Starting my very first flock

[hulabetty68]

I'm in Northen CA and we are wanting to buy some chicks and start a flock. Want to make sure that we do everything right to ensure success with the little ones. Question on the brooder - could you use a terrarium for the chicks? It sure would make life a bit easier. How many chicks should you get the first time? Anybody have helpful hints.....I would greatly appreciate them! Still checking out all the articles and boards!

 

[Shadrach]

Hello hulabetty68. Welcome to BYC.
What age chicks are you thinking of getting?

 

[hulabetty68]

Oh gosh, I'm not sure how old they are - they have them at my local Tractor Supply store

 

[lutherpug]

I'm in Northen CA and we are wanting to buy some chicks and start a flock. Want to make sure that we do everything right to ensure success with the little ones. Question on the brooder - could you use a terrarium for the chicks? It sure would make life a bit easier. How many chicks should you get the first time? Anybody have helpful hints.....I would greatly appreciate them! Still checking out all the articles and boards!

Hi and welcome to BYC! As far as a terrarium as a brooder..... it will really depend on how big it is, how many chicks you have, and how long they'll be in the brooder before being moved to a coop. Brooders don't have to be complicated-I brooded my last batch in a kiddie pool with disassembled cardboard boxes for "walls" with chicken wire over the top once they were big enough to fly out. My next batch will be brooded in a makeshift cardboard box container while we build a new coop. Baby chicks (likely less than a week old from TSC) grow *fast*. You will not want them in your house past 4-5 weeks old. As far as how many, it depends on how much room you can provide them in their coop and run space. Commonly quoted space requirements are 4sq ft per hen in the coop and an additional 10 sq ft of space per hen in the run. Personally, I find this to be good advice in general. Are there situations where more or less space make sense? Yes. But for most situations this is good advice-especially in smaller flocks of hens only.

My first flock was 6 chickens. My coop was 30 sq ft (5x6) and they had a 60 sq ft (6x10) enclosed run. They were allowed to free range in the yard each evening and most weekends. It worked out fairly well although more space would have certainly been better at times.

My advice would be keep it at a level where you can provide roomy and predator proof accommodations. Manufactured coops that you can buy at TSC (or similar) always overstate (by large margins) how many birds you can have. You don't want to be building your first coop with 2 week old chicks in your basement-don't ask how I know this

Take your time, have your coop ready, read up on predators and how to safeguard your chickens, and go from there. Good luck!

 

[hulabetty68]

Hi and welcome to BYC! As far as a terrarium as a brooder..... it will really depend on how big it is, how many chicks you have, and how long they'll be in the brooder before being moved to a coop. Brooders don't have to be complicated-I brooded my last batch in a kiddie pool with disassembled cardboard boxes for "walls" with chicken wire over the top once they were big enough to fly out. My next batch will be brooded in a makeshift cardboard box container while we build a new coop. Baby chicks (likely less than a week old from TSC) grow *fast*. You will not want them in your house past 4-5 weeks old. As far as how many, it depends on how much room you can provide them in their coop and run space. Commonly quoted space requirements are 4sq ft per hen in the coop and an additional 10 sq ft of space per hen in the run. Personally, I find this to be good advice in general. Are there situations where more or less space make sense? Yes. But for most situations this is good advice-especially in smaller flocks of hens only.

My first flock was 6 chickens. My coop was 30 sq ft (5x6) and they had a 60 sq ft (6x10) enclosed run. They were allowed to free range in the yard each evening and most weekends. It worked out fairly well although more space would have certainly been better at times.

My advice would be keep it at a level where you can provide roomy and predator proof accommodations. Manufactured coops that you can buy at TSC (or similar) always overstate (by large margins) how many birds you can have. You don't want to be building your first coop with 2 week old chicks in your basement-don't ask how I know this

Take your time, have your coop ready, read up on predators and how to safeguard your chickens, and go from there. Good luck!

Thank you so much for all the info! Another question for you - when the chicks are ready to go in the coop, what is the best safeguard for the winter to keep them warm? Do you have to have a light source, or could you insulate the coop? We are most likely going to build one so we can have it how we want, just want to make sure they will be dry and warm enough

 

[rosemarythyme]

As far as number of birds to start with, I would say 3 minimum, since that way if something happens to one, at least the other two still have a buddy to grow up with.

How large is your terrarium? My guess is it's probably not large enough to give chicks the space they'd need. My brooder is set up to give chicks about 2 sq ft per bird, but that's only for the first few weeks.

Since you're starting at the beginning, an easier way to brood is to simply brood the chicks inside the coop (which also forces you to build it ahead of time, a common mistake is to wait before building!) Look up threads on the "mama heating pad" for an easy way to brood chicks outside.

As far as heat source, you're in California? There's no need for additional heat past the first few weeks, even in the mountain regions. It simply doesn't get cold enough. The important thing for winter is to have good ventilation in the coop that isn't drafty - dry chickens are warm chickens, and even though it seems more reasonable to keep them all closed in, that leads to humidity and moisture which is what you don't want to have in a coop.

 

[Shadrach]

As far as number of birds to start with, I would say 3 minimum, since that way if something happens to one, at least the other two still have a buddy to grow up with.

How large is your terrarium? My guess is it's probably not large enough to give chicks the space they'd need. My brooder is set up to give chicks about 2 sq ft per bird, but that's only for the first few weeks.

Since you're starting at the beginning, an easier way to brood is to simply brood the chicks inside the coop (which also forces you to build it ahead of time, a common mistake is to wait before building!) Look up threads on the "mama heating pad" for an easy way to brood chicks outside.

As far as heat source, you're in California? There's no need for additional heat past the first few weeks, even in the mountain regions. It simply doesn't get cold enough. The important thing for winter is to have good ventilation in the coop that isn't drafty - dry chickens are warm chickens, and even though it seems more reasonable to keep them all closed in, that leads to humidity and moisture which is what you don't want to have in a coop.

Once your coop is built you'll know how many chickens you can house.
The amount of care and heat the chicks need will depend on their age.
Roughly. at 3 week to a month the chicks here are independent of their mother.
If the chicks you get are around this age they probably won't need any extra heat given the coop is well built and sensibly ventilated.
You don't need broody coops, heat lamps or light bulbs. They chicks will probably sleep in a wiggling squeaky pile anyway and this helps keep them warm.

 

[Rick M]

We started with 5 barred rock, we brooded them in a big metal bucket from a farm store. When they got a little too big for that we made a circle pen/brooder out of a small heavy square wire until they feathered out enough to go into the temporary prefab coup. The prefab coups are ok for a season or two at most until the start to fall apart. I just added a room Into our outbuilding and they have plenty of room and are completely safe from predators when they are in their coup, but not so much while they free range we found out yesterday.

 

[lutherpug]

You don't need any additional heat source in winter. I'm somewhere much colder than you are and my chickens have never needed anything. They were outside pecking around for treats last New Years when it was -11 outside. As others mentioned, you don't want your coop warm but you do want it dry and well ventilated. Make sure there is airflow in and out of the coop around the top so moisture can rise and leave. You can spend hours looking at coop builds here and it's a worthwhile endeavor. Since you'll be building your own, build it bigger than you think you'll need. You almost certainly will want to add new chickens and integration will be so much easier if you have more space than the minimums. Also, use hardware cloth to cover any openings. Chicken wire only keeps chickens in, it isn't a predator barrier. How exciting for you to be starting up! Good luck!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Do you have zoning restrictions about chicken numbers, roosters, and/ or where and what you can build your coop and run? Find out first!
Starting with four to six chicks is good, and buying locally at the feed store can work out well. Look at Henderson's breed chart, and feathersite, and the Livestock Conservancy sites at least, for breed ideas.
Brooding in your coop works very well. The best coop design is the Woods coop; wish I had one.
Otherwise, a walk-in shed building, modified with more windows and ventilation, works very well.
Build big, and predator proof, because chickens are on everyone's menu!
Mary