New chicken Mama- some beginner questions

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Welcome to BYC! The roosts do need to be higher than the nesting boxes. For feed, I give my flock Purina flock raiser that has around 20% protein in it if I remember correctly and just give them egg shells for calcium. As for keeping them in a coop for a week... I wouldn't do that. They would for sure go crazy. What you'll just have to do is as they go up for the night, if they are for some reason going somewhere else to roost for the night you can put them in the coop to show them that that is where their home is. And they will get used to it I'd say in less than two weeks. Pine shavings vs straw is really a personal preference. I use pine shavings personally because when I used hay before it seemed to attract bugs and molded easy. And for food I feed my chickens in the morning and in the evening and let them free range the rest of the evening usually. Hope this helps and welcome!!!
 
DobieLover said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

Yes. Otherwise, they will likely want to roost in the nest boxes and poop in them leaving you poopy eggs to collect.

Not necessary but a great insurance policy. BSF are not considered a calcium supplement. They are fat/protein and considered a treat. You want to keep all treats to less than 10 weight % of their total diet.
You want to put out oyster shell for calcium supplementation.
I personally don't and never will feed layer mix as it only meets the bare minimum of protein and there are many times when you don't want your flock eating all the excess calcium offered in layer mix. I prefer to feed a complete feed that offers 18-20% protein with OS on the side. That way, the flock always has an appropriate diet. I feed Flock Raiser. I ferment half that is fed to them in a bowl and feed keep dry in their troughs.

This is called "homing" them to the coop and it's really only necessary for birds that are new to the coop. If you are getting chicks, I highly recommend you brood them directly in the coop using a brooder plate or momma heating pad.

Nope. I like using a tightly packed thin flake of straw.

They don't eat at night so there is no need to have food and water available at night.
They should have free choice access to a complete feed and fresh clean water during waking hours.
Click to expand...
My flock has all been together for awhile, but they are all being rehomed to me. Any advice on homing them still or not?
Thanks for all the other insight!
 
How exciting of a weekend you will have! ❤️

How big is your coop? I would keep them in at least 24 hours to get them acclimated. If you don’t have a run attached maybe even another day or two. Catching chickens to put them in at night in a run can be difficult, but even more difficult if they are free-ranging!
 
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