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Mommato6chicks

Mommato6chicks

Chirping
Oct 23, 2017
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Hello everyone! Am new to this site and hopefully will learn a bit about my chickens. I have 6 chicks, Precious, Bonnie, Betty, Patty, Goldie, and Angel. Angel is the escape artist. She escapes out of the run whenever she can, Precious is a little timid but I believe is the boss, Betty can be a mean little bugger, pecked at my eye once when I didn't have my glasses on (that hurt and had to go to the doctor) and she chases the others whenever they get a little close to her sometimes. Bonnie does not like to be held anymore she would rather not have anything to do with you if she can't help it, other than food. Patty is a pretty girl will let you hold her and she is pretty calm. Goldie is a shy one, she also does not want anything to do with me . They live in a dog Kennel with their cope inside the Kennel, double the protection from predators.

I guess my question would be is it okay to given them regular bird suet cakes to fatten them up and keep them warm. Also it rained most of the day and were out in it other than to eat and go to bed. They look like drowned little rats, LOL. Will them being wet and going to bed hurt them and should I put heat in their cope? I am at a loss as what to do with them during the winter months. The are supposed to be cold hardy but they are my babies and I don't want anything to happen to them. Help please!
 
I have 7 chickens and they are free range. I live where it rains a lot and they get wet a lot and it don't seem to hurt them one bit. If it rains too hard just put them to bed. mine will just come to the car port. their names are Sparky, Sugar, Midnight, Bon Bon, Jasmine, Ebony, and Roxy. :)
 
G’Day from down under Mommato6chicks :frow Welcome!

Living in a tropical part of Aus, we experience days of torrential rain and my gals do not do ‘get wet’ :p Their run is covered but if the rain is coming in from the side at all, they retreat to the coop. Some chickens like rain, some do not.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello and also discuss what others are doing in your climate and how their chickens deal with it.

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.

Personally, I have found the Topic of the Week articles a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out ;)
 
:welcome

Personally, I don't give the wild bird suet cakes to my flock because those suet cakes are very high in fat. Here's a link to healthier treats from the Learning Center:
Chicken Treat Chart The Best Treats For Backyard Chickens

And as @rjohns3 said, keep the treats to a minimum otherwise your birds will avoid their nutritious feed and just fill up on the "junk food" (sort of like people, lol).

Best of luck to you!
 
N F C said:
:welcome

Personally, I don't give the wild bird suet cakes to my flock because those suet cakes are very high in fat. Here's a link to healthier treats from the Learning Center:
Chicken Treat Chart The Best Treats For Backyard Chickens

And as @rjohns3 said, keep the treats to a minimum otherwise your birds will avoid their nutritious feed and just fill up on the "junk food" (sort of like people, lol).

Best of luck to you!
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info. I have not given them any suet cakes but was wondering about them. I give them cracked corn in the late afternoons, but yesterday they wanted out of their cope so bad so they were in the rain until they went to bed. I worried about them all night, like a mother (LOL), hoping they would not catch a cold. I am sure they don't catch cold. We had a cousin stop by yesterday and said when he was growing up they never put a heat source in with the chickens and they survived. I have bails of straw in and other things around the kennel and we are going to put plastic up around it to keep the wind from getting in. I do hope that will be alright, husband is not a fan of heating up their space as it will cost too much. We are retired and are on a budget...he would rather be without eggs than to heat up the cope.
 
Mommato6chicks said:
Thank you for the info. I have not given them any suet cakes but was wondering about them. I give them cracked corn in the late afternoons, but yesterday they wanted out of their cope so bad so they were in the rain until they went to bed. I worried about them all night, like a mother (LOL), hoping they would not catch a cold. I am sure they don't catch cold. We had a cousin stop by yesterday and said when he was growing up they never put a heat source in with the chickens and they survived. I have bails of straw in and other things around the kennel and we are going to put plastic up around it to keep the wind from getting in. I do hope that will be alright, husband is not a fan of heating up their space as it will cost too much. We are retired and are on a budget...he would rather be without eggs than to heat up the cope.
Click to expand...

We don't get a lot of rain here in WY, but when we lived in FL rain was an almost daily occurrence...some of the chickens didn't mind getting wet and some stayed in the coop. Animals have personal preferences like people do.

I don't know if you said (maybe I forgot?) how old your chickens are, but if they are fully feathered they should not need supplemental heat in the coop. Especially not in the form of a heat lamp (almost every winter someone comes on here with a story about their coop burning down and the flock with it).

It sounds to me like you're doing fine the way things are!
 

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