Slightly panicked: Starting to build our Coop...just got 13 Chicks!!!

[Quickdraw McGraw]

I have a brooder that I just moved our 3 week olds out of. You’re welcome to use it. It’s a crate about 3 1/2’ x 2 1/2’ with 3’ sides.

 

[Double Yolked]

LOL late to the party here but you are doing exactly what I did the first time I got chicks. I'd dithered too long, should I, shouldn't I, what kind, and so on. So, my husband brought home 8 chicks... Surprise!! So we spent a frantic week desperately building a small coop by hand. We were working in the garage building it and a local cop stops and asks us some questions regarding a recent break in at the community center across the way from us and he's staring at that mostly finished coop. I was chattering about "the girls can't get out of that easily" and his odd looks hit me... "er Office? The girls are eight baby chicks we just got, wanna see?" He grinned the biggest grin and said "No ma'am I don't have time, but thank you for telling me." There had been a recent nasty case of child abuse not far away and I guess small weird looking outside locking buildings set off alarm bells.

 

[Foxinthehenhouse]

I put a piece of screen over the top of mine and that keeps them in. I would think they would be alright in the brooder for six weeks, might get a little crowded but it won’t be long before they can run free. Good luck!

 

[Tango Charlie]

Ha! You're me!! (Well... more specifically your husband is me.) We got 8 birds from TSC, armed with a fair bit of research, and zero experience. After only a couple weeks, they outgrew the bins, so I ended up building a makeshift 'run' in the garage, by putting a piece of plywood down, adding 4 corner posts and a top rail, (to keep them from falling inward), and running 2' of chicken wire around it. I spread a bail of shavings on the floor, added their lamp, feeder and water. Viola. It was terrible construction, but it was a secure 4x8 area, while the main coop got built. Good luck!

 

[Pete Yo]

I'd build the walls, finish the run and put a few things in for them to roost on. You can finish the final details when they are in there. By the way, TSC sells Easter eggers (still great birds) so you can get either green, blue or pink/brown eggs from them. You will like the personality and egg production from the golden sex links. I have one GSL left and Feather Locklear is just as funny as when I got her 6 years ago.

 

[reddogmaster2]

Yes, we know this is bass-ackwards; we got the cart before the horse or the chicks before the coop. Whatever. But Friday afternoon we brought home from Tractor Supply, 13 two-weekish old chicks and set them up all happy in the brooder (4 x 2.5 ft metal trough). Oh are they hilarious to watch. Such personalities!

We had watched a gazillion videos on coop building and read as many articles, so we have been developing and planning for about 7-9 months. Dear Hubby is an engineer, so he does a lot more planning and thinking and planning and thinking before picking up a hammer and saw. We purchased lots of lumber and OSBs. And more saws and tools. We have the initial coop frame in placed, leveled and ready for the build. Now we are MOTIVATED.

Coop will be 8 x 8, with a 8 x 20 foot run. We live in the country on a 20 acre farm (no livestock), so space and zoning is not an issue.

We figure we have about 6 weeks before we NEED to get them into the coop, even if still in the brooder within the coop. Maybe that's not an accurate guesstimate. ??One concern I have -- will 13 chicks outgrow the brooder before 6 weeks is up? I'm thinking yes. They're already very active, flap around, and cuddle a lot, but I know they grow fast. I could see them growing so fast they'll need to be separated or something before the coop's ready. We might have to make a 2nd makeshift brooder. I don't know what do you think? All pullets allegedly.
We have:

• 1 Rhode Island Red
• 1 Production Red (similar to RI Red? Not sure)
• 2 Amauracanas
• 3 CA white leghorns
• 3 Isa Browns
• 3 Golden Sexlinks (cross of Golden Campine? Not sure)

So that's our little flock. They are adorable, of course. Funny as heck. Hopefully I can attach some pix. Thoughts? Advice? Back in May I introduced myself as a newby in KY, new farm owners & retirees, with hopes and dreams of getting chickens. And here we are.

Can you post more pics of the Coop Build Project? I'm a bit concerned about you using 2x4's as the corner posts for your Coop. Can't tell from the pic, but are they Pressure Treated 2x4's?

 

[WildTurkeyDoctors]

We ran into similar issue. Brought home 8 chicks and had already starting building a coop that was cleaning going to be way to small. Lol Our chicks grew out of their brooder (large rabbit cage) by four weeks. We started putting them in a puppy pin with cardboard around it so they couldn’t get threw the slots and covered the top with old window screens and that worked fine till the mini coop was ready the that worked fine till the 7x7 coop/20x20 run was ready when they were six weeks old.

 

[Kcjohnso83]

I love our ameraucanas. They are a nice breed. Good eggs. We had 6 ameraucanas for quite awhile and I added 12 chicks this spring, not thinking of the repercussions to our existing house and run. So, with 10 sq ft of run per chicken and 4 sq ft of chicken house needed, we scrambled. Our 8x12’ run had an additional 96 sq ft added and we lowered a floor and added exterior nesting boxes to our house.

I would say to make sure your chickens have a lot to do. We added a platform with ladders on either side with a swing and veggie ball, a java tree (that was from our parrot stand)-with another veggie ball, a grass box, a bird bath, a tire for dirt baths, a chicken pecking block, a tree stump, and perches around the run. I planted a taller yew shrub in the pen and for the most part they leave it alone. Also, we got some treat balls. Great fun to watch!

There are some very good ideas out there. I found some on YouTube. This is also a great forum with very helpful chicken parents. Keep your engineer husband busy. My husband has been very busy changing and expanding things for our girls.

One thought, when choosing chickens this time around I looked for gentle breeds (Cochins, Polish, Buckeye, Maran, and more Ameraucanas) as we had one chicken that kept getting picked on. Bluekote helped. Some of your breeds are more aggressive than others so your pecking order will require a lot of things to keep them entertained. My husband put in 4x4s, spaced about 1’ from the edge, to give the younger chickens places to run and hide, as well.

 

[Kellow1]

Yes, we know this is bass-ackwards; we got the cart before the horse or the chicks before the coop. Whatever. But Friday afternoon we brought home from Tractor Supply, 13 two-weekish old chicks and set them up all happy in the brooder (4 x 2.5 ft metal trough). Oh are they hilarious to watch. Such personalities!

We had watched a gazillion videos on coop building and read as many articles, so we have been developing and planning for about 7-9 months. Dear Hubby is an engineer, so he does a lot more planning and thinking and planning and thinking before picking up a hammer and saw. We purchased lots of lumber and OSBs. And more saws and tools. We have the initial coop frame in placed, leveled and ready for the build. Now we are MOTIVATED.

Coop will be 8 x 8, with a 8 x 20 foot run. We live in the country on a 20 acre farm (no livestock), so space and zoning is not an issue.

We figure we have about 6 weeks before we NEED to get them into the coop, even if still in the brooder within the coop. Maybe that's not an accurate guesstimate. ??One concern I have -- will 13 chicks outgrow the brooder before 6 weeks is up? I'm thinking yes. They're already very active, flap around, and cuddle a lot, but I know they grow fast. I could see them growing so fast they'll need to be separated or something before the coop's ready. We might have to make a 2nd makeshift brooder. I don't know what do you think? All pullets allegedly.
We have:

• 1 Rhode Island Red
• 1 Production Red (similar to RI Red? Not sure)
• 2 Amauracanas
• 3 CA white leghorns
• 3 Isa Browns
• 3 Golden Sexlinks (cross of Golden Campine? Not sure)

So that's our little flock. They are adorable, of course. Funny as heck. Hopefully I can attach some pix. Thoughts? Advice? Back in May I introduced myself as a newby in KY, new farm owners & retirees, with hopes and dreams of getting chickens. And here we are.

Most likely you have 2 Easter Eggers which will give you some beautifully colored eggs. Depending on the size of the brooder, they will be fine if you put a wire over it to keep them in. Good luck.

 

[Kellow1]

Most likely you have 2 Easter Eggers which will give you some beautifully colored eggs. Depending on the size of the brooder, they will be fine if you put a wire over it to keep them in. Good luck.

P.S. That brooder is NOT big enough so plan on changing it to something bigger very soon. That can even be a large cardboard box like appliances come in.