New to Chickens

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I have my garden near the coop and run.if I let my hens out to pick in the yard it seems first place they want to go is in the garden.they like scratching for worms.
 
nuyoricanchick said:
Hi, I started a small garden in my backyard and decided to get chickens. I am very nervous but excited about this idea. So far they are 5 weeks old and I just put them out into their outside coop. I have 3 Americaunas from what I was told at the feed store. I am stressing because one of my chickens is much larger than the other two and I don't know if it is a rooster or just a big chicken. I come from NYC and know nothing about chickens or gardening. I have just been reading alot and trying to follow instructions. How do I know if I have a rooster?
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Thank you all for being so friendly. You all made me feel welcomed. I will soon post a picture of my 3 chicks. So far they are doing well in their coop. The feed store told me there is a 95% chance they are females because they pay more for the females. I am sure they are EE but sold them to me as Americaunas. Boy! do does chickens make a real mess. I put food in their feeder and a lot of the food is spilled on the ground. I only feed them organic feed but I feel like a lot of the food is being wasted. Any suggestion? I have the feeder on top of a brick as well as the waterer. By the time I get home from work they have wood shavings all in the feed and waterer. In the mornings I put out fresh water and feed and they all come running as if they didn't get enough to eat. I fill the feed to the top (1 quart) and waterer (1 gallon) for 3 soon to be 6 week old chicks. Is this enough?
 
Thank you all for being so friendly. You all made me feel welcomed. I will soon post a picture of my 3 chicks. So far they are doing well in their coop. The feed store told me there is a 95% chance they are females because they pay more for the females. I am sure they are EE but sold them to me as Americaunas. Boy! do does chickens make a real mess. I put food in their feeder and a lot of the food is spilled on the ground. I only feed them organic feed but I feel like a lot of the food is being wasted. Any suggestion? I have the feeder on top of a brick as well as the waterer. By the time I get home from work they have wood shavings all in the feed and waterer. In the mornings I put out fresh water and feed and they all come running as if they didn't get enough to eat. I fill the feed to the top (1 quart) and waterer (1 gallon) for 3 soon to be 6 week old chicks. Is this enough?
 
I'm afraid chcks are just are messy!! You have done the right thing by putting the water and feed on a brick. Try putting less shavings around the feed and water area have a little clear area available for them. Good luck.
 
Thank you Yorkshire Coop. I never thought about that. I will do that tomorrow morning and see how that works. Right now I have the coop on a cement slab with shaving. so I will move the shavings away from the food and water. I also built a run myself out of PVC piping and I am using sand for the flooring. I heard that first let them get use to the coop before I introduce them to the run. do you know how long do I need to wait before introducing them to the run?
 
Hello I've got a question.will older hens kill 5 week old chicks if u keep them with the flock?
 
Were the chicks raised by a hen within the flock? Or are you thinking about adding 5 week olds to the flock? If it's the later I would say yes there is the possibility that older hens would kill the chicks. Sometimes hens can be more aggressive than Roos when it comes to new flock members. At 5 weeks the chicks are too young to add to your flock. You should wait untill they are fully grown at 5 weeks they could easily be injured. I like the look but don't touch method for adding new members. Keep them seperate by wire but so they can see each other but not cause injury. After a few weeks you can add them but be there to supervise incase things get too much for the new members or it becomes a bloody so you can jump in to stop them. There will,be some pecking order scuffles but it's always best to watch. Add extra feed and water stations so no one can be bullied out of eating and drinking.
Here is a lovely article on adding new members https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock

Good luck :thumbsup
 

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