Texas

[wday]

First of 6 eggs hatched thus morning never gets anyless awsum!!!(yes I spelled it that way on purpose)

 

[Sunflowergirl]

First of 6 eggs hatched thus morning never gets anyless awsum!!!(yes I spelled it that way on purpose)

Yay! Congrats!

Keep us posted on the rest!!!

 

[Zukeypur]

Hi, all! I am new here, and will be new to chickens as well. I lived in Weatherford in a neighborhood that didn't allow chickens, although i have always wanted them. We moved to Georgetown about a year and a half ago, and it has taken me this long to talk the hubby into chickens. I am currently trying to decide whether i want to purchae a pre-made coop, hire someone to build one, or attempt it in my own. DH is not at all interested in construction, and I am not completely sure i am capable. We went on the Funky Coop Tour recently and had a blast. I hope to have some chickens (preferably not baby chicks) and a coop soon!

 

[carikermoon]

Yay! Congrats!  Keep us posted on the rest!!!

Don't forget to post pics!

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Hi, all! I am new here, and will be new to chickens as well. I lived in Weatherford in a neighborhood that didn't allow chickens, although i have always wanted them. We moved to Georgetown about a year and a half ago, and it has taken me this long to talk the hubby into chickens. I am currently trying to decide whether i want to purchae a pre-made coop, hire someone to build one, or attempt it in my own. DH is not at all interested in construction, and I am not completely sure i am capable. We went on the Funky Coop Tour recently and had a blast. I hope to have some chickens (preferably not baby chicks) and a coop soon!

Welcome Zukeypur!!!

How exciting on the prospects!!! I will tell you, we built our coops. I could not have done it without the help of my husband. So, take that into consideration if you are a total woodworking newbie like I was!!! I have learned a lot and now am not too terribly afraid to tackle building things. (Even things for inside the house!!!) As far as a pre-made coop, it depends on where you get it as far as quality. I think coops from the big box stores really hold less than they say they do, and maybe not as high a quality.

Anyone have any experience with the pre-made coops???

 

[hensfortherapy]

First of 6 eggs hatched thus morning never gets anyless awsum!!!(yes I spelled it that way on purpose)

We love pics.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Hi, all! I am new here, and will be new to chickens as well. I lived in Weatherford in a neighborhood that didn't allow chickens, although i have always wanted them. We moved to Georgetown about a year and a half ago, and it has taken me this long to talk the hubby into chickens. I am currently trying to decide whether i want to purchae a pre-made coop, hire someone to build one, or attempt it in my own. DH is not at all interested in construction, and I am not completely sure i am capable. We went on the Funky Coop Tour recently and had a blast. I hope to have some chickens (preferably not baby chicks) and a coop soon!

I bought my first chicken tractor from little cottage company. I have loved it. It came pre-assembled. Which meant I then had to screw the sections together. I have since added a pullet shut automatic door and covered the chicken wired sections with a welded wire for more security from racoon and such. I am very happy with it, but it was pricey all things considered. The cost of therapy.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Hi, all! I am new here, and will be new to chickens as well. I lived in Weatherford in a neighborhood that didn't allow chickens, although i have always wanted them. We moved to Georgetown about a year and a half ago, and it has taken me this long to talk the hubby into chickens. I am currently trying to decide whether i want to purchae a pre-made coop, hire someone to build one, or attempt it in my own. DH is not at all interested in construction, and I am not completely sure i am capable. We went on the Funky Coop Tour recently and had a blast. I hope to have some chickens (preferably not baby chicks) and a coop soon!

Welcome, I am right down the road from you in Liberty Hill

 

[carikermoon]

Hi, all! I am new here, and will be new to chickens as well. I lived in Weatherford in a neighborhood that didn't allow chickens, although i have always wanted them. We moved to Georgetown about a year and a half ago, and it has taken me this long to talk the hubby into chickens. I am currently trying to decide whether i want to purchae a pre-made coop, hire someone to build one, or attempt it in my own. DH is not at all interested in construction, and I am not completely sure i am capable. We went on the Funky Coop Tour recently and had a blast. I hope to have some chickens (preferably not baby chicks) and a coop soon!

I can only relate my experience. Last year was our first year and we started with chicks using a Rubbermaid tub as a brooder. I bought a pre-fab, customer assemble tractor coop but without the wheel accessory and it has a garden roof. After planting the herb garden up top, I decided that it was too heavy to bother adding the wheel accessory...so much for it being a tractor. Because it's so small--it was billed as housing 4-6 chickens but after reading BYC threads, I realized that was baloney--I found a coop extension on Craigslist to give them more room. I built my own barebones minimalist tractor so that they could be moved to different grass daily. But after losing chickens during the day I kept upping the overhead protection on the tractor until I saw the raccoon in the act during the afternoon.

I immediately moved the chickens into rabbit hutches in the garage and would only leave them out to free-range while I'm outside or else keep them in the minimalist tractor within an electric fence. Also bought electric poultry netting and surrounded the coop and run. I still don't trust the setup at night (we also have bobcats and foxes) so I still put them in the garage "coops" at night...but I have decided to bite the bullet and just build a predator-safe coop and run that can be easily converted to a shed and greenhouse when I move (after the boys graduate so I have 10 more years here). I'm wavering on making it 8x8 or 10x10...I'm worried that if I make it too big, then chicken math will strike (again) and I'll fill it up. My oldest is 11 but he seems excited about helping me plan and build it. I just wish I had done this when we first got the chicks last year and saved myself all these crazy and costly detours...but then again, I learn best doing things the hard way.

 

[henless]

They eat June bugs in the evenings when they fly thro the kennel they're in right now. Should I worry with it yet or wait till they're out on the ground when they're bigger?

If your chicks eat only chick starter, boiled/scrambled eggs or yogurt, they don't need grit. But, since they are eating June bugs, they definitely do need chick grit so that they can grind up the bug.

It took me an hour and a half to catch my two new chicks I took outside to play for awhile in today's lovely weather. Last time they are going out for awhile. Either they got extremely fast or I am too old and decrypted to catch chicks.

That would be me! Next time, get a long handled fish net and see if they will help!

Hi, all! I am new here, and will be new to chickens as well. I lived in Weatherford in a neighborhood that didn't allow chickens, although i have always wanted them. We moved to Georgetown about a year and a half ago, and it has taken me this long to talk the hubby into chickens. I am currently trying to decide whether i want to purchae a pre-made coop, hire someone to build one, or attempt it in my own. DH is not at all interested in construction, and I am not completely sure i am capable. We went on the Funky Coop Tour recently and had a blast. I hope to have some chickens (preferably not baby chicks) and a coop soon!

Welcome to the world of chickens!! If you can't build your own coop, then I would recommend hiring someone to build one for you. It will probably cost more than a ready made coop, but will be a much better built coop. Most of the ready made kits I've seen are really flimsy. I wouldn't trust it to keep a cat out, much less a coon, fox or coyote. Make sure it's big enough for the number of chickens you want to get. I would get one a bit bigger than you need. There is that disease that affects most chicken owners, it's called chicken math!