Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[NanaLynn]

Thank you! All good info. I think as soon as you raise your first batch of chicks you become a pro
Mine are coming 2 weeks from today!
I have one more question... I keep hearing about the dust the chicks produce. Since I am getting about the same # of chicks as you, I was wondering about the dust in the basement.
I was going to put them in the family room for 2 weeks. Basement for 2 weeks and then garage for last 2 weeks as long as it's warm enough by then. So how dusty is your basement??? I laughed as I read someone else's post that they were worried about it being like the Dust Bowl of 1930's - is this what I should expect?

Funny you should ask, my husband and I were just having this conversation. Right now at 2 weeks they are putting out a lot of dust. Kind of a fine brownish yellowish dust. I guess there downy feathers do this as the new ones come in? They are very dusty. I didn't notice the dust until going into the 2nd week. Our basement is pretty big, so mainly the dust is more to the half of the basement they are in, but the whole basement is starting to smell like chickens, so I am working tomorrow on getting the coup more insulated so I can set them up in there soon. We use our basement as a family room too since it is mostly finished, so the smell is more of a problem then the dust right now for us. Not sure if this helps...

 

[NotableNancy]

Funny you should ask, my husband and I were just having this conversation. Right now at 2 weeks they are putting out a lot of dust. Kind of a fine brownish yellowish dust. I guess there downy feathers do this as the new ones come in? They are very dusty. I didn't notice the dust until going into the 2nd week. Our basement is pretty big, so mainly the dust is more to the half of the basement they are in, but the whole basement is starting to smell like chickens, so I am working tomorrow on getting the coup more insulated so I can set them up in there soon. We use our basement as a family room too since it is mostly finished, so the smell is more of a problem then the dust right now for us. Not sure if this helps...

Yes, that helps a lot. I sure hope it warms up early in April so I can put them in the garage at 3 weeks old!!
Thanks

 

[NanaLynn]

Yes, that helps a lot. I sure hope it warms up early in April so I can put them in the garage at 3 weeks old!!
Thanks

I agree with you there, wish it would warm up. At least they will have a lot of their feathers at 3 weeks. Mine are outside in the coup now and love all the space and sunshine thru the windows. It is super insulated and ready for the cold nights. It is around 53 degrees here and they are having so much fun exploring the coup that they are not even bothering with the heat lamp and are just laying in the sun and taking lots of dust baths...and here I was so worried...

You have just a couple weeks to go before yours arrive, right?

 

[NotableNancy]

I agree with you there, wish it would warm up. At least they will have a lot of their feathers at 3 weeks. Mine are outside in the coup now and love all the space and sunshine thru the windows. It is super insulated and ready for the cold nights. It is around 53 degrees here and they are having so much fun exploring the coup that they are not even bothering with the heat lamp and are just laying in the sun and taking lots of dust baths...and here I was so worried...

You have just a couple weeks to go before yours arrive, right?

Yup... 2 weeks from yesterday.

How big is your coop? Any pics?
My husband is still building the run. The walls are up he's just trying to figure out how to do the roof so that is looks nice, keeps out hawks and raccoons and doesn't collapse in the snow. It should all be finished in a month (hopefully!)

 

[NanaLynn]

Yup... 2 weeks from yesterday.

How big is your coop? Any pics?
My husband is still building the run. The walls are up he's just trying to figure out how to do the roof so that is looks nice, keeps out hawks and raccoons and doesn't collapse in the snow. It should all be finished in a month (hopefully!)

I am sure your completed coop will look a whole lot better then mine. We used our old metal shed for our coop and the only things we bought were wood for the run and hardware cloth for the coop and run. Here is a pic of the shed before:


and here is our pictures of the coop and run after all the work:



The coop is 8' x 10' and the run is 10' x 16'



We extended the hardware cloth on the ground all around and we had a lot of unused stepping stones and various cement edging blocks that we put over the hardware wire.



plus we have egg doors in the back. As you can see we used a lot of scrap wood that we had around the house. I love to re-purpose items.

The coop sits right next to my garden which you can see to the right of it in one of the pics.

Good luck with your coop, it does take a lot of weekends to complete one and a great husband to help is a benefit too!

 

[NotableNancy]

I am sure your completed coop will look a whole lot better then mine. We used our old metal shed for our coop and the only things we bought were wood for the run and hardware cloth for the coop and run. Here is a pic of the shed before:


and here is our pictures of the coop and run after all the work:



The coop is 8' x 10' and the run is 10' x 16'



We extended the hardware cloth on the ground all around and we had a lot of unused stepping stones and various cement edging blocks that we put over the hardware wire.



plus we have egg doors in the back. As you can see we used a lot of scrap wood that we had around the house. I love to re-purpose items.

The coop sits right next to my garden which you can see to the right of it in one of the pics.

Good luck with your coop, it does take a lot of weekends to complete one and a great husband to help is a benefit too!

You did a great job!!! I'm already wishing mine was bigger. I already want more and I didn't even get my first ones yet. I don't think we will ever be able to have more than 15 though. I think there is some kind of law about how many chickens/acre but I really can't find the concrete ruling. maybe I don't want to???

 

[NanaLynn]

You did a great job!!! I'm already wishing mine was bigger. I already want more and I didn't even get my first ones yet. I don't think we will ever be able to have more than 15 though. I think there is some kind of law about how many chickens/acre but I really can't find the concrete ruling. maybe I don't want to???

We have a law here similar to that as well. We are limited to 20 per acre and we're on 1 acre. I have the 13 chicks now and will have 8 more coming, so I'll be one over the limited, we'll hide the extra I guess.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Just don't give any of your neighbors the chance to count your chickens! Lol

I don't think their are any chicken laws where I live. I live in the country, so I don't think we have a limit to how many chickens we can have. I know our friends who live in the city can only have 7 chickens.

 

[NanaLynn]

Just don't give any of your neighbors the chance to count your chickens! Lol

I don't think their are any chicken laws where I live. I live in the country, so I don't think we have a limit to how many chickens we can have. I know our friends who live in the city can only have 7 chickens.

Good idea and I can just say I have 20 anyway. I'm having trouble counting the 13 I have now, they move around so much!

I wish I lived in the country too.

 

[NotableNancy]

Just wanted to learn how to post a pic so when the chicks come I'll know how to do it. This is my coop/run. Run is about 20 X 20.
Still needs a roof, stone/sand and some landscaping.