The adventure begins

[SunnySkies]

That one died. Boo. But I did anticipate some losses when I purchased them. Hate to lose one though.

 

[KFCCHICKENUTAH]

I ended up losing two of my 10 cxs I bought at 6 weeks. Sucks!

 

[SunnySkies]

Opened the third bag of feed this evening. Not bad for being a month old. I ended up using Dumor chick feed, which is about $15/bag, and it has the most protein of the feeds available at the local feedstore I prefer to use, but not as high as the broiler feed sold at the other feedstore. They basically have feed in front of them at all times except for an hour in the morning, after they finish what I gave them the afternoon prior and before I arrive with a bucket of feed in the morning, and a little bit of time in the afternoon after they finish the morning feed and before I arrive with the bucket in the afternoon. Everyone seems strong and healthy, if just a bit stupid; one got stuck in the hoop coop between the cattle panel, the wooden base and the hardware cloth somehow. Looks like just 2 are pullets, and they are tiny compared to the boys. I might keep them and see how they do in my layer flock; I have a lovely large rooster that might be a nice cross IF they survive to lay.

They poop so much I need to move the coop every other day, and I can't imagine how nasty it will be when they are 8-10 weeks old. Yuck. I'm thinking about making a pen off the coop so they have more room and can free range.

 

[KFCCHICKENUTAH]

I had just landscaped my yard and there was no place for a coop that wasnt brand new grass and sprinklers and such. I put the coop up on my big patio but I didnt want them to be on straight concrete so I built a box that is 4 inches high and a little longer and wider than the coop which my coop can fit into. I put hard plastic on the bottom. I filled the box up with compost and dirt. Because chickens poop constantly, I just take the coop off every couple weeks or whenever I determine the need to change the compost. I put it in a bag, replace with new and use the baged poop as fertilizer for the garden. Needless to say I only have four hens. I did the same thing with my 10 meat chickens. They poop ALOT more than my regular chickens but no matter how often I cleaned the coop, it didnt seem often enough.

 

[SunnySkies]

They poop ALOT more than my regular chickens but no matter how often I cleaned the coop, it didnt seem often enough.

Exactly. I have a funny feeling I'll be moving the coop twice daily by the time we get to the end.

 

[SunnySkies]

Fun times moving the coop this afternoon. I have my oldest son herd them to the front while I drive the truck (hoop coop is too heavy for me to move without my big truck, trampoline coop is terrible to move). He let out a screech, and I was sure I'd squished a bird. Leaped from the truck and ran around the coop looking for a dying bird based on the sound of his screech.

The bantam Cochin hen had escaped, unflattened. She was fine, luckily. She is blind in one eye, so she might not have been able to see that the side went over her head. Son was further instructed in chicken herding.

Trying to teach the lot that we move the coop to enjoy fresh grass, then they get scratch grains as a treat while I fill the feeder.

It's funny to watch them. There are the lazy pigs, who lay at the feeder and stuff their faces, and then there are the ones scratching away looking for bugs. Only a few figured out the perch's purpose, lol.

 

[KFCCHICKENUTAH]

Fun times moving the coop this afternoon. I have my oldest son herd them to the front while I drive the truck (hoop coop is too heavy for me to move without my big truck, trampoline coop is terrible to move). He let out a screech, and I was sure I'd squished a bird. Leaped from the truck and ran around the coop looking for a dying bird based on the sound of his screech.

The bantam Cochin hen had escaped, unflattened. She was fine, luckily. She is blind in one eye, so she might not have been able to see that the side went over her head. Son was further instructed in chicken herding.

Trying to teach the lot that we move the coop to enjoy fresh grass, then they get scratch grains as a treat while I fill the feeder.

It's funny to watch them. There are the lazy pigs, who lay at the feeder and stuff their faces, and then there are the ones scratching away looking for bugs. Only a few figured out the perch's purpose, lol.

Mine got so fat they couldt walk very well. Theyd walk a couple feet and lay down, get up, walk a couple feet then lay down. They would lay at the feed dish and just eat non stop without ever even getting up.

 

[SunnySkies]

Mine got so fat they couldt walk very well. Theyd walk a couple feet and lay down, get up, walk a couple feet then lay down. They would lay at the feed dish and just eat non stop without ever even getting up.

There are a couple of those greedy guts in the gang. I decided to let the feeder run out of food for a longer period of time, but I boosted the protein and calories a bit to make up for less time with feed in front of them.

Hubby was disgusted at how much poop is out there on the field. I'm sure it will be gorgeous once it comes back, but it's toast right now where the coop has been.

We mowed the field to give them more ideal grazing, and I'm definitely going to build a fence (T posts and deer netting work well as a temporary day pen) to help spread the poop more evenly and to make them graze more. Won't get to that until Sunday morning though.

 

[SunnySkies]

I bought a fourth bag of feed the other day, but I am mixing it with what I had here for the meaties, so I likely won't need feed until the weekend again. I just was at the feed store and was trying to save a trip.

So, so far, expenditures consist of:

Chicks, $54, arrived 7-10.
A new chick feeder (in storage now for the next go-round) $5.10
Hardware cloth and coop supplies, which was about $180. I like this coop so much! I think I will overwinter my SFH flock in it.
4 bags of feed. The first was $19.50, the others are $15. I am figuring on using about 10 bags of feed for this bunch, with an average of 35 birds (my numbers are thrown off by the three non FR birds that will not be processed).

I bought 1 bag of scratch that I distribute among all birds, and the bag usually lasts 14-30 days, depending on how much I give and how often. $14, but their share is probably $3.50 or thereabouts.

I took a long trough feeder from another group of chickens along with a three gallon waterer. Works well. I want to add a second feeder of some sort because as these guys get bigger, fewer fit at the feeder. The other issue is that the littler ones get trampled in the mad rush to the feeder; I rescued one that was being squashed and was almost dead from suffocation. If I buy another feeder, that will be about $20, more or less. I already have T posts and deer netting for the day pen.

Minimal gasoline to move the coop and buy the feed, as well as electricity to run the well to fill the waterer. I'd be going to the feed store and filling the waterer anyway. If my husband is home, he can move the coop by hand; it's just too heavy for me to pull.

They take about 10-15 minutes in the morning to look after, and another 5-10 minutes in the evening.

A few of these guys have legs like small tree trunks!

 

[SunnySkies]

Looks like I will make it to Monday before needing feed. But they are cleaning up what I give them in the morning and acting like they are dying by the time dinner time rolls around, lol.