New Chicken Mommy

[ltlbg731]

Hi Everyone,
I am very new to this. I bought 3 chickens yesterday from a local feed store. I bought a Brown Leghorn (Sonic), White Leghorn (Jimmie Johnson), and a Rhode Island (Princess Peach). After doing some research on this website which is so full of really good information I can definitely see the traits you have described in the threads about these hens in mine. Any information you have on my hens would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure how old they are but I know they told me I have to keep them under heat lamps right now and for a couple weeks. They also said I have to give them chick mash for 6-8 weeks. I'm thinking that maybe they are a couple of days old. We really love our chickens already. Can't wait for them to start laying their eggs which the feed store said would be in about 6 months. I did read that the White Leghorn will lay a white egg which is perfectly fine with me. I completely understand that the color of the egg does not really matter it is what I feed the chicken and the fact that they will be free-ranging in my backyard most of the day. Again any tips of information anybody has for me would be greatly appreciated. I will be sharing a picture of my chickens very soon.

 

[Deb D]

Hello and

Yes you need to keep them warm. Good luck with them. Yes I agree this site has alot of good info. I'm fairly new to chickens too. I got my 3 girls through mail. Meyers hatchery. They were a couple days old. We kept them in my spare room in a bin that we had to keep in a dog crate...cats and the dogs...If you are keeping them in the house be aware as they get a bit older they will get their "dust" everywhere. My spare room was covered took forever to clean up.

If I do it again I will keep them downstairs in the garage, it is heated.Which I'm thinking I want 3 more will see. I also got mine in Oct and moved them out end of Nov early Dec. Was stressful we get cold here in the winters and we had a big cold snap I was afraid they would freeze but they did fine no problems. I did not put a heat lamp or regular light bulb in their coop was afraid of fires. I just gave them thick layers of wood chips and hay.. A couple of times during the day I would not let them out too cold. Getting in the spring is the way to go. My girls are doing great we get eggs every day occaisionally one does not lay everyday but they are still young. You can expect to start seeing eggs about 20 weeks of age give or take. One of my girls layed her 1st egg 20 weeks to the day took about a week after that for all 3 to start.. They are alot of fun too. such personalities too.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, itlbg731, and

! Great to have you with us! Good luck to you and your birds!

 

[BrendaJ]

Hello from Oregon & welcome to BYC

I have white leghorns in my flock as well - great egg layers

Enjoy your Fuzz butts & the amazing eggs to come

 

[Kevin565]

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[ltlbg731]

I guess in my intro I should have given yih my name and a little about me. My name is Erika and I live in Southern California in a very warm area in the summer and pretty cold in the winter. We do get some snow. I have 2 kids and these little chicks are there very first pets so I really want to do everything right for them. Thanks for all the welcomes I look forward to this experience and learning everything I can.

 

[Jeanna Marie]

 

[TwoCrows]

from New Mexico!

So glad you could join. Don't worry about not knowing much yet about your chicks...they will have you trained in no time!

Enjoy BYC!

 

[nikki1]

I guess in my intro I should have given yih my name and a little about me. My name is Erika and I live in Southern California in a very warm area in the summer and pretty cold in the winter. We do get some snow. I have 2 kids and these little chicks are there very first pets so I really want to do everything right for them. Thanks for all the welcomes I look forward to this experience and learning everything I can.

Yep, definitely need to keep those babies warm. I started mine in a big 'ol Rubbermaid bin. I cut out the middle of the lid, and put hardware cloth over it to keep the cat out, then used a heat lamp. Since they couldn't go outside until they were fully feathered, I eventually moved them into our master bedroom shower with "puppy pads" under them. Every afternoon I changed the pads and washed and dried the shower!

And hey, I'm originally from Lancaster in the Antelope Valley. You near there? If so, you ain't kidding when you say "hot in the summer!"