New to chickens..:)

[hugz4all4]

Hi there!!
Im new to this forum, learning lots and new to chickens too!! Ive always had ducks and geese until last year when my muscovies went so broody that we had so many babies I couldnt keep count anymore and sold them all!! This year seeing my family are egg lovers we decided on trying chickens. 3 weeks ago We bought 6 chicks, 3 2 week old red cross's and 3 1 week old Australorps.. Lovely little things, the reds are a little peck happy though..:/ a week later I went to our local Agway to get feed a came home with 6 more chicks.. 3 day old amercauna's and 3 light Brahma's.. now I have a nice little Flock.. they are all currently outside in the "hen house" with a brooder light on the smaller ones only at night. Doing and growing well.
From what Ive read the food I currently have them on.. Chick starter and grower.. should be fine until they are 18 weeks old correct???
no oyster shells, too many treats, layer feed until then?? They will not be free range.
My next question.. My neighbors started raising chickens last year, a week ago they aquired 8 full sized laying hens from a poultry farm. 2 of them flew the coop immediatly, the thought they had gotten eaten, we live in a heavy predator area. Anyways while out cleaning my little ladies house my daughter and I discovered one of their stow aways, In my wood line ( we have heavy pine tree lining our property line) She wouldnt come near us, I threw her food, left her a fresh bowl of water and we left her be. I let the neighbors no where she was, after a few days of her being here and feeding her, I offered to keep her they agreed because they dont want to stress her out by chasing her down.
So I put an old dog house with hay in it for her to bed down in at night. Ive been giving her the chicks food, last night I thru in a handful of cheerios and catfood. Im sure she is eating bugs etc. Ive been feeding her twice a day with plenty of water. I will not chase her down, I do want to gain her trust before winter as we live in upstate ny and they are rough and I want her in the coop. Any ideas??
And feed is it ok to give her the chicks food for awhile? Her laying eggs at this point is not important health is?? Advice needed
Sorry so long..:/

 

[Judy]

Starter/grower til about 16 or 18 weeks, then layer, is fine. It's also fine to feed the whole flock starter, grower, or a flock raiser, so that the chicks won't get any layer. If the oyster shell is in a separate container, the chicks won't bother it much if at all. Some people use flock raiser or grower all the time for the sake of young ones coming in, as well as the roosters. I don't know that anyone has ever demonstrated that all that calcium is harmful for roosters, but it stand to reason they don't need it, at the least. Medicated (with amprolium) chick feed is even fine for layers; the med stays in the gut and affects the cocci rather than the hen who is eating it, according to Purina.

I definitely agree about not chasing the hen, or any chicken, if at all possible. Training them to come up to you with treats is not difficult; they catch on quick, and will come to a sound they associate with the treats after a few exposures (your call, shaking the can, etc.,) as well as follow you or the sound. Also, you can pick a chicken up off the roost when they are asleep with relative ease. Moving a hen into another flock is often done at night, actually. The idea is to set her on the roost early in the night but well after dark, so that they are "used to" her presence by morning. Nothing is foolproof, of course, but some people have certainly reported success with this.

 

[hugz4all4]

Thank you for your help!
Another question (sorry)
My chicks are very light dependent. By this I mean, when I shut their coop up for the night before I plug in their brooder lamp they freak out. Even when I had them in the house if I shut the lamp off because it was warm enough during the day the would go crazy until I put it back on. They are almost big enough to not need a heat source should I keep a small watt bulb in there to keep them calm or will they eventually learn to chill out?

 

[iwiw60]

They'll chill out....don't waste the electricity.

 

[Judy]

I agree. It's typical for chicks to peep all night the first night the light is turned off -- but they will adjust soon enough. Just turn it off.

 

[hugz4all4]

Thanks!..