SUPER NEWBIE thinking about raising my own chickens for eggs and meat but I'm SO Confused!!!

[JT_KROL]

So your chicks are brooded outside from day one? If I understand you correctly as long as I have a brooding area in my coop and put a heat lamp out there I can keep them there while they grow (say six weeks or so)then when they are fully feathered I can start opening up the door for them to come out of the coop?

I am now only looking at 5 birds...from a nature perspective your belief that they feather up faster makes all the sense in the world and I like the idea of keeping them outside to start. Is it possible that they will "learn" or know where home is if you do this?

I'm not sure I completely understand how you are doing this, but I will look around at different coops to get an idea.

Thank you so much!!!
Joe

 

[JT_KROL]

Hi and Thanks!!!,

That is what I was thinking of with the run on the side of my house. I was going to build the fence about 6 feet high so I can walk around in it, covered (we have hawks,owl's {contrary to popular beliefe they do come out during the day to hunt esp if they have chicks to feed} the occasional eagle and crows LOTS of crows).

Why the electric fence? I was just going to use half inch square fence roll.

Joe

 

[JT_KROL]

I thought I might address your timing question. One advantage to ordering your chicks in February is that they'll be laying steadly before winter comes and they start slowing down. The dissadvantage is exactly what you just noted, that it will still be cold when they hit 6 weeks and you put them outside. The rule of thumb is that chicks start their first week in the brooder at 95 degrees and that you drop 5 degrees every week after that. (I purchased a little dimmer-switch or rheostat at Walmart for a few bucks that let me adjust the heat lamp really accuratly after having a hard time moving the heat lamp farther and farther from the chicks). Anyway, 6 weeks at 5 degrees a week means the temperature in your brooder is down to 65 degrees, and it is a big jump from 65 to whatever the nights are like in April where I am.

Yeah in my area mid march the daily highs will range from 21 to 37 deg F in the beginning of the month to 31 - 48 deg. F in the end of the month and those are the HIGHS. So maybe April to May delivery might be better.

I think chickens are pretty low maintenance. My routine is similar to Ridgerunners above, although I use a poop slide that slides the poop from the chickens on the roosts down into a bin that I dump in the compost pile about once a week.

I have been looking at coops that have an elevated coop to reduce the bending...I'm also planning on the kids helping out some but I am looking at making me bend as little as possible.

However, you should know that, at least in my experience, the first weeks with the babies can be a bit more labor intensive. During the first days you need to check them pretty regularly to make sure the temperature is in the right area, clean their food dishes and waterers (they poop and scratch their bedding into EVERYTHING), clean the bedding and check for pasty butt. If bending over and reaching down into a brooder on the floor to capture each chick who is firmly convinced that you are going to eat them will be hard on your joints, you might want to consider that in your brooder setup.

I am thinking of setting the brooding area on a table just for that reason...Probably in the basement. I Love dimmer switch idea and if we go ahead will probably steal that from you!!

Thank you again for your help!
Joe

 

[JT_KROL]

Cool!

 

[gryeyes]

I have about 50 chickens, 28 ducks, 3 turkeys and 2 geese. My coop is a transmorgrified old dilapidated 3-walled garage. I hired a contractor to build the fourth wall with the people door and a huge ventilation panel, install the auto pop door in the side of the structure (that's really simple, but he had to cut the hole in the wall so why not let him professionally install the door?) He built two huge ladder roosts, and later built the Kindergarten Pen inside the coop where I could brood chicks. He also ran the electricity and piped water to the coop, too.

(I also have an electronic pet door in the house for my two small dogs and the cat; they wear collars with "sonic" tags. The poultry wish they had those
tags too. I often see them peeking in through the clear panel trying to figure out how the house pets manage to get it to open for them.)

Of course they also tap at the French door glass to try to talk me into letting them in the house.

This morning ALL the water was frozen and it took forever to get water to run through the hose outside to fill the yard waterers. I broke the ice in the coop
auto-waterer for them and got rushed by thirsty birds.

In deference to Ridgerunner, whose posts I always appreciate, I must say I might have fibbed a little about weekly nest box fluffing.... Unless the shavings are mucky from recent mud coming in on chicken feet, I just top off the shavings. I replace the shavings after broody hens have hatched their chicks or some busy hen has decided to do major housekeeping herself and kicked most of it out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is my 3' x 6' brooder in the coop. They go in here as soon as they come out of the incubator. A broody hen raises them outside in all kinds of weather. She does not warm up the entire outdoors, just the part of it under her belly. She can lead them out of a direct breeze so they don't chill too easily.

Only one end of this brooder has heat. It has decent ventilation so the rest can cool down pretty well and not overheat. It does have a good draft guard to keep breezes off them. Why wouldn’t it work?

I can’t raise incubator-hatched chicks in my coop. I have to use a brooder. The older chickens would kill them. Broody-hatched chicks have a Mama to protect them. I don’t know what your coop will wind up looking like, but if you can keep one end warm, ventilate it enough so the rest cools off, and can keep direct wind off them I don’t see why you can’t raise your first batch in the coop itself. Then when you open it up and let them out, they will already know where home is.

 

[Arielle]

Hi,

Thanks for the Marbles tip!

THey need a source of reliable heat. SOme people use the garage, I use the house as my family is ok with sharing for 6 weeks. THey get big fast, so I put heat lamp in their new coop to help them adjust to new home temperatures outside.

So inside for 6 weeks...I live in the North East, and in the North East of PA in the Pocono Mountains. If I get everything together fairly quickly I could be ready to order my birds in the beginning of February. Six weeks would bring me to about mid March. We can and have blizzards in March we had one that laid 3 feet of snow on us...I know you say six weeks but I guess my question is what temperature is safe for six week old birds? I'm in Mass and bought my first box of chicks in February and brooded the 25 in the house in a huge wooden box. THey need a reliable heat source where ever tthey are. I used TWO in case one bulb went out. Chilled chicks = dead chicks. THen I move them to their new house, usually closer to 8-10 weeks old.

Oh and that leads to another question...The way I'm planning my coop and run the door to the coop for the birds to come in and out of will be about 3.5 to 4 feet above the ground of the run. My plan is to leave the ramp out all the time and just open the door to let them out and close the door for the night...Do I let them out everyday regardless of temperature or weather? If the run is covered with a foot or two of snow or snow and ice...do I let them out and feed them as if there was grass and dirt there? I ask because I've owned other types of birds, Doves (I was a magician) VERY VERY DUMB BIRDS, Cockatiels smarter but not by much, and a Conure (type of parrot) pretty smart for a bird, but I have heard that chickens EXCEL at stupidity. Do they know enough to get out of the cold and wet? Yes, leave the ramp available at all times. With enough room so a bird can jump of right or left if need be and if possible in the design. CHickens are not stuped; not as teachable as a talking parrot, but the follow routines and can think and problem solve to a certain level like most advanced animals can. Mine like to be out in all kinds of weather-- I do worry they will get too wet with the cold winter rains, then I force them to stay in longer than usual. ANd shorten their day in the run. A full grown chicken is pretty durable.

Start up is often MORE than expected. I picked up used items at poultry shows. Just give a good cleaning and rinse with diluted bleach water. ALso plan on using the chickens for composting-- I have three sorting bins in the kitchen: chickens, dog, and compost. Apple cores, meat scraps, left overs, etc. I honestly belevie the birds DO need good quality protein, and this means meats, worms, bugs,e tc. IF you want them to be vegetarians, it is possible, too. I personally like that they can recycle my meat and bone scraps.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I came up with about $450 to start up including the birds (they seem to be the cheapest part no pun intended). But I was guessing on how much feed and other food items I would need for the chicks. Would you consider that Low, about right or high? I have heard about the composting and it was definitely on my things to do list. I didn't know about the meat scraps...do you give them raw, cooked or both meat scraps? What kinds of meats beef, pork, fish? I feed just meat to my dogs and toss the bones with meat still on to the birds. YOu can feed pretty much any meat, though I follow the cook first rules. YOu can pick out the large bones or let them decompose in the litter. FIsh is ok too. [/FONT]

Mary's concern is the total amount of daily work and care that the birds need and the expense. What will she need to do if I'm having a bad day. That generally means that it is physically difficult for me to move. She then would have to deal with it. Plus my condition is worse in the winter (yeah I know but moving is not an option right now and my condition hit only about 3 years ago. I use to LOVE the winter and the cold.). If you stick to one type of bird, and not add turkeys, or game birds or guineas, the birds should generally get along and not require more work. DUcks add another dimension = water needs= mud . Keep it sweet and simple. My kids can do all the chicken chores with a little supervision. ALso try to keep with in the same temperaments; I have an EE that is easily beat up by the others in her original home. With me she has room to free range and keep safe. Blame her for all my chickens!! SHe was my first chicken!

If it not too much trouble can you give me an idea of what an average chicken care day is? Or if there is a place here where I can get an honest (not an over encouraging YEAH do Back Yard Chickens it great impression) I'm looking for a real day in the life of keeping a small back yard chicken flock. If you stick to one coop and one run and one type of chicken ( layers like barred rocks, buff orpingtons, or red sexlinks etc). Open pop door, refill water pan, check large pellet feeder and refill with several days worth of feed. TUrn bedding, or toss corn or oats late in the day and let girls turn. Stay to ONE coop and ONE run, even if you build it larger than you might need for 5 hens.

As far as expenses beyond start up costs...roughly what does it cost monthly in feed and supplies? Have you seen a noticeable increase in you water or electric bill?Use a nipple waterer in summer to save on water bill, or use rain water; the brooder lamp = heat lamp uses a LOT of power, I use the 250 watt bulbs as I have not been able to find the smaller watt heat bulb. I have used a white light bulb at times which costs less. I don't take birds to the vet. I have spent moreon supplies than I thought I would. BUt I really try for second hand stuff or homemade to save.

I make homemade yogurt sometimes, or feed them my kids leftover yogurt. I also use vinegar in their water: stops slime growth in summer, in winter water is slower to freeze, and if you use Braggs with live microbes = yogurt for microbes but cheaper. about $5 for a bottle of Braggs cider vinegar ( 2-3 tsp per gallon drinking water.)



Thank you again!!!
Joe

 

[Arielle]

JOe-- I don't know what you have for predators, I only have a few and I also have dogs to keep away critters. SO I don't go overboard on the run for security, the coop is rock solid though. SOme people have problems with bears, I don't. So try to figure out what predators you need to prepare for.

 

[Trefoil]

If you go with your 1/2" wire, bury a foot of it underground, and cover it, making it predator proof, then you can allow your 5 chickens access to the run all the time, thus even less work for you on a daily basis. With your coop on your deck, it will be easy access for you, but if you feed and water them in the run, you will have much less mess in your coop. To feed and water that many chickens I would use the fortex 2 or 4 quart rubber dishes. But don't use them for the chicks.
They are easy to dump the ice out of and don't break.
I brood my chicks in the house-Its a lot easier to keep them at the right temperature ( never give chicks access to cold water, give them luke warm), in the house all you will need is a regular 100 - 40 watt light bulb in the brooder lamp to keep them at temperature. For 5 chicks you can use a large cardboard box and replace it as necessary. Don't use sawdust to bed them in for the first couple of weeks. Before you feed them anything other than the starter, give them grit. In the house you will more easily pay more attention to them and are less likely to lose any. When they get feathered out, put them in the coop, at first without access to the run, you can put your brooder lamp out there if it still is or gets cold., just be sure to secure it very well. Feed medicated chick starter. Just about any coop that you buy, you will have to do work on to make weatherproof & predator safe, that being the case, it may work better for you to have someone make you a coop, buy one off craigslist, or even make it yourself. You have a little time, check it out. Don't spend tons of money on your first coop, as you gain experience you'll have a much better idea of what you want/need in a coop. If you decide to eat your chickens you will end up raising more and will probably want to separate your meat chickens from the layers,, but that decision can be made at the time. Good luck and most of all have fun.

 

[OldGuy43]

Chickens are fun, so good luck. Before I offer advice I'd like a little more info.

1. How big a family are you feeding?
2. Where do you live, area of the country and urban, suburban or rural?
3. Do you know or have anyone who can help you with processing (cleaning) your birds.