Just Getting Started

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apgreen79

apgreen79

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jan 3, 2014
75
8
33
Joelton, TN
Hello Everyone,
I have been reading a lot and finally decided to join the forum. This is my first forum and although I grew as a child with chickens this will be the beginning of my chicken endeavor. I am excited and somewhat overwhelmed.

We ordered our chicks from McMurray Hatchery and they will be delivered around the 1st of March. So I have been looking at brooders and coops. And oh man do we have a lot to do!

What we do know is that we will be raising and breeding chickens for eggs as well as meat. And we want them to free range. We currently have 2 RIR that some friends gave us because they couldn't take them when they moved. And they seem happy. My goal is to have a moveable poultry fence so they can be free to graze but within a restricted area. We will be having a garden this year and don't want the chickens to make a feast of it before we can.

So my list is
A) Build a brooder (on the cheap, of course)
B) Build a Coop
C) Install Temporary/mobile fencing

And this is just for the chickens. I can't wait to meet our new chicks but man have I got a full plate.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. Although I grew up with chickens I'm new to doing it myself....
 
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Just count on everything taking longer than you expected!
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Oh, and the brooder is the easiest part. If all else fails you can cut down an old box and line it with a plastic tablecloth before putting in bedding.

Focus on the coop.
 
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Welcome to BYC! :) My first recommendation is reading through the Learning Center, there is a wealth of valuable information there, everything you need to know about raising chicks, feeding, coops, and much more! https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center 2nd recommendation is to build your coop/run bigger than you think you need because chickens are very addicting! Make sure your coop/run are predator proof using 1/2 inch hardware cloth (very strong mesh wire) instead of chicken wire, which is easy to break through. If you have dogs I would keep them separate from the chickens and never leave them unsupervised together (learned the hard way :( ) Good luck to you with your new chicks :)
 
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Good luck in all your poultry adventures! Do some reading in the learning center as well. Lots of good reads about raising your flock, coop building and health issues.
 
thanks liz, we have 25 chicks coming (buff orpingtons & anconas) The hen house, as we're calling it, will be 8'x8' and be completely enclosed for safety. It will be opened during the day as a sort of refuge and closed at night. We do have a dog and he has been great with the 2 chickens we currently have so I think we're fortunate on that end.

Where we live we have just over 5 acres, but none of it is fenced in which is something we hope to change over time. But since funds just don't allow that for now we will just use the poultry fence and move it around every week or so to give them fresh earth to nibble on. One of our biggest issues is that we are on a rolling lot. So we're creating a flat area for the "Hen House". Just not sure how we're gonna move these chickens around since the "Hen House" will be permanent.
 
Thanks Smudge for the brooder idea. I have several vinyl table clothes I could use. That would make for easy clean up for sure.
 
Hi Two Crows, I am having my chicks vaccinated just in case. And have been reading a ton of stuff on here. Want to be prepared. And I have to say many of the the threads have had my in giggling fit. Only because now I know I'm not the only one who doesn't think of everything when planning.
 
Welcome to BYC!
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We're glad to have you. You seem to be doing everything right so far! Good luck with your chicks!
 

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