• giveaway ENDS SOON! Cutest Baby Fowl Photo Contest: Win a Brinsea Maxi 24 EX Connect CLICK HERE!

New Member ~ Hello

Pics
Date sort Score sort
N F C said:
:welcome

Hi Dawn, you can always start with 4 to see how you like raising a flock and then add as you go (just be sure to build their lodgings bigger than for just 4). Best wishes with your plans.
Click to expand...
Good morning,
Yes, I think I am going to start with 4 and make sure I get a handle of everything first. We just moved to northern central florida, coming from SW FL. So the weather up here is much cooler and colder (I love it; I'm originally from Boston, MA). But what worries me is the cold for the baby chicks. Right now, I have the beagles in the pole bard with a heater and I plan on putting the baby chicks in the shed. I'm thinking it would be warmer since the floor is wood and not cement like the pole barn. I would hate to wake up and see that one passed away.
I was told that the baby chicks should be arriving next week, since there was a delay with the cold weather. I'm purchasing everything I need from Tractor Supply..coop, feed, chicks and anything else that I need. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone.
Have a Blessed Day :)
 
Don't buy a coop there. It will not serve your birds or you well at all. They are cheaply made, very poorly designed and far too small for the number of birds they claim they can house.

The chickens will need 4 sq ft of floor space, 1 linear ft of roost space and as close to 1 sq ft of permanently open ventilation as possible along with 1 nest box per 4-5 hens. They will also need 15 sq ft of space per bird in the run. You cannot find that at a farm store.
If you can convert all or part of a shed into a coop, that is the biggest bang for your buck.
 
thelordsblessing2017 said:
Good morning,
Yes, I think I am going to start with 4 and make sure I get a handle of everything first. We just moved to northern central florida, coming from SW FL. So the weather up here is much cooler and colder (I love it; I'm originally from Boston, MA). But what worries me is the cold for the baby chicks. Right now, I have the beagles in the pole bard with a heater and I plan on putting the baby chicks in the shed. I'm thinking it would be warmer since the floor is wood and not cement like the pole barn. I would hate to wake up and see that one passed away.
I was told that the baby chicks should be arriving next week, since there was a delay with the cold weather. I'm purchasing everything I need from Tractor Supply..coop, feed, chicks and anything else that I need. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone.
Have a Blessed Day :)
Click to expand...

Your new chicks will need a source of warmth to start with...does the shed you plan on keeping them in have electricity? Check out this article to see some tips on caring for chicks for the first 60 days:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-raise-chickens.47660/
 
DobieLover said:
Don't buy a coop there. It will not serve your birds or you well at all. They are cheaply made, very poorly designed and far too small for the number of birds they claim they can house.

The chickens will need 4 sq ft of floor space, 1 linear ft of roost space and as close to 1 sq ft of permanently open ventilation as possible along with 1 nest box per 4-5 hens. They will also need 15 sq ft of space per bird in the run. You cannot find that at a farm store.
If you can convert all or part of a shed into a coop, that is the biggest bang for your buck.
Click to expand...
 
Hello,
Thank you for your reply. Maybe I should've been more specific on my ideas. My shed is more equivalent to our pole barn, and it will be turned into the girls' art studio. It's huge with stairs to get into it. It does have electricity that's why I wanted to put the chicks in there for the warmth. But I want a mobile coop, so that I can move it for fresh grass every few days. But we will also have a run for them with a cover for shade. We are also planning to have the chicks over by our garden that we just made. My husband said that they can create good fertilizer for the garden. We just purchased 3 acres so it's a very large garden and we have plenty of space and trees and grass around. Also, just like I have to put a fence around for the beagles by their dog townhouse LOL; I am planning on putting a fence around the chicken area as well. I am not sure about the predators in the area since we've only been here a few months, but I know there is a large turtle, I see rabbit droppings and there are deer in the area (I see them while driving).

Is Tractor Supply not a good place to purchase the chicks? I am trying to locate a hatchery or farm locally that sells the types of chicks that I want. I have chosen 6 different types all friendly and would lay different colored eggs especially blue/light blue.

Is there anyone on here that knows of a hatchery in Central Florida? I am by the Georgia/Alabama line. But I would prefer not to travel far.
 
thelordsblessing2017 said:
Hello,
Thank you for your reply. Maybe I should've been more specific on my ideas. My shed is more equivalent to our pole barn, and it will be turned into the girls' art studio. It's huge with stairs to get into it. It does have electricity that's why I wanted to put the chicks in there for the warmth. But I want a mobile coop, so that I can move it for fresh grass every few days. But we will also have a run for them with a cover for shade. We are also planning to have the chicks over by our garden that we just made. My husband said that they can create good fertilizer for the garden. We just purchased 3 acres so it's a very large garden and we have plenty of space and trees and grass around. Also, just like I have to put a fence around for the beagles by their dog townhouse LOL; I am planning on putting a fence around the chicken area as well. I am not sure about the predators in the area since we've only been here a few months, but I know there is a large turtle, I see rabbit droppings and there are deer in the area (I see them while driving).

Is Tractor Supply not a good place to purchase the chicks? I am trying to locate a hatchery or farm locally that sells the types of chicks that I want. I have chosen 6 different types all friendly and would lay different colored eggs especially blue/light blue.

Is there anyone on here that knows of a hatchery in Central Florida? I am by the Georgia/Alabama line. But I would prefer not to travel far.
Click to expand...
Many get their chicks from TSC. It was the coop we thought you were buying there that we all know you eventually will have buyer's remorse.

Chicken wire is what we use for around our garden. The 3' tall works as our silkies can't fly over that. Yours might be able to, so you may have to go at least 4'. That's about the only thing chicken wire is good for though. Try to use 1/2" hardware cloth everywhere else to keep varments out. Most anything but a chicken or rabbit can get through chicken wire. So far, it may seem you don't have much, but as soon as you have chickens, other deadly varments will know and come stalking around at night. Raccoons, fox, etc. can get through chicken wire.

We have a lot of solar motion lights around our coops, plus two chicken-friendly dogs that keep the riff-raff back in the nearby woods.
 
Debbie292d said:
Many get their chicks from TSC. It was the coop we thought you were buying there that we all know you eventually will have buyer's remorse.

Chicken wire is what we use for around our garden. The 3' tall works as our silkies can't fly over that. Yours might be able to, so you may have to go at least 4'. That's about the only thing chicken wire is good for though. Try to use 1/2" hardware cloth everywhere else to keep varments out. Most anything but a chicken or rabbit can get through chicken wire. So far, it may seem you don't have much, but as soon as you have chickens, other deadly varments will know and come stalking around at night. Raccoons, fox, etc. can get through chicken wire.

We have a lot of solar motion lights around our coops, plus two chicken-friendly dogs that keep the riff-raff back in the nearby woods.
Click to expand...
 
Oh okay. Thank you for that. Yes, we are also putting the chickens on the other side of a large tree that will separate the beagles from seeeing them and the constant barking. As I know beagles are "hunting" dogs. Lucy my 4 year old, as soon as I let her out in the morning she contantly makes her "baying" sound. Glad that our neighbors are far enough away so that they don't hear it.
 
thelordsblessing2017 said:
Hello,
Thank you for your reply. Maybe I should've been more specific on my ideas. My shed is more equivalent to our pole barn, and it will be turned into the girls' art studio. It's huge with stairs to get into it. It does have electricity that's why I wanted to put the chicks in there for the warmth. But I want a mobile coop, so that I can move it for fresh grass every few days. But we will also have a run for them with a cover for shade. We are also planning to have the chicks over by our garden that we just made. My husband said that they can create good fertilizer for the garden. We just purchased 3 acres so it's a very large garden and we have plenty of space and trees and grass around. Also, just like I have to put a fence around for the beagles by their dog townhouse LOL; I am planning on putting a fence around the chicken area as well. I am not sure about the predators in the area since we've only been here a few months, but I know there is a large turtle, I see rabbit droppings and there are deer in the area (I see them while driving).

Is Tractor Supply not a good place to purchase the chicks? I am trying to locate a hatchery or farm locally that sells the types of chicks that I want. I have chosen 6 different types all friendly and would lay different colored eggs especially blue/light blue.

Is there anyone on here that knows of a hatchery in Central Florida? I am by the Georgia/Alabama line. But I would prefer not to travel far.
Click to expand...

I have had TSC experiences in FL, WY and KY (we've moved a lot) and can tell you it's a good idea to know exactly what you are looking for when buying chicks from them. Some of the employees are knowledgeable about chicks and some don't have a clue what they are doing.

If you have your heart set on specific breeds, know up front it's not uncommon for the chicks to be mis-labeled. Know what the breed you want looks like as a chick, don't fully rely on the TSC brooder labels.

As far as getting knowledgeable answers to questions from TSC employees, a few of the things they have told me incorrectly:
1) a hen won't lay any eggs unless there's a rooster in the flock
2) pasty butt is normal and nothing to be concerned about
3) the breed of that duckling is "yellow"
4) don't worry about the empty waterers, they already drank for the day

So buyer beware, educate yourself before purchasing!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom