So you've inherited a farmhouse(which you intend to rent out) that came with a coop and 13 chickens and you want to move the chickens in with your current flock at a different location?

I would not encourage only tending birds once or twice a week.

 

[chicagochicknlady]

So you've inherited a farmhouse(which you intend to rent out) that came with a coop and 13 chickens and you want to move the chickens in with your current flock at a different location?

I would not encourage only tending birds once or twice a week.

they wouldn’t be completely on their own while i’m not there, there are neighbors who would be able to keep a general eye but maintenance would be weekly. with lots of food and a nipple waterer system to keep it clean do you have any other concerns?
im probably not going to integrate. at least not anytime soon. slightly worried abt disease as i lost one of my small flock recently.
technically the coop doesn’t come with the house but the previous owner had been keeping chickens there as part of a deal/lease situation with the person who does. i could reject the flock entirely, but im not sure what that would mean for the flock - i don’t think someone else would take over. not trying to take this lightly, i appreciate all the thoughts so far.

 

[aart]

they wouldn’t be completely on their own while i’m not there, there are neighbors who would be able to keep a general eye but maintenance would be weekly. with lots of food and a nipple waterer system to keep it clean do you have any other concerns?

So the neighbors know what to do if they get a predator intrusion?
Are they collecting eggs daily as well as spot potential issues and know what to do about it......or are you close enough to dash over to take care of problems that they spot?
The birds are already on a nipple system?
I suppose there are more than few folks who leave their birds unattended, but I'm not one of them...so maybe I'm not the best to advise here.

 

[homesteading101]

hello all!

I am incredibly lucky to be gaining an additional 13 chickens (1 roo) and 2 guineas in the near future. They have their own coop, we are in the Chicago area. I have a lot of decisions to make about their care going forwards and am eager to hear your suggestions, but there are a lot of details so this is going to be a bit long! I will try to be as concise and clear as possible.

First – I have 6 chickens of my own. I could maintain the flocks separately, or integrate. The main problem with integrating (aside from the fact that I would need to create a rather large grow-out section of the coop) is the roosters. I have a RIR rooster, Mr. Benedict, who is, well, not the nicest, but a fierce protector of the ladies, and the new flock has had some trouble with raccoons in the past. I am nervous primarily about how he will deal with another rooster. New roo is named Mr. Pants and is a bantam, very small - if they fought it could be really bad. Or maybe he will not be considered a threat? We are also hoping to rent the farmhouse that the flock comes with periodically, so the noise is an additional consideration.

Second – I won't be there every day. They have an automatic door and a feeder that can last up to a month, so the day-to-day care is minimal. I'm looking for suggestions on bedding - is sand the way to go if I won't be able to clean more than once or twice a week? Deep bedding method? Thoughts on poop boards vs not? Right now they have pine shavings, which I'm not a huge fan of, but it's been working so far I guess. (I know this is more of a coop question, but wanted to have everything in one place!)

Third – the previous owner has heat lights inside the coop during the winter, keeping it above freezing, and also keeps the whole flock indoors during the coldest months. I've heard many times that the heat lights are NOT a good idea, and also generally would lean towards letting them be outside all year round if they choose, but curious if folks have different opinions. It is a brick building, so fire risk is slightly lower? They do seem to be laying a lot more than my girls, even though the lights are red and not white.

That's most of it, I'll add something in comments if I think of it. Thanks very much in advance, sorry for the essay lol. Photos attached of new flock !

I throw my new birds in with the flock immediately at 6 weeks never had one killed, they eventually work the pecking order out. Not advisable to mix roosters but you can, it's possible they will kill each other but also not. Just mix them and check up occasionally, chickens do not need to be tended to everyday like a human baby. Let them be animals.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, welcome to BYC! You're going to get as many opinions as people who respond, so the bottom line is, after you read all the suggestions, you're going to do what works best for you.

What I think *I* would do, in your very fortunate shoes, is leave your inherited flock right where it is. They're happy there and comfortable with their routine, as is your own flock. I think I would ask the neighbor if they'd be willing to gather the eggs daily and make sure they had food and water in return for keeping all the eggs, except that they would share with any renters. I would myself check on the chickens at least twice a week to make sure they were properly cared for, and to do any necessary cleaning. That said, maybe poop boards might be a good idea, but I'm not sure. Anyone wanting to rent the place would understand that chickens (and their natural sounds) are part of the charm of the place. The neighbors would call on you for any emergencies or problems.

 

[WoDia]

Hello and welcome to the BYC community @chicagochicknlady! I hope that you will find our advice helpful. Beautiful chickens and Guineas! There are things to consider seriously…. heat lamps must be checked very regularly (fire risk). Here’s another reason for close monitoring…. I used them years ago and had a bulb explode inside the protective cage. It left tiny glass shards in the bedding below. I agonized for days about whether any bird had ingested a glass shard (very fortunately, they didn’t). I don’t use heat lamps at all now. I like flat-panel radiant heaters. Another thing to consider…. something happening with the water system, and their access gets eliminated (frozen, etc). They also need monitoring in the event that one falls ill and/or a fight causes serious injury. The predator threat is also a serious issue, because a raccoon can kill an entire flock overnight. I am one to care for my birds (chickens, quail, and turkeys) daily. Otherwise, I’d feel heartbroken if something happened (and they suffered), and I could have been aware of a problem right away. I understand your intentions. A lot of people, I’m sure, don’t monitor their flocks every day. But, anything bad can happen (and usually does) for a flock without having at least a caretaker check in with them on a regular basis. I hope that any of my suggestions can be helpful to you. Good wishes for your new flock.

 

[alinas2010]

Welcome! Congrats on your new flock and property! I hope you’ll keep us updated on your decisions and how things work out.

I think i understood that if you had a way to keep them separated at first, you would have enough room to integrate the two flocks together at your home where you can tend them daily? That would be my ultimate goal if I was going through this. Would it be easier/more of a possibility to quarantine off a smaller space for less chickens to integrate at a time? Albeit a bit of a large undertaking, maybe you could slowly start moving a few or half over at a time to integrate into to your current flock. I know that would take a while and a lot of time/effort and isnt a phenomenal solution, but it could be a way to get them all over to you. Maybe the roosters would just need a lot more time in the “see no touch phase” to get used to each other? I would personally be weary not being able to check on them daily, but as others said, people do and it’s fine for them, so maybe with your neighbors’ help it would work out okay. I’m by no means an experienced chicken integrater, either, just thought it was an idea.

I wouldn’t leave a heat lamp unattended under any circumstances, either. But I do like the oil filled radiant heaters if you have a reliable until that has overheat and tip over shut off - they’re around $50 or $60 at most hardware stores. The one i found has 3 heat settings and kept our coop at 20f when it was -35f here. Myself, I wouldn’t leave that unattended, either unless you have really reliable electrical to their coop and the neighbors will keep an eye on the set up. The radiant panel ones work well to keep the chill off, too.

Good luck on your new journey with both flocks and I hope everything is smooth sailing for all involved!

 

[chicagochicknlady]

unfortunately i don't have space where i am now to bring in more chickens, if i were to integrate (again, thinking probably not) i would have to take my current flock to the new coop. clearly didn't explain that very well in the original post, sorry for the confusion!
i think step #1 is going to be figuring out both with neighbors and the ACTUAL owners of the coop what the limits of their involvement and support are and go from there. definitely hearing the concerns about heat lamps specifically, but i'm nervous about cutting them off in the middle of the winter, so happy to hear thoughts on that. maybe a radiant heat situation? or gradually decreasing over a few weeks?
nipple waterer would be new for them. i know it can take birds a bit to get used to that as well so i can make sure to introduce it over a weekend where i can be sure they've gotten the hang of it.
i am luckily close enough to run over if there's ever an emergency!