New member with some goals!

[chrissynemetz]

Hi and welcome to BYC! We're glad you joined us!

 

[Nheiles]

A couple days ago the chicks showed up. I didn't get much sleep the previous night because of the excitement. All of them are alive and well! 15 Buff Orpingtons and one free chick. We're thinking its either a Brahma or Cochin, I wasn't sure about getting some random chick but its super adorable and has feathered legs!!! The first brooder box wasn't anything special just a large box that the my miter saw came in. I found it incredibly difficult to keep the temperature between 90-95 degrees under the lamp, either it was a few degree above and below. Last night I made a better brooder that was much larger and purchased a 175W red light instead of the 250W and also got Thermo-Brooder to ensure there was plenty of warm places. After getting it all setup the area where the light resided held a nice temp of 91F, with the other areas ranging down to ~83 F. I figured I did something right when all the chicks fell asleep after a rousing scratch session, in various locations in the brooder.

All the chicks have been super active scratching in the bedding, eating, drinking and getting the zooms running around and jumping over each other (my favorite part). The free chick though has been a bit lethargic, mainly sleeping under the lamp and occasionally peaking at things rarely during my observations eating and drinking. I've given him yoke, scrambled eggs, added quik-chik to the water with a small amount of sugar and we've seen a slight change. It's very vocal and after it drinks or eats it rushes back to the heat and chirps for awhile. I know loss happens, but I'll do whatever possible to ensure that doesn't happen. At the local Tractor Supply a lovely lady has given me a lot of advice and suggested that the possible breeds it could be can be like that.

Building the Coop has been the biggest challenge. At the moment I have all the walls up and need to build the trusses. In the end it will be a 8'x 8' coop barn style roof with a 8'x10' run. I didn't put in a floor for various reasons, and part of me wishes I did while another part of me is pleased with what I have. Learning that keeping a large amount of roosters and lower amount of hens together isn't ideal. I'll be making a portable coop and run for the roosters till they're old enough to butcher. I know that Orpingtons are not ideal meat birds like the Cornish crosses, but I'm not looking to own chickens that grow at that rate and have potential health issues due to grow rate. I know about not leaving food out for them 24/7, but there's something about those chickens I'm not impressed about. The meat being a little tougher and longer growth doesn't bother me at all.

This experience has gave me some realizations. First, I'm a mother hen doting over the chicks. Every couple of hours I'm in the room watching them and checking on their well being. The first day I cleaned out the brooder twice since the newspaper became very dirty with the green food stuff and poop. The second day and today I just did it once after removing the newspaper and letting them go wild on the bedding and boy they do. I didn't realize that a small chick can shoot bedding up and over the 16in wall 4ft away (I'm excited to see them work on my compost). Amazingly enough nothing changes from hour to hour but I still do it. Second it's going to be harder than I first thought butchering the roosters when it comes time. The actual process won't be, but watching this little guys grow up and getting attached to them is going to make it more difficult.

Here are some pictures of the chicks! This is the first brooder.

 

[DobieLover]

A couple days ago the chicks showed up. I didn't get much sleep the previous night because of the excitement. All of them are alive and well! 15 Buff Orpingtons and one free chick. We're thinking its either a Brahma or Cochin, I wasn't sure about getting some random chick but its super adorable and has feathered legs!!! The first brooder box wasn't anything special just a large box that the my miter saw came in. I found it incredibly difficult to keep the temperature between 90-95 degrees under the lamp, either it was a few degree above and below. Last night I made a better brooder that was much larger and purchased a 175W red light instead of the 250W and also got Thermo-Brooder to ensure there was plenty of warm places. After getting it all setup the area where the light resided held a nice temp of 91F, with the other areas ranging down to ~83 F. I figured I did something right when all the chicks fell asleep after a rousing scratch session, in various locations in the brooder.

All the chicks have been super active scratching in the bedding, eating, drinking and getting the zooms running around and jumping over each other (my favorite part). The free chick though has been a bit lethargic, mainly sleeping under the lamp and occasionally peaking at things rarely during my observations eating and drinking. I've given him yoke, scrambled eggs, added quik-chik to the water with a small amount of sugar and we've seen a slight change. It's very vocal and after it drinks or eats it rushes back to the heat and chirps for awhile. I know loss happens, but I'll do whatever possible to ensure that doesn't happen. At the local Tractor Supply a lovely lady has given me a lot of advice and suggested that the possible breeds it could be can be like that.

Building the Coop has been the biggest challenge. At the moment I have all the walls up and need to build the trusses. In the end it will be a 8'x 8' coop barn style roof with a 8'x10' run. I didn't put in a floor for various reasons, and part of me wishes I did while another part of me is pleased with what I have. Learning that keeping a large amount of roosters and lower amount of hens together isn't ideal. I'll be making a portable coop and run for the roosters till they're old enough to butcher. I know that Orpingtons are not ideal meat birds like the Cornish crosses, but I'm not looking to own chickens that grow at that rate and have potential health issues due to grow rate. I know about not leaving food out for them 24/7, but there's something about those chickens I'm not impressed about. The meat being a little tougher and longer growth doesn't bother me at all.

This experience has gave me some realizations. First, I'm a mother hen doting over the chicks. Every couple of hours I'm in the room watching them and checking on their well being. The first day I cleaned out the brooder twice since the newspaper became very dirty with the green food stuff and poop. The second day and today I just did it once after removing the newspaper and letting them go wild on the bedding and boy they do. I didn't realize that a small chick can shoot bedding up and over the 16in wall 4ft away (I'm excited to see them work on my compost). Amazingly enough nothing changes from hour to hour but I still do it. Second it's going to be harder than I first thought butchering the roosters when it comes time. The actual process won't be, but watching this little guys grow up and getting attached to them is going to make it more difficult.

Here are some pictures of the chicks! This is the first brooder.
View attachment 2225946
View attachment 2225947

I'm glad you upsized your brooder. That first one was tiny!
Keep giving extra support to your bonus chick. That's really all you can do. Either it will make it or it won't. It's super sad when they don't.
If you are butchering the extra cockerels, your coop and run dimensions will be good.
You might want to consider building your run even larger though. Try to shoot for 15 to 20 sq feet per bird. The more, the better. Always. And if you can put a solid roof over the run. It makes a huge difference.
If you really want to see the chicks have a blast, dig up a clump of sod from the yard and put it in with them. At first they look at it like it's an alien life form. But once they get over their trepidation, it's a free for all.

 

[Nheiles]

I'm glad you upsized your brooder. That first one was tiny!
Keep giving extra support to your bonus chick. That's really all you can do. Either it will make it or it won't. It's super sad when they don't.
If you are butchering the extra cockerels, your coop and run dimensions will be good.
You might want to consider building your run even larger though. Try to shoot for 15 to 20 sq feet per bird. The more, the better. Always. And if you can put a solid roof over the run. It makes a huge difference.
If you really want to see the chicks have a blast, dig up a clump of sod from the yard and put it in with them. At first they look at it like it's an alien life form. But once they get over their trepidation, it's a free for all.

I'm glad you upsized your brooder. That first one was tiny!
Keep giving extra support to your bonus chick. That's really all you can do. Either it will make it or it won't. It's super sad when they don't.
If you are butchering the extra cockerels, your coop and run dimensions will be good.
You might want to consider building your run even larger though. Try to shoot for 15 to 20 sq feet per bird. The more, the better. Always. And if you can put a solid roof over the run. It makes a huge difference.
If you really want to see the chicks have a blast, dig up a clump of sod from the yard and put it in with them. At first they look at it like it's an alien life form. But once they get over their trepidation, it's a free for all.

Sod? At this age? I have a ton of sod that I pulled out for the coop. I don't put chemicals on my lawn so it should be good there. I do put swiss chard in little pieces and they go nuts.

 

[DobieLover]

Sod? At this age? I have a ton of sod that I pulled out for the coop. I don't put chemicals on my lawn so it should be good there. I do put swiss chard in little pieces and they go nuts.

Yes. At that age. My broody hens have their chicks digging and scratching the ground on day 2.

 

[Eggscaping]

Hello everyone. A few weeks back I put in a order with Murray McMurray Hatchry for 16 Buff Orpingtons. The week of June 29th if everything works out I'll be a proud owner of 9 roosters and 6 hens (and some random free chick).

I'm not brand new to caring for chickens. Most of my youth my parents and grandparents had chickens and well being the eldest son/grandson, I got the privilege to care for them. Though this will be my first time being the sole owner.... correction co-owner I need to include wifey.

I choose Buff Orpingtons because they're dual purpose, broody, cold tolerant and have a great disposition. There were several other breeds I considered including Barred Rocks and RIR and in the future I'll introduce need types.

Goals: The primary reason I got chickens is to be for self sustaining. To reduce the burden for chicken farms so they too can move on to happier and healthier chickens. With my small family the only issue is meat. To feed my family for the year I couldn't raise enough birds nor provide them with the quality of life I want for them. So, being realistic I'm striving to reduce with the hope of eliminating.

An ambitious goal for the future is to create the best chicken breed for my family. Living in Utah the winters are cold and the summers are dry and hot. So, my plan is to create a breed that not only can withstand the cold, but shrugs off the heat while keeping my first goal in mind.

If you follow this thread or another that I might need to create since this probably is not the correct thread. You can join me in my journey.

Michael Celaya

Welcome to BackYardChickens! So glad to have you here in our wonderful community of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people! Good luck on your journey - remember, everyone here loves pictures!

 

[Nheiles]

I'm moving this thread over to Urban "homesteader" with goals! Since it's a better location for what I'll be posting regarding my journey.