New here and brooder question

[chrissynemetz]

Hello, and welcome to BYC! We're glad you decided to join us!

 

[Tookie]

Welcome to BYC! Good luck with everything!

 

[N F C]

Hi Laura, congrats on your upcoming flock!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

So glad you decided to join us. Congrats on getting this adventure started! If you have any questions about your chicks along the way, be sure to ask.

Welcome to our community!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, Laura, and welcome to BYC!! We have two homemade brooders in our living room. They make nice entertainment pieces.

Anywho, you got lots of great advice, but if you have other questions, just post them or check out our Learning Center where there are hundreds of articles written by our members.

 

[Boppo]

Glad to meet you and welcome to BYC. Congratulations on your new flock! You are at such a fun stage. You will have so much fun with your new birds!

Here are my favorite beginning articles that helped me as a newbie. I hope you will find them helpful as well. All articles are short, have illustrations, and reviews, which are often worth looking at for the comments.

1. Intro to chicken keeping

2. Common mistakes & how to fix them

3. Ventilation (important to chicken health), with helpful links to coop designs organized by climate (because what is just right for my New England hens won't work for my brother's Arizona chickens)

3(a). Farmers Almanac on Building Coops (Includes size requirements!) Allowing plenty of space for chickens is really important because, even as chicks, they will start pecking each other or plucking their own feathers, or become unhealthy if they are overcrowded. Here is a link to Colorado State Extension's publication on space and temperature requirements for chicks as they age.

4. Predator protection for new & existing coops

5. Dealing with a muddy coop and run

6. Gardening for chickens

7. BYC Lists of Chicken Ailments and Cures

To look for articles on your own:

A. Use the SEARCH button, but use the Advanced Search choice, and select ARTICLES at the top of the box. Just enter your keyword(s) and scroll through your results!

B. I find it helpful to notice the rating and reviews. All articles are by BYC members, and all the reviews/ratings are as well. The ratings help a newbie like me sort the most useful and reliable articles.

C. You can bookmark the articles or posts you think you want to refer to again using that bookmark icon at the top of articles or posts. You can find them again by clicking on your own avatar and looking at the list of bookmarks you have built up!

Notes about where to put a coop:

1. As far as you can, put a coop and run on high ground, that drains well, so you won't have so much muddy coop problems. Chickens need to be dry, dry, dry.

2. As far as you can, put a coop with the ventilation lined up with your prevailing breezes, and away from the direction of your storms. If you are not sure of these (who is these days?), check with your local National Weather Service website.

3. As far as you can, arrange for some sort of shade over your coop and run. Preferably deciduous so the girls will enjoy winter sun, but summer shade.

 

[sourland]

Hello, Laura, and welcome to BYC. Good luck with your chicks.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, Laura and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[triciayoung]

Thank you all so much!!. It’s wonderful knowing I have a place to ask questions and to just chat chickens!!. I know from past experience there’s nothing like having a great group of like minded friends!! Ive bred and shown AKC Champions/ Grand Champion Mastiffs for many years. Well, I’m really pretty much retired from breeding Mastiffs. We still have them and a French Bull dog lol. Anyway, Chickens are brand new to myself and hubby!!. He’s almost finished building a beautiful coop and very large run. The chickens will be able to free range daily as well!!. I’ll most likely be back to hear what others do for the hardware cloth under the coop and run. the coop is off the ground.we are out in the country and we certainly have predators, so we need to be sure the chickens are safe!! I’ll gladly introduce the chics soon!!. Thank you all again so much for your kindness and help!!.

Welcome. Please know that if you free range you may have losses, in fact, it will most likely happen, it will just be a matter of time. While many predators that hunt chickens are nocturnal, they will hunt during the day, especially at this time of the year - to feed their new babies. Also, there are day predators; the aerials - there have been members here that have lost their chickens to hawks, owls, falcons, and eagles, when there were 15-feet away. Also, a predator that most don't think of, but are everywhere are neighborhood or stray dogs. Some of us just supersize our secure runs to get the best of both worlds.