One piece of advice for a newbie?

[Elbent]

Welcome home to these lovely ladies! I just adopted them a few hours ago from my friend who can’t take care of them anymore. There are nine of them and they are already laying. I’m a new chicken mom so - what’s your best piece of advice for a newbie? Any tips or tricks you didn’t think of before getting chooks? Thanks!

 

[Prince and Pavo]

Hello, and welcome to the BYC community! We’re so glad you joined!

They are pretty! You are going to absolutely love keeping backyard chickens! Congratulations on your first girls!

I don’t necessarily have any game-changing tips or advice for you at the moment (except to keep them off of your porch; they poop everywhere! ), but if you have any questions you can always create a thread or look it up to see if anyone has already made one on the subject. You’re sure to find good information and lots of friendly, experienced people!

Thanks again for joining! I hope we’ll get to run into each other on some other threads as well!

 

[aart]

what’s your best piece of advice for a newbie?

Right off the bat, you need a much larger coop.

 

[RoyalChick]

Build a coop at least twice as big as you think you need.
If the coop in your picture is the only coop you will need to do that ASAP as that is way too small even if your ladies free range all day year-round.

 

[tripletfeb]

Right off the bat, you need a much larger coop.

Build a coop at least twice as big as you think you need.
If the coop in your picture is the only coop you will need to do that ASAP as that is way too small even if your ladies free range all day year-round.

X3. A much bigger coop should be your first priority. With lots of ventilation. Look through the site for articles on how to build a bigger coop, there are lots of good ones. And welcome to BYC!

Article 'How Much Room Do Chickens Need?' https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-much-room-do-chickens-need.66180/

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

My initial thought was that you need a bigger coop for that amount of birds, but others have already commented that.

Besides that, welcome to BYC! I think it adopting a flock of adult hens, it is wise to give them each a little inspection. Pick them up, check under their feathers and near the vent for lice or mites, check the bottoms of their feet for bumblefoot, make sure their eyes and nose are clear and not crusty or anything. There are articles ("articles" section on BYC) on all of these things here to help you, so you've come to the right place. Also, check the legs for any leg bands that may have been put on when they were younger and are now embedded. I took in some adult hens and it took a really long time to realize the one's limping was caused by an embedded leg band that was way up at the base of the leg where I couldn't see it. Slim chance that your chickens have that but things like that are why it's good to give each chicken a little inspection.

Now for the fun stuff! The way to a chicken's heart is through food. Find out what your girls' favorite snack is, and you can use that to help you gain their trust and bond with them. It's also just fun to watch them go crazy over different foods. Just make sure the treats are safe for chickens, and make sure treats don't make up more than 10% of their diet (will cause health issues, just like in us humans).

 

[Alagirl]

You might need a predator proof run. I have a hawk in my area and my ladies have a steel run with protection from above.

I am assuming your friend gave you instructions and supplies, so I am only adding this:
I give my girls mealworms in the evening. just a small handful, at bedtime.
This way they associate evening time with snack time and it is easier to get them contained.
I was glad I did, as one time I didn't latch the door correctly, and they went exploring the yard (remember, hawk!) so I ran out, grabbed the worms and they came running!

and keep a system with your eggs, 9 hens is a lot, depending on your family. They add up quickly! That is actually the biggest advice I can give you. Get the eggs organized.
They tell you a lot about your hens as well.


well ok, I think I lied.
I actually have 8 points of advice.
I wrote them down a couple of weeks ago:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/first-year-summary.1577969/

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Don't over think or stress over every little detail. If you're unsure about something jump on here and folks with years of experience will get you through it.

 

[Henschickspups]

You might need a predator proof run. I have a hawk in my area and my ladies have a steel run with protection from above.

I am assuming your friend gave you instructions and supplies, so I am only adding this:
I give my girls mealworms in the evening. just a small handful, at bedtime.
This way they associate evening time with snack time and it is easier to get them contained.
I was glad I did, as one time I didn't latch the door correctly, and they went exploring the yard (remember, hawk!) so I ran out, grabbed the worms and they came running!

and keep a system with your eggs, 9 hens is a lot, depending on your family. They add up quickly! That is actually the biggest advice I can give you. Get the eggs organized.
They tell you a lot about your hens as well.


well ok, I think I lied.
I actually have 8 points of advice.
I wrote them down a couple of weeks ago:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/first-year-summary.1577969/

X2 on the egg advice. We only have three laying right now, and wow. It really hughlighted the actual egg consumption of my family.

 

[drangle]

something I am still working on is the mindset of keeping chickens. You don’t have 9 chickens. You have a flock of chickens.

This means removing troubled individuals for the long term betterment of the flock.