Nervous new chicken mom, any tips?

[PullumAmans19]

Hello! I will be getting chickens in two weeks and have been doing research for about 4 months now. I am still worried about everything!

Any tips to stop the worrying?

 

[sunflour]

Are you getting baby chicks or older chickens?

What specific concerns do you have?

 

[PullumAmans19]

I'm getting 17-week old pullets.
Literally everything, them getting sick or killed, I've been preparing for this but still.

 

[caboodleschicks]

It's okay! Everyone has this problem!

1. If you, by any chance, get a few males in there they might fight! Is it a possibility that you might get any males?

2. If you're pullets are close to laying, you will want to go ahead and start giving them a mixture of Starter and Grower and Layer Feed. (Or Layer Mash) What breed of chickens do you have?

3. Make sure that you have your coop ready and is the right size for your chickens.

Can't think of anything else right now, but I'll tell you if I do!

 

[lutherpug]

I've had chickens for a year. Focus on what you can control, like your environment. Make sure your coop and run are very secure from predators. On a long enough timeframe someone will get sick or need some medical intervention but they're generally pretty healthy.

On a day to day basis, I am far more concerned about predation than illness.

Other than that, I would advise you to relax and enjoy it! They may be skittish when you first get them depending on how much they've been handled. I have 17 week old pullets right now and they're very much in that "teenage" stage where they don't want much to do with me if I don't have treats They tend to settle down a bit once they start laying-so don't be dismayed if they're not cuddly right out of the gate. Also, treats do help a lot in terms of getting them to interact with you-just give them in moderation.

Good luck, do you know what breeds you're getting?

 

[MadieWestbrook]

I agree with lutherpug. We lost most of our chicks and two hens to predators until we decided to completely enclose our coop with bird netting. It was the BEST DECISION we made! I totally recommend this. However, I don't recommend keeping chicks out to free roam until they are about a month old and ONLY let them out when you're home. I say this with a completely enclosed coop/free-range area. I'm not sure I would do this with an open area.

I wish you so much luck! I'm sure you'll be a great chicken mother. Be careful though, raising chickens gets addicting!