Things You Wish You Would Have Known?

[Ainee]

I wouldn't put a tiny bantam with heavy breeds. A peck on the head from a big girl could do some serious damage to a serama. 

I'm sorry, I meant it as a joke. I definitely won't combine a serama with the heavy breeds. Thank you for the input though!

 

[fireredcannon]

Isn't that just the weirdest thing? The older they get the more I agree with @rancher hicks

weird looking birds..

 

[Lisa Wood]

Love the flags on the branch flag poles, very patriotic! When I finished our barn for the girls I wanted to add a flag too but my wife gave me 'the look'. I showed her your coop last night and said "Hey look at this, hon! Dont the flags add style, don't ya think?" Again with 'the look' So our flag's going up today. I enlarged your picture here and gave it a close look see and I may be wrong but seems under your roof there's gaps for ventilation but looks like there's no wire covering and all sorts of vermin and get in that way. Might maybe want to cover them up with the wire. I had the smallest gaps up on the underside of our roof and I mean fair small but rodents still got in. See what I mean? you can see the gap close there alongside the screws...THAT small. It was driving me near out of my mind, Rodent poop...the pee wetting the bedding, all that. So I filled them gaps with that expanding foam. No more tossing out bedding, hay or feed due to rodent piss and poo. But I still check for sing of them getting in. They give me the willies and the thought of them in there creeps me out some.

Yes very adorable coop, and bunches done in a day. Dont know where you are, but in SC I am just getting husband used to work early in day, in house work in terrible heat, then back out late afternoon. This much work would have kept me hosing myself off. I had exact same issue with ventilation spots between roof and wall, with much larger gap. Got hubby to add hardware wire, he didn't fasten top edge, told me "Coon can't bend that wire back, can he?" After me reading appropriate parts from this site, I believe more than one from chickrunfun, and me imbellishing with gory details, its done. We did not anticipate getting

attached you see.....

 

[Lisa Wood]

Thank you so much for the welcome and the input! I'm laughing, looking at my original question, because I realize I was sooo excited today to know that I can finally get started with chickens, and can place an order for chicks, that I lost half the capacity for clear communication.  
My coop will be 5x5 and will be off the ground. The run area will 78 sq feet, with the area underneath the coop included in the 78 sq ft. The coop itself will be approx 4 ft high - so the roof will be a little over 6 ft. I have the option of making the coop 5x6, which from what I've heard so far might be a good idea!
I was wondering whether to start off with the number of chicks that would be put it at full capacity when they're grown (6 or 7?) or start smaller, maybe 3 or 4? Seems like a silly question but I've heard some say that it's best to start small then add on later...  I think I'm just overly excited and freaking out already! lol  Thank you so much for the welcome and your thoughts! I appreciate it.

Welcome! You remind me of me! The chicks are addictive, you fall in love, well some fall in love, then you are worried about takingvcare of them so I have given up reading many other things, cause here I am! Posting pics of your babies also provides euphoric feelings!
So, when I got my first ever chicks in May, I learned that the hatcheries have minimum quotas they will ship to provid heat for each other. Some minimum shipments were 25, oops! Went to another hatchery! Of course with our current tropical weather, that point might be mute?
I then learned that people who KNOW what they are doing, order breeds of chicks they want way early. I dont know how early, but it caused all my breed choices to say "sold out" on every hatchery. So, i ended up ordering surprise mystery pack
of 8 auto sex females. Two freebies sent in case I lostc any in the shipping. All ten lived, one female was Accidental Roo, who we are completely enamored with, as he is quite helpful putting them all to bed. We pray he stays sweet.
Everything is stll exciting watching them grow and learn and feathers change colors, grow, not to mention their personalities. Had I known a few chicks were so much fun, I would have had them living in my bedroom as a kid!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Yup, learned you MUST preplan you ordering of chicks from Hatcheries at least a year ahead of time. I can't get anything I want for this Fall, too late Fortunately for me, I know a lady that I've dealt with in the past that "used to hatch" but now propellant her ordering. She has past customers that have what I want, they're collecting eggs so she can hatch for me. So I'll raise the hatchlings until they're about 8wks, select the ones I want & she'll take the remainder back to sell, as in the past = "ChickNanny".

 

[ChickNanny13]

Isn't that just the weirdest thing? The older they get the more I agree with @rancher hicks
weird looking birds..

It's a Silkie, they're so cute but that 5th toe "creeps" me out Think the Salmon Favorelle got that 5th toe too, I'd like one but need to get over that 5th toe thing I got Here in Hilo, HI it rains alot for the feathered legs is another negative for me. But they are BEAUTIFUL birds!

 

[User395221]

Dinosaur feet! It just reminds me of that scene in Jurassic Park where the dinosaur stomps his foot down.

 

[jennyf]

Thanks so much for your opinion. I was wondering the same thing about maxing out from the start, and then if no losses, one day having a coop full of non-laying hens, vs. trying to integrate a new batch of hens with the existing flock later on. I don't know if I'll be able to build much bigger. I do have the option of making the coop 5x6 instead of 5x5 which would help a tiny bit. If you did it over again do you think you'd start with 6? Or start with fewer then add a few later? Thanks!

I

I think I probably would have gotten four and then planned on adding another group of three after a year or two. Either way is fun though!

 

[Ainee]

Thank you to all who gave advice about number of chicks to start with, and who urged me to build as big as I can. I checked with builder and we're bumping up to 90 sf of run space, plus 30sf of coop space. Yayy! Not huge, but bigger!
And I just placed an order for 6 chicks to be delivered in September. Soo excited!
Thank you again for your thoughts and advice!! It's appreciated!

 

[Blooie]

Thank you to all who gave advice about number of chicks to start with, and who urged me to build as big as I can. I checked with builder and we're bumping up to 90 sf of run space, plus 30sf of coop space. Yayy! Not huge, but bigger!
And I just placed an order for 6 chicks to be delivered in September. Soo excited!
Thank you again for your thoughts and advice!! It's appreciated!

Congratulations! Since you have ordered your chicks for September delivery and will have your coop ready for them before they get here (smart!!), here's a thread and an article you might want to check out.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

Lots of us are raising chicks this way and will never go back to dangerous, hard-to-regulate heat lamps again! And you can take it one step further and brood them outdoors from the start as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/yes-you-certainly-can-brood-chicks-outdoors

Good luck with your chicks!