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Sharon Bush

In the Brooder
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Hi, I am Sharon from Virginia. I have always loved chickens. I just love watching them walk around ..hear them talk ...This past May, I bought 5 baby chicks, 2 or 3 order than the others because they had feathers and were larger. They are all hens. So my husband and I ordered a chicken coop, really cute one ..not built quite as sturdy as I would have hoped ...so he reinforced the wire on everything ...Once it was built and they were old enough, in they went and they were just so excited! SPACE!! Of course, they, being Rhode Island Reds, it did not take long before it was evident that the lttle run that came with the coop was not going to be big enough for 5 hens ...so he lengthened it ...and THAT got too small ...so he then built a 10X10, maybe a tad larger, run with a roof..They are much happier now ..WE just taught them to eat out of the feeder, where they have to stick their heads it ..it keeps out poop and dirt ...and we taught them to get water from a nipple waterer which keeps dirt and poop out of their water and does not hve to be changed every day! They are not all laying every day though and that puzzles me ..I think I might be giving them too many treats ..is there a treat that they should be given EVERY day or should i just let them eat their layer crumbles?
 
Hello and welcome to BYC. I agree with Kiki - it's best to cut out the treats altogether and see how they do.

Here’s a link to the Articles section - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ There you’ll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs.

There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. 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.

Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread#post_3239224

All the best

Pork Pie
 
Welcome!
Chickens are fun to have and they pay their rent with eggs! So yea...great to have around. We throw ours about a hand full of scratch a day, outside of that, just layer feed. We let ours out a few hours a day to free range as well. However, we don't let them free range if they are new to us, at least for a few weeks, just to ensure they know and trust their coop.
 
Welcome to BYC!

Unfortunately, commercial coops vastly inflate the number of chickens that a coop/run can comfortably hold. They use crowded commercial chicken numbers for spacing while most hobby chicken owners prefer to provide more space. My 8-chicken coop/run from Tractor Supply is barely okay for three. That, pricing and flimsy construction are why I will never buy another commercial coop again. Fortunately, there is both a forum area and a section of articles specifically covering coops that are excellent resources for building your own.
 
How old are your girls? I treat my birds every day but I often give scratch and peck feed or pigeon feed. It's just food but different than their regular stuff and they love to scratch around in the yard.
Treats should only be about 10% of their daily feed if I recall correctly.
Shorter days could be affecting production.
 
RollTideChicken said:
Welcome!
Chickens are fun to have and they pay their rent with eggs! So yea...great to have around. We throw ours about a hand full of scratch a day, outside of that, just layer feed. We let ours out a few hours a day to free range as well. However, we don't let them free range if they are new to us, at least for a few weeks, just to ensure they know and trust their coop.
Click to expand...
 
Hey Sharon, glad you're enjoying your little flock. general recommendation for back yard flock is 4 s.f. of open space in coop per bird, and 10 s.f. in run per bird. Depending on they layout of your little coop, perhaps you could easily expand the space in there as well. As for treats: many flock owners give too many b/c it's fun to see the birds enjoy them. Too many treats often = low protein diet, high fat diet which can lead to behavioral problems as well as obesity. The bird develops a lot of visceral fat which can lead to reproductive issues. I limit my birds treats to a few extra garden veggies, all the weeds and insects they can glean from my yard. I save scratch for the times i need to call them back into their run. My flock gets fermented feed.
 
I want to let mine free range for a few hours when I get home, but I am afraid of hawks. There are two hawks, I call them Hannah and Hank...and they fly around our yard often just looking. There are no shrubs near their chicken coop, so I am just afraid the hawks might get them. Am I worrying for nothing? They are pretty big hens now.. 4 of them are about 22 to 24 weeks and the other is close to that ...so their size is about as big as they are going to get ..
 

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