Is it really this complicated? Feeling a bit overwhelmed!

[missnu01]

There was a building on the property we recently bought, and I thought that I could get some chickens and keep them in the building...and that has been going great. I have 10 adult chickens, and now 17 laying breeds chicks, 9 meat birds chicks, 4 pekin ducklings, and 4 mallard ducklings. Everyone is doing great. We are getting ready to build 2 more smallish coops though, for the ducks and some turkeys we are going to get in May. It might take us a weekend to make a coop. It really isn't that hard or labor intensive as long as you can cut wood and drill in screws, and of course if you aren't making it very large. For 4 chickens you won't need a very large coop...I would maybe try to find a rabbit hutch for only 4. But you want to make it larger than you need it because what starts as 4 ends up being more than 4 in no time.
As long as you have enough money to buy the wood and tools to make the coop, and buy the food, then I say go ahead and get the chicks...now is the perfect time. In my area they are all half off because they are getting ready to stop selling them. You need to figure out how large a coop you have room for, and are able to build, and then make a plan and see how much lumber you need...You might be able to find scrap lumber pretty cheap or free depending on what is going on where you are at the time you are looking. Chickens aren't terribly hard as long as you have a little time on your hands, and can affix boards together. The chicks get a lot of care because they are chicks and they eat all their food and drink all their water in no time flat...Anyway, not too hard, and building a coop doesn't have to be a long hard drawn out process...it also doesn't have to be a rush job...
If I only planned on keeping a few chickens at a given time I would definitely use a rabbit hutch or something similar...Great brooder, great coop for just a few chickens.

 

[furbabymum]

They are loud and they smell. I'd have the coop ready first. Our brooder and grow out pens are even in the coop.

 

[ChicksandWeeds]

RELAX ...it is both easy AND a lot of work - and you will love it...but until you have your coop, you got nothing to worry about.

our local feed store got their last batch of chicks in september - ask yours ....
it is ok to get chicks a little later in the year - but do some research in terms of what you want - ie - eggs, not dual purpose? heat or cold tolerant. you want organic/no vaccine?. some hatcheries do sell and ship a minimum of 3 chicks. - if you know someone within driving distance and you like what they do ...they might be willing to sell you pullets that at several weeks old. you can investigate if you want a couple of rescue hens.

check out city/county ordinance to see if you are allowed any chickens - and if so - what are the property border requirements for placing a coop? - this may sound like a non issue - but believe me it is a BIG issue.

my chicks were out of the brooder after 1 week, (moved the heat lamp too). even though i tried to keep it entertaining - it was hot outside and i guess they became stressed and there was a pecking incident. - so i moved them into the coop that day, no further issues ever. the brooder was set up in the coop to begin with.


so - agree with: COOP FIRST with ideas where you want your run. think about where you want it - it is not hard or expensive to make a (movable) box that iswell ventilated and with hardware cloth and 100% predator proof. chickens are NOT picky that way.
if you can, make the coop bigger than what you think you need

spend a lot of time with them, try to imitate what a mother hen would have them do as early as possible.

my makeshift DIY "mini coop" where i put 12 of the males of the second run at 4 weeks ...5 left atm. they just sleep in there - and i guess would sit in it when it rains. it does not have 4 square feet per those 5 birds. it is just a 5x3.5x4 feet box mande with 2x2s and with hardware cloth and a very thin walls loosely attached
it was in a plastic covered greenhouse and when i moved it the other day, i made a roof for it. never got around to the painting of it and other beautification and so can't win a beauty contest - but it works !!! My "real" coop has deep litter method floor and is equally "rustic".



regarding roosters

i had gotten a straight run in may...out of 26 chicks, i had 17 roosters and 9 pullets - it sure did require some unexpected management when the guy who said he'd take the males backed out for space and work reasons ....NONE of the roosters turned out anything like mean - all friendly and respectful.
in case you wonder how to deal with roosters, i recently wrote a lengthy blog about it: http://chicksandweeds.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-deal-with-roosters.html

the real problem with roosters are

1 - neighbors !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 - not enough space for the number of roosters....important after about 3 1/5 months
3 - not enough pullets for the number of roosters....important at about 4 - 5 months.

my second straight run was in september - those pullets are now laying like crazy.... took 4 months before i can let the 2 runs be together all the time and unsupervised, and only at 5 1/2 months did all of the older pullets tolerate sharing their roost.

if you can start bigger than 3 ...do

best of luck

c.

 

[chicks4darlin]

I would just like to echo your question...I am having the same dilemma...cannot buy my chicks yet because I have surgery scheduled tomorrow with 6 weeks recovery...THEN I can buy my chicks IF we get our coop built in time....I look forward to someone answering your question because it will give me direction also. I really didn't want to wait until next year!

 

[Hillschicks]

Online hatcherys dont always require 15 chicks... Thats to keep them warm during winter shipping.. Most hatcherys like meyers as of march have their summer conditions of 3 minimum

 

[gardengal bevy]

we are having a lot of the same issues. my husband is about to get a hip replacement and i can't be gone from the house for days at a time with baby chicks. we haven't started our coop for that reason, but also worry about leaving chickens unattended for days while we deal with surgery. then i worry if there will still be chicks available the end of april... a lot of the same worries as you. frankly, i don't WANT baby chicks but 40.00 for a pullet around here, is ridiculous.

 

[stestory]

I jumped in with six pullets (city code) and no coop. It takes several weeks before they can go out so mine stayed in the basement in a box with little mess. Moved to the garage when they got chatty. Coops are available prebuilt if you need time to build a big one. Get a chick feeder and chick water container, start with chick antibiotic feed; then triple layer crumbles after your first bag is gone. When bigger, get a piglet feeder and chicken nipple water system from Farm Tek (mail order) and feed pellets, fruits, breads, cracked corn and lots of grass. Mine rome most of the winter and in all bad weather; I lock them up in good weather because my neighbor is a master gardener and they eat flowers. I've found mine several block away in good weather, so I lock the up. The only city animal I've had trouble with was a dog, they are as big as most cats so no trouble there. I got eggs at six months and get five to six a day now at one year old. Don't be scared. Read chicken mags for other good information.

.

 

[stestory]

Feed will last four days and water nipple system will make a gallon of water go two weeks with grass. Friends always ask to watch my chickens and kids play with them (the only rule is the coop is a safe zone, no chasing inside the coop) and I always give the attending all eggs.

 

[creative14215]

Here's my experience, probably not the best way to start but it all came together. I didn't know what I was doing but read a lot on here and on the chicken chick blog. The chicken loving folks are very helpful! We found our first chicks through craigslist, a local farmer had put them up for sale. At first I wanted 1 or 2 but quickly learned that you just can't have one or two! We did not have a coop when we got them in april. We kept them in the basement in a souped up double wide cardboard box with a lamp. We loved listening to the gentle peeps and making sure they were ok. A few weeks later the tractor supply was having a clearance sale on the spring chicks, we split the 6 chick min with another person and got 3 more. Work began on the coop after seeing about 100 online! My hubby is a carpenter so I found a pic (it had no plans or measurements with it) and we got info from those online as to the approximate sizes we needed. In retrospect I wish we had built it much bigger because our chicken love has only grown over the past year! After about 6 months we added to silkies to the mix from another farmer, then again this spring another 2 chicks. We like to bring them in in 2s so they have a buddy. We have had one death of a silkie roo from something unknown and one chick death at 6 days but other than that we have enjoyed every minute of having them. They are easy to love and care for. We handle them regularly and they are very gentle-even the reds we have. We are very glad we started having them!

 

[hausrx]

Im in a simular situation as you , but I planned ahead, I m going to build a chicken tractor ( moveable ) from a old dog house ( 3ft x 5 ft ) that doesnt get used anymore, but I did build my BROODER in my garage first, several weeks ago, the chicks can grow next several weeks in the BROODER as I put the finishing touches on the CHICKEN TRACTOR, and then move them in there , Im going to go get my 6 hens ( pullets ) from Tractor Supply CO , next week when Im on vacation !!, I hope this helps !!, DAVE from MICHIGAN