Inside Too Long - Possible?

[ugachickenmama]

Snarky, snarky, snarky, People with experience tell you that, that's different from a Monday morning quarterback.

Hahaha . . . I'm not sure exactly what you meant by this but even with all of the pre-reading and research I have done in the years of wishing I had chickens, nothing fully prepares you for just diving in.

And with that pre-reading (yes, even on here) it is obvious that many folks are happy to jump to fairly critical and less-than-nice responses . . . leading people like me (newbies) to feel the need to go ahead and aknowledge my mistakes so as to not get the "you should have had it ALL ready before you bought the chicks" lecture that's honestly not helpful at this point. HA.

As long as they are healthy you are doing OK.

They seem super healthy and perfectly happy to me . . . and everyone in my house is absolutely enjoying them . . . BUT I still did not want to mess up their transition to outside with my timing IF that was possible . . . thus my question.

Feeling pretty safe now that if they're good and I'm good that it's all good! Boom.

Thanks all.

Now I just have to survive this "debate" with my husband over two similar but different locations and then pray for our marriage to survive the run build. THAT may be the biggest challenge yet (the marriage survival, not the actual assembly - hahaha).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Now I just have to survive this "debate" with my husband over two similar but different locations and then pray for our marriage to survive the run build.

My most important criteria for location is drainage. If water drains to that area or, even worse, stands there you are not going to be happy. If water drains away from it you are in much better shape. Pretty much everything else can be dealt with.

Second on my list is convenience to whoever is taking care of them. Where are you getting the water and feed from? In Georgia you aren't that worried about ice and snow on a steep hillside, but are you going to have to wade across water to collect eggs or water and feed if it rains? This involves location of the coop too, not just the run.

That's about it without getting into details of what your coop and run look like, how you will manage them, and details on your property.

 

[ugachickenmama]

My most important criteria for location is drainage. If water drains to that area or, even worse, stands there you are not going to be happy. If water drains away from it you are in much better shape. Pretty much everything else can be dealt with.

Second on my list is convenience to whoever is taking care of them. Where are you getting the water and feed from? In Georgia you aren't that worried about ice and snow on a steep hillside, but are you going to have to wade across water to collect eggs or water and feed if it rains? This involves location of the coop too, not just the run.

That's about it without getting into details of what your coop and run look like, how you will manage them, and details on your property.

Oh it will be me doing 90% of the work.

BOTH drain well.
BOTH are close to a well spiggot.
Neither are inconveinent from the house.
One is more FULL shade.
The other is more PART/filtered shade.

After reading many of the postings here, I was pushing for the shadier spot. ;-)

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Re the unfinished coop...
And jumping in unprepared...

I did worst and I survived...

I agreed to 3 chickens (adults) up to 5... (At most, if pushed) and a lead time of a few months to build the coop. I had never had any birds to care for... Never. I knew nothing about chicks or inter-species behavior.

My spouse did the order, he bought

To arrive May 1:
5 day old broilers
2 day old turkeys (mixed, gender unspecified)
2 day old ducks (mixed, gender unspecified)

To arrive June 1:
10 hens 6 months old

When the chicks arrived the henhouse was not started, they all had to live in the livingroom, then a month later the hens arrive, still no coop. I cried and screamed that night as he went off to work a night shift (not his normal shift and I didn't know about it until he just left). I had to "build" as best I could late into the night while the hens were penned up in the house. When he finally put up the coop it was at the opposite end of the property from the only place I could make a make-shift run, so I had to ferry all these animals across the whole place putting them in plastic bins to carry them for months, and months.

It is now 2.5 years later... It was not all fun... But you figure it out as you go...

You'll be fine, and no matter how many mistakes you make, others have done worst... And the truth is that a chicken coop is never "done" you will always be adjusting it... Unless it isn't your first few builds... From what I see, the coops that are built by those who have put up 3 or 4 are the best ones (to me) because they are the 1. Easier to clean 2. Easier to do chores in (feed & water) 3. Have a built in "hospital" room (safe quarantine area) 4. Easiest to predator proof.

At the end of the day, you are never prepared and you always figure most of it out. (Cut yourself some slack on the errors, remember that you did your best, and no matter how much you know, somethings will go wrong)

Don't worry about those who are harsh, just thank them and let them be (you can report them if they are mean though) Most people are nice. Encouraging the nice people will get you the help you need.

Oh! And always post pictures of what is going on. Poop pics and fluffy butts, and coop pics. All of them help others help you.


Welcome to the world of being a servant to the new babies, and search for a document/article on this site called Chicken Math (with quiz)... That is something you should know about for yourself more than for the hens... This is addictive... (Just a warning)