Is it really this complicated? Feeling a bit overwhelmed!

[bruceha2000]

The point I was trying to make is that you don't just toss them in a coop without setting up some sort of brooding; you'd be surprised how many people have tried just that because they read somewhere that day old chicks could go straight into the coop and didn't need a brooder.

I guess I wouldn't have even thought to do that since I research before I do new things. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. How many cute little Easter chicks and bunnies get brought home by people who haven't thought past "boy is my kid going to be happy on Sunday!"

Just get pullets they are stronger and easier to take care of!

And they lay eggs, cockerels don't.
Or are you suggesting girls that are already close to laying? Much as it is really nice to start getting eggs, I wouldn't have wanted to miss watching the 2 day old chicks grow up. So much faster than kidsplus a WHOLE lot less aggravating. And cheaper ! I could raise many, many thousand of chicks for what it will cost to put my HS senior through college.

Bruce

 

[missnu01]

I think it's better to start with adult chickens and work backwards...start with ones that are harder to kill and have less issues...and then once you are settled in the swing of things, then get some babies because it is awesome having chicks...but I really liked starting getting eggs the day after getting our chickens.

 

[Loghousemom]

Bruceha2000: You caught me and my lack of proofing before posting. I usually have problems with the IPad changing my words for some reason... I have not been able to figure out why.... I think what I was trying to say when I said "beer evading". Would have been " begun researching". I started researching chickens and care well over a year before I took on bringing the babies home. Just my nature to learn way too much and overwhelm myself out of actually doing it. Hahaha!

yakima kid: Is a "hover". One of those octagon shaped things on legs with a hole in the top? I found something like that... (Looks like a big satellite dish with legs) out in my barn. I had no idea what it was called or what it was for! If using that for a brooder, how would you keep the chicks in it? Put it near a corner with wood around the outside? I have 30 eggs in an incubator and was wondering where I would put them all since it seems winter is never ending here... My original plan was to put them in the plastic brooder I used for my chicks last year... But I had 5 then and I am not sure there would be much room for more than 10....

 

[ChickenSkin]

I wouldn't start with adult birds. Trial and error is an integral part of life. Hatchery chicks are cheap lessons that you learn as you go. I started with 27 chicks. Two died within 24hrs and I received a refund from McMurry. I have not had a fatality from then on out except for roosters that run into knives. Chick starter, plenty of water, and keep warm. Watch a couple of youtube videos and your set. I agree that it is great to finally get eggs. But 10 pullets would cost 300plus after shipping. My two boys would have missed out on so much that it wouldn't be worth it. Plus if you can bring home infants from the hospital, chicks are easy. I didn't loose sleep at all.

 

[Den in Penn]

loghousemom: You don't keep the chicks under the hover they keep themselves under it when they need to warm up. When they get warm they go out and wander around just like they would if they were brooded by a hen. When I was very young my grandfather used a kerosene heater to heat the brooder house. The heater went under the hover and the exhaust stack went through the hole in the center. The metal of the hover reflects the heat down to keep the area under it warmer then the rest of the area. The modern version is a heater on legs set at about the height of a hen.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I'd have to see a picture of the big octagon thing to know if it is a hover or something else. Does it have a burner or lamp sockets on it? Some ran with a kerosene lamp or a coal burner.

You put cardboard draft guard around it.

I think that Robert Plamondon has information on how to use one on his website - www.plamondon.com. He is a former coworker of mine, and one of the few people who actually makes a living and sends his kids to college raising free range poultry.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Thanks Den in Penn - I missed that she thought you confined the chicks under the hover. Actually, you put a draft guard around it, a couple of feet past the edge of the hover.

The chicks go back and forth as they need heat or to cool off a bit. You keep the feed and water outside of the hover, not underneath it.

 

[TREX]

I agree here. Or at least this is how I did it. Although, last year I did get super serious about maintaining a flock and started researching like crazy. I subscribed to two chicken magazines, bought books, lurked here for a year and stockpiled wood stuffs & wire. And I talked to people in my town about chickens and learned that so many of my neighbors have a backyard flock. The woman across the road had them for 6 years before I realized. lol

Yes I had also lurked for years and had studied up but never quite took the plunge,always thinking I don't have the building supplies, i need don't have time,the money,worried I couldn't mix my canine kids with chicks,blah blah blah.Basicly I talked myself out of it every year.This year was different because my daughter is in ag class and was supposed to bring home a chick in feb for class.So i started gathering brooding supplies,went dumpster diving for wood in some of the areas where new homes were being built and got lots of great scrap,bought wire for the run and started tearing down the old playground house to bare bones so I could rebuild it..Then I figured one baby chick would be lonely so I went out and bought more and that put me on a time schedule to just get it done already.Coop has 1 to 2 more weekends to be completed and they can move in.Right now they are 6 weeks old so I guess I timed it pretty well.lol!

 

[Loghousemom]

Here is the one I have. I don't think it had a heater, though it is possible it did and that it got tossed. When we bought our property, most of the buildings were so full of stuff. Not being raised on a farm, I had to search out Uses for some of them. This is one thing I held onto. I found it in the "bird building". And left it there... Just pulled it out to take this picture.

 

[chicdaddy72]

Cool Clucker - I had the same questions when I was starting out last year. What I decided was it was too late to get started so I bought some 15 week old hens from a friend of mine to get started and I did not have to get involved in all the issues and maintenance of baby chicks. Then I added a Trio so I could have a rooster if i wanted too live hatch some chicks. I plan to order an incubator in time. My advice is to by young hens and don't try to do it all at one time because it can be over whelming.