Over whelmed

[starkweather]

So my darling boyfriend decided to get me six baby chicks from the tractor supply for Easter. It was a very sweet surprise, but a bit overwhelming. I've never rasied chickens before and there is a lot i dont know. I've looked online and there is soooooo much information and a lot of it is conflicting.. so I thought I'd try asking people. I have a container with a heating lamp set up. I keep food an water in their cage all the time and i clean it out twice a day. ( wow they can poop) I'm wondering if i'm over feeding them? I handle them when I clean out their cage should i be handling them more or less? I'm not sure how old they are, all but two have tail feathers and I'm not sure how large they have to be before I stick the in a coop. any help you could give would be great, Thanks

 

[ChickDrmr]

Here's a good quick and easy guide to baby chicks. http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-care/chapter-4-caring-for-baby-chicks.aspx
This is where I bought my chicks from and so far, so good.
I've also read "Raising Chickens for Dummies" Lots of info in there.

I'm new at this too but I've been planning for a year, so I can imagine you're a little stressed out. I only have two days of experience but I wanted to ease your mind asap since I didn't see any other posts.
If your brooder is the right size, once a week cleaning should be sufficient.
I've been making sure to wash my hands before and after as to not get the chicks or myself sick.
Watch out for pasty butt. But if your chicks have tail feathers, they're probably past that stage.
Make sure the water stays clean (if a few pine chips get in I wouldn't clean it right away, but if you see poop in it go ahead and change it)
Let them eat as much as they want, keep the feeder full.
Talk to the chicks when you come to greet them and having some food in your hand to offer up let's them know that you're there to care for them. I do this everytime and I've only had them for two days. They already perk up and come over to me when I talk to them. Handle them as much as they'll let you, as long as they don't seem too scared.
I don't know where you live at or what kind of coop set up you have, so that may determine when they go outside. Everything I've read says as early as 4-6 weeks as long as there are the right conditions outside.

Oh, and enjoy them while they're little, they grow fast! Congrats on your new peeps!

 

[Keltara]

Hi Starkweather

Handle your chicks as much as possible. The more you handle them, the friendlier they will be. Always have food and water available. They won't over eat. They will just eat what they need. Keep your heat lamp on one side of your brooder so that they can move away from it if they get too hot. If you find that they are doing this often (getting out from under the light), then they are too hot and you need to raise up the heat lamp. Put your food and water on the opposite side of the box from where the heat lamp is. This way the water will not get hot. As far as how soon to put them in their coop, that all depends on where you live and what your temperatures are at night. If you give me that information, I can better give you information. If you want to determine how old they are, visit my blog post which shows how quickly they grow. It will help you. It's going to be just fine. It's good that you found BYC. There is a wealth of information on this site. Typically when your hens are fully feathered, they'll be okay in the coop. That is usually around 6 or 7 weeks.

Enjoy!​

Kelly

✿​

Our Country Chronicles

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[mountainlover]

Oh wow I love your blog page, it's adorable!! And your girls are beautiful! I have 2 precious girls too! But also 3 boys! Can you tell me when I can put my chickies outside? I live in Colorado and they are about a week and a half old. Then I can tell my husband when to have the coop ready. Thanks! I hope no one minds my butting in!

 

[Keltara]

Oh wow I love your blog page, it's adorable!! And your girls are beautiful! I have 2 precious girls too! But also 3 boys! Can you tell me when I can put my chickies outside? I live in Colorado and they are about a week and a half old. Then I can tell my husband when to have the coop ready. Thanks! I hope no one minds my butting in!

Hi Mountainlover
First off, thank you! I do feel blessed with my girls. My oldest is an InVitro miracle, and my baby is just a miracle all in her own right because I did not need any intervention to conceive her!

You are lucky to have 5 kids. I always wanted a big family (I'm the last of 7), but I am very grateful for my 2. As far as your chickens are concerned, feel free to put them in the coop once they are pretty well feathered out. Usually around 6 or 7 weeks. If your nights are chilly, you can still put them out, but give them a heat source at night until it warms up. Believe me that by 5 weeks, you are going to be REALLY wanting to get those babies out of the house!! Tell your husband that it will take longer than he "thinks" to build your coop. It ALWAYS does. Check out my coop management post for some good ideas for your coop. When I had my husband build mine, I did a lot of research on coop styles here on BYC and I took all the features that I thought were most practical, and combined them into my set up, and I love it! Notice how and why I had him make all the roosting poles the way he did. The reasoning will apply to your climate as it did for mine. The only thing that I would have changed, is that I would have used 1/2" hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. But hubby wasn't willing to spend the extra money. What he did do is wonderful though. The cost of my coop and run was approximately $200.

 

[mountainlover]

Omgoodness I love the coop! And bless your heart I hope you're feeling better! My girls are miracles too but I won't go in to why. But I LOVE your coop. How many hens could live there comfortable? I went and got more chicks than I should have, 6, and I know I'm going to need more space. I wish my husband would build one like yours but I think he's afraid, so we are buying one custom made which is about 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 and 4 feet tall about. Then my husband is going to build the run. We will have to use hardware cloth because we have fox, raccoon, bobcat, bear, etc! I am totally doing the sand idea! I hate pine shavings. We use them for rabbit and in brooder and they bother my chest.

 

[Keltara]

Omgoodness I love the coop! And bless your heart I hope you're feeling better! My girls are miracles too but I won't go in to why. But I LOVE your coop. How many hens could live there comfortable? I went and got more chicks than I should have, 6, and I know I'm going to need more space. I wish my husband would build one like yours but I think he's afraid, so we are buying one custom made which is about 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 and 4 feet tall about. Then my husband is going to build the run. We will have to use hardware cloth because we have fox, raccoon, bobcat, bear, etc! I am totally doing the sand idea! I hate pine shavings. We use them for rabbit and in brooder and they bother my chest.

I'll pm you.

 

[sweets3068]

Thanks so much for the link. I found some really great information there.

 

[Keltara]

Thanks so much for the link. I found some really great information there.

You're welcome!

 

[CluckyCluck]

I love love loveddddd your blog.