Sigh.....confession

[Jaystace]

Soooo originally we were going to get six or 8 baby chickens. Well we mail ordered and the minimum was 15. Meh...no big deal I think. Ugh. Now I’m stressed, tired, excited and anxious. Our girls arrived May3rd and with both my husband and I working full time we just have a few hours a day and weekends if weather is good to work on coop. Run is almost finished. Didn’t really think that through having to build bigger space since we were getting more birds! Lol. About to start coop. I hope they dont start laying eggs in the temporary cage we have them in now! I’m so excited for it to be all finish but I’m also in a routine now they’ve been where they are for so long. Wish someone had told me....build the coop first!!! Haha. Husband is doing a great job on putting it all together, I’m paining and putting hardware cloth on. Well get there eventually. Just sharing!

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!
Yeah.....you're not the first.
That's an excellent run!
Nice coop plans too.
Hang in there!

Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Almost everyone learns AFTER the fact... build the coop first. If there's one piece of advice I could give prospective chicken keepers, that would be it. The little suckers grow so fast, and it's so much easier raising them outdoors than in the house!

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Almost everyone learns AFTER the fact... build the coop first. If there's one piece of advice I could give prospective chicken keepers, that would be it. The little suckers grow so fast, and it's so much easier raising them outdoors than in the house!

Like 100x

I had to put off so much other stuff around the house and yard to finish my coop and run. Save for a couple of days that I had help to do things that absolutely required two people, I did it by myself. I vastly underestimated how slow it goes alone.

OP: Hang in there, like others have said, a lot of us have been where you are now, and have made it through. Be sure to ask advice on areas that you might not be sure what is the best way. I was able to save time by getting advice here and seeing pictures of how others did some key pieces, and that really paid off.

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

I had my flock get used to living in two different places before they went into the coop, so you're will be fine. I also built my coop almost all by myself and it took me at least a month to get to the point I could actually put them inside.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Also keep in mind that you can make changes or add things later. Especially while chicks are little, a roof over their heads, some walls to block wind and rain, and a little run space is good enough. You can make a bigger run later, add egg boxes later, even roosts can wait a bit because they won't likely use them while they're very young.