New "mother hen" in southwest desert of AZ

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4HotHens

4HotHens

Hatching
Feb 6, 2017
3
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7
Hello Chicken Friends,
I am completely new to chickens. My daughter and I have wanted them for a couple of years and my husband finally caved. All it took was me printing some coop plans and asking if he thought he could build it. After pricing all of the supplies, we decided to buy a prefabricated one instead, but I still got my chickens.
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The idea was to start with two, but the lady at the feed store suggested three in case one died, (I didn't realize that I should expect that). Anyway, three turned into four because my daughter wanted a mix of Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rock. I couldn't very well take two of one and only one of another because then the one would be alone from her siblings. That brought us to Gallina (Guy), Guadalupe (Lupita), Tapatia (Tia), and Sriracha. We are a military family and we're stationed about 15 minutes away from Mexico. My 15 and 16 year old kids have since picked up a lot of Spanish, hence the Spanish names.
We brought our gals home 15 January and they were a couple days old. I guess that'd make them about 3.5 weeks, boy they grow fast. They have a lot of feathers already and moved from our office to the garage last night. They live in a large metal dog crate and I still keep the heat lamp on for them during the day and a small heater for them at night. I have SO many questions, like do I need to turn off the light for them to sleep, but I suppose I need to find a thread to ask them. We have a purchased coop for them and just finished building a 6x6 enclosed yard that attaches to their coop. I've made pvc feeders and just finished a water system with little chicken water cups and a 20 gallon trash can. I'm currently looking for a place that sells construction grade sand as a floor covering for their yard. I am thrilled to have our girls join our family of four humans, a labradoodle, and a schnautzu. Any advice will be appreciated.
 
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Hi and welcome to BYC and congratulations on your new little flock!

You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre - https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads. This link may be helpful to you at the moment - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-your-baby-chicks

At 3.5 weeks, you may wish to consider weaning them off the heat sources. You can do this by increasing the distance between the heat source and the chicks, little by little. If you see them huddling together and not being their usual noisy and active selves, then lower the heat source a little. In theory, by around 4 weeks they should not need a heat source (depending on how well feathered they are).

You can ask any questions you may have on the "raising baby chicks" forum.

Best wishes
CT
 
Hello there, and welcome to Backyard Chickens! I am quite glad you decided to join the flock, and please make yourself at home here! Enjoy BYC! :frow

~Cuz
 
G’Day from down under 4HotHens
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Welcome!

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. Unlike non chicken loving friends, family and colleagues, BYC’ers never tire of stories or pictures that feature our feathered and non feathered friends
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Glad to hear you and your family are enjoying the chickens. You did well to get 4 instead of just 2 because of the potential for losing 1 and ending up with a lonely single chicken...chickens are flock animals and do best in a group.

Thanks for joining us!
 

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