Newbie chicken owner

[Toast n Jelly]

 

[Sonya9]

Thank you everyone. I'll have tons of questions I'm sure of that as the days go on, I'm sure of that. The chickens are currently in my house, I hired someone to come over next week and build them a nice coop. I'm sure my 4 older birds will be excited to get outside.

If you are building a new coop take a moment and look at the Blackjack #57 thread, it is a roof sealer that works great on coop floors, seals all of the cracks etc...and is waterproof, not slippery, super easy to clean, and won't get mold/bugs under it like linoleum and other types of floor covering. If you decide to use it you want to put it on the floor while it is new and clean (and not after 6 months of bird poop have dried onto the floor). I am sure you have similar products in Canada, I believe you can also buy the stuff in white.

Another awesome thing for the coop is a poop shelf under the perches with a little PDZ in it, makes cleaning up a breeze! Just scoop the poop every day or two (takes literally seconds) and your coop stays SO MUCH cleaner with no ammonia smell. That is especially important if you have cold winters and the birds are stuck in the coop a lot.

Here are the links, I had a coop built a few months ago and these two things made a huge difference!

PDZ thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/707861/sweet-pdz

Blackjack thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/895612/blackjack-57-question

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Yes, I agree with Drumstick Diva. Sometimes the shipping is just too much for the little chicks. I am so sorry for your losses.

But it sounds like you picked out some nice breeds! I hope they bring you great joy.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

Sorry to hear about the loss of the chicks! I hope the others stay healthy!

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

Feel free to ask lots of questions! We're all here to help.

I'm sorry for the loss of your chick.

 

[TerryTT]

Thank you everyone for the greetings and advice. It appears the dying has finally stopped. I lost 6 of 23. The rest are thriving. One, which seems to have taken on the alpha bird role (it's a Japanese bantam) rules the brooder, it'll wait till they are all asleep and then wake them all back up is it's not tired by intentionally walking on their heads.

Some developed pasty butt but I managed to get that under control. I read on another thread about a nutri- grow (I'm sure I named that wrong) product, I purchased some on Ebay so I will be prepared for my Spring shipment.

I'll also make sure the carpenter makes the suggested additions to the coop.

I do have one other question. When do you need to order with McMurray in order to get the Phoenix and other quickly sold out breeds?

 

[jtn42248]

Thank you everyone for the greetings and advice. It appears the dying has finally stopped. I lost 6 of 23. The rest are thriving. One, which seems to have taken on the alpha bird role (it's a Japanese bantam) rules the brooder, it'll wait till they are all asleep and then wake them all back up is it's not tired by intentionally walking on their heads.

Some developed pasty butt but I managed to get that under control. I read on another thread about a nutri- grow (I'm sure I named that wrong) product, I purchased some on Ebay so I will be prepared for my Spring shipment.

I'll also make sure the carpenter makes the suggested additions to the coop.

I do have one other question. When do you need to order with McMurray in order to get the Phoenix and other quickly sold out breeds?

I am pretty sure that Murray McMurray offers a "in stock notification" sort of waiting list for out of stock birds. As I recall they have a link to it on the individual bird pages once the breed is sold out.

You may already know this but keep in mind that breeds like the Phoenix need special consideration when planning their housing. If you intend to get the males which develop the beautiful long tail feathers you need to plan on having higher than usual roost to accommodate the extra feather length. Also, if you have other birds around they will sometimes pick at the feathers of the long tailed birds.

A belated welcome to BYC. You will probably find this to be your one-stop-shop for all the information you will ever need in raising and caring for your flock. I also am sorry for the losses you had with your chicks but keep in mind that, on top of the stress of shipping that some of them just can't handle, there is also the probability that some of those chicks would not have made it in the "real" world situation of being raised by a hen. Like someone said, it is survival of the fittest.

Best of luck to you.

 

[gander007]

 

[blkjak]

Welcome to a fellow Canadian. I have silkies also. I cannot say enough of about the breed. They are fabulous creatures. We just built a covered run for ours today (lots of predators here mostly our own cats). They all loved it. You have picked some really good breeds.

 

[TerryTT]

Thanks! I first attempted to buy my birds locally, but didn't have a whole lot of luck getting a good mix of breeds. I'm not sure if it's like that in your area, but here in New Brunswick it pickings is slim. I'm glad I found McMurray hatchery, hopefully I'll have a good amount of hens from the group I got from then.