Raising Chickens to Hens for the first time! (Maryland)

[Ryn2011]

My coop outside and run will be good to go I have that figured out it's the inside before then I need to lock in. So you keep those 6 week olds inside at night in the watermelon container with wire over top?

I didn't use wire over the top. They never expressed an interest in trying to escape so I left it uncovered. I kept them in our garage so there were no predators and if they did try to escape they didn't have anywhere to go.

If I would have kept them in the house I would have used wire on top because I have two cats and two ferrets. I probably would have also kept them in a room where the cats cannot get in.

 

[Living_Legend]

I didn't use wire over the top. They never expressed an interest in trying to escape so I left it uncovered. I kept them in our garage so there were no predators and if they did try to escape they didn't have anywhere to go.

If I would have kept them in the house I would have used wire on top because I have two cats and two ferrets. I probably would have also kept them in a room where the cats cannot get in.

Nice they'll be indoors in their own private room with the door that shuts and no house pets to bother them so even if they did Escape they would still be in a large room with nothing else in it thanks for all your help

 

[Ryn2011]

You are very welcome!

 

[aart]

I am going to take them outside here and there but I read that they shouldn't go outside into the coop until six to eight weeks

I would not want chicks in the house for 6-8 weeks, you might have to give them(or they will just take) that whole room by then.....the stink and dust will be significant. Depending on how you manage your heat, and what you use for heat, you can have them outside by 4 weeks....or sooner.

I use this for heat........and put them outside a week or so after hatch.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm careful indoors, and in my garage, because I have dogs and cats, and who knows what can get into the garage!
Mary

 

[bruceha2000]

I will chime in with my opinions:

1. Don't build a raised coop, build one you can walk into as @lazy gardener suggested some pages back. It is easier to build, easier to maintain and there will be more head room for higher roosts. All mine roost at 4'. You have plenty of land, no need to use space under the coop for additional run space. And since you do have that space, I would make the building big enough to have weatherproof storage for feed, oyster shell, treats. Lots nicer than having to carry it down from the house daily or worry about critters getting into it. I keep my feed in 10 gallon metal cans with lids and bails. 1 can holds a 50# bag of feed.
2. I have a pullet shut auto door (https://chickendoors.com/) which uses a photo cell to determine when the door should open and close based on light from the sun coming up and going down. The hens have decided it is time to roost before the door "decides" it is dark. No need to change a timer as the hours of daylight change or the ^&*! daylight "saving" time changes happen.
3. Since you want to be able to leave them for a weekend, make sure the run is predator proof covered as well as predator proof sides and skirting. Nasties like coons and possums do NOT only come around after dark.
4. When you read the word "staples" it does NOT mean staple gun type staples, it means fence/poultry staples. A U shaped double pointed NAIL. You can use a staple gun to position the 1/2" hardware cloth (which will cover ALL openings but the pop door opening) prior to using poultry staples. They are a bear to get out once you've pounded them in. 2 other methods of attaching hardware cloth are wood strips or screws with fender washers (this gets expensive).
5. My coop is a converted horse stall in an old barn. It has a dirt floor. I have 1/2" hardware cloth covering the floor and rubber horse mats on top of the HW cloth. One value of this setup is there is no need to figure out how to waterproof the floor as would be needed with a wood floor. I don't use true deep litter (which is more like a compost pile than anything else) but have several inches of pine shavings on the mats. I rake through it under the roosts every morning, change it maybe once a year by raking it out into the barn alley (also dirt floor).
6. Order the chicks to come the end of April (in your area).
7. Other than the first couple of days, brood them out in the coop you finished before the chicks arrived. Chicks do NOT need to be fully feathered to go outside, they need to be fully feathered to go outside WITHOUT supplemental heat. Since you have no other chickens yet, there isn't even a reason to create a brooder space for them in the coop (that can be done when you get more chicks in a couple of years). Give them the full coop. It will be less stressful on them than dumping them out there when they are fully feathered at 4+ weeks.
8. Just say NO to heat lamps and read through @Blooie's MHP brooder thread then make yourself one. It is easy and as close to natural as a human can get. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/ Biggest benefits: Natural day/night cycles. Ability to go to the heat when they want it and get away from it when they don't need it. Look at the pictures below and understand that the whole "chicks need 24x7 95°F for a week, then 90°F for a week ..." is pure BS. No hen provides an ambient temp for the chicks except under her wings.
9. When you look at chicken breeds, pay attention to the GENERAL broodiness of each one you are interested in. Without a rooster, or without a desire to hatch eggs, a broody hen is a PITA. Those eggs you want? A hen that has gone broody won't lay any until you break her and then it might be 5-7 days before she starts up again. Of course even breeds that are supposed to be non broody can be. One of my 2012 Black Australorps (not normally a real broody breed like the Orpingtons for example) raised the 2015 and eventually the 2017 chicks. She goes broody a couple of times a year.
10. Also pay attention to the lay rate. If you want eggs, skip the poor laying breeds no matter how pretty they are.
11. A mixed flock? Yep, look at my signature I like that I can tell the birds apart and I like the visual variety. It also helps to be able to tell which birds are laying since the eggs will be somewhat different colors and sizes. I do have colored leg bands on them so members of the family can tell them apart. I spend enough time with them that I know all 17 by sight and most of them by "voice".
12. I do not get my birds from a local farm store. Sure they probably come in sexed but plenty of places aren't real careful to make sure they stay in their sexed pens. People pick them up and put them down but not necessarily where they were originally. Might not even be put back in the right breed pen. Even mail order hatcheries only guarantee 90% accuracy. I got 12 girls in 2012, 7 in 2015 and 6 plus a Barnevelder cockerel in 2017. Meyer did make good on the purchase price of the cockerel, but I still had an unwanted male.

I'm sure there are many things I forgot but for now I will show a couple of examples of why it is PERFECTLY FINE to have young birds outside before they are fully feathered because they have that "supplemental heat" accessible 24x7.

Zorra June 12, 2015 - chicks 4 days old. The historical average temp for this day is 75°/45°, the barn is NOT heated. See those chicks NOT under their heat???


Chicks 12 days old, again not hiding under the heat


Zorra was not interested in the 2017 chicks until they were 3 weeks old so they raised themselves with a MHP cave. When she did take an interest it was not as a heater but a
"mentor" and protector. Somehow I managed to take no pictures from the day after they arrived until they were a month old!

Here they are in the brooder area in the coop with their MHP cave at 1 month:


And note the temperature in the barn at that time. OMG they should have 80°F temps 24x7 at that age, they are gonna DIE :


Here they are outside, they took themselves there by 2 weeks old before Zorra was interested in them (they are a month old here):


And note that the Exchequer Leghorns were slow to feather out compared to some of the others:

 

[lazy gardener]

WHAT BRUCE SAID!!!!!

 

[Blooie]

What @lazy gardener said about what @bruceha2000 said!

 

[Folly's place]

x3! Mary

 

[aliciaplus3]

this is my indoor brooder it has a wire top that we keep closed.

here it is with babies in it. My husband found a glass display case at a second hand store and we layed it down on its front so that it is about 18 inches tall. You can see that I use a heat lamp thru the top and a heating pad inside, right now it looks kindof dirty cuz the front glass needs cleaning and I have towels on top to keep the heat in. Right now there is 22 babies in there from a week to two and a half weeks old.
My first chicks I had a round protein tub that I used it was only about 18 inches tall and 20ish inches across, but we placed hardware cloth over it after about 2 weeks so they didn't escape.
I have also used a 30 gal oval water trough with success. Luckily I never had to worry about indoor pets so the cover was only to keep the babies in.