New Chicken Owner East Tenn

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pauleberly

pauleberly

Chirping
Mar 21, 2016
311
11
63
East TN
Hey guys! Always wanted some backyard chickens and I finally took the plunge. A little bit about my self

I recently moved from Indiana to East Tenn. I have a wife, a 3 year old, and one on the way. We decided to get some chickens to help the little ones with responsibility and for fresh free range eggs of course

We currently have 5 pullet hens about 4-6 days old. They are a Rhode Island Red X White leghorn mix. We have them inside in a 100 gallon container and they are doing very very well. We have them on started crumbles, and just started to throw in some grass and dirt and let them play with that. I have never raised chickens, but when I was younger I did own and raise some ducks.

One question I have, how soon do I need to have a coop ready by. I am wanting to make the most out of my yard space by utilizing some empty space under the deck for a coop , and a small run that also leads to the full back yard. As soon as I can, i will post some pictures into the coop design thread. Thanks for any information!
 
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glad you have joined us. And congrats on getting your own flock.

You need to get the coop plans done and start building ASAP...those little ones grow up so fast and will be ready to move into the coop by the time they are 5-6 weeks old.

Careful with the grass, they are a little too young to eat that and even full grown hens can't handle grass longer than an inch or so.

And when you decide to offer treats - make sure you are giving them chick grit.
 
Thanks for the welcome. I gave them a couple of worms today and they went nuts for them. It was so amusing to watch them.

I did not throw any grass or dirt in with them for the worms. Will they still need grit? And do I just get fine grit sand if they do need it?

Thanks for all the help!
 
Hi and welcome to BYC - glad that you have joined us.

If you throw a sod of grass (soil n all) for them, they will not only get grit from the soil, but it will help begin build up immunities to all the microscopic bugs that lurk in the soil. I let my chicks free range with momma from day 2 and they have all prospered, so its good to introduce the chicks to soil for grit and immunity purposes IMO. Other members opt only to let their chicks become exposed to stuff a little later - its a personal call. Maybe if you read up the subject - type something like "developing immunities in chicks" and you may find some useful resources.

Good luck

CT
 
Sounds like you have a plan, for coop and runs. Hope you will post pictures as it becomes a reality. Welcome to the BYC flock.
 
Thanks for the welcomes! I spent all night and I found a coop design that I like really well. I'll modify slightly for my own personal needs, but I think it's gonna work great.

A quick question. My wife really wants some silky chickens. If I found a day or two old chicks and placed them with my week olds, would they pick on the sillkies?
 
Well after looking all around, my wife got discouraged and found some marans instead of sillkies. She knew I wanted some of those

At the same time, I had given up on marans and I found some silkies.

We now have 12 chickens. Coop construction starts on Thursday lol
 
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Sounds like you better make that coop extra large to handle the chicken math that's going on (don't be alarmed, it seems to hit most members).

Have fun!
 
I know right! I can't believe we went from 5 to 12 in one day. We both decided no more lol!

The silkie chickens wouldn't stop chirping till we held them? we read up that they are affection breed, but are they gonna want to be held all day? My wife would love that lol.

We are figuring on making an out hour style coop, probably 4x8 base and about 5-6 foot tall. They will also have a 16fx16f area to run during the night and I'll let them out when I get home from work
 

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