uniontown, pa

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us.

 

[ndan]

1muttsfan - i plan on vaccinating for maerks and cocci at the hatchery on all my chickens. so medicated feed plus vaccination cancels each other out. i guess what i need is nonmedicated crumble for starters then layer pellets after they get bigger. I read chicks naturally will develop resistance to cocci as they age, also, older chickens pass off through their poo to younger chickens. since i have no older chickens i felt it'd be best to just give them the resistance with a shot.

yah the more i think about it the more i feel i'll be trying to get rid of some of these birds after i get them mature. I have no choice if i order soon, 25 is the minimum. i'm getting them before april 1. forgot to measure the space when i was over there yesterday, but i'm not sure, i know i will need to push the max for winter months, for warmth. and i also know when they are young less space is better as long as they can get away from the heat source if they want to. tbh i haven't even seen a baby chick before...

you are right, that little dog kennel won't work for long . but how long will it work for? i was wrong on that size its 3 foot by 6. within the first two weeks I'll have a built in house kennel for three dogs in one part of my basement, their old kennels can be used plus misc left over mats. Our dogs are kennel trained, i use to think it was mean, but now i like it, they go in willingly and only while we are away from home. but i gather these birds grow faster then i was expecting. in two weeks will they double in size? if so, i reckon i'd have to have a secondary kennel free to them before hand. i can always makeshift combine them of sorts, but i reckon i'll need it.

I guess i don't get how i lay this stuff. alright, i have a tray at the bottom, above the tray is the wire i fill up the tray to the wire with pine shavings and their poo will just soak into the shavings in the tray then change that every week?

so how big of a coop would i really need. I want it to be tall tho, i was thinking a good 5.5 foot tall. i thought birds like to perch on pegs above the ground? maybe a little ramp to go up along one wall. I understand they need 4 square feet per chicken. but with stairs and perchs how many can i keep in a 5 ft tall 8x10. two floors? that'd be a pain to clean. I don't want to build off the cement base, keeps preditors from getting in there only the "extension" which will be the nesting box (jutting out very slanted roof with a door to get their eggs). I don't wanna run any electricity to this building. none. if i wind up needing fans, solar, lights, solar, i want it to be a some what sustainable building. deep layer method, a silo like (sealed) gravity feeder system. a filtered water pump from the stream and a large run.

but i mean, in the morning, i'll go out, open the latch to their door and i'll let them free range. worse case senario i figured if they are impossible to contain (the birds keep escaping) i would use a thin plastic like u can make a greenhouse cover with and attach that from their outer fence to the dogs outer fence thereby keeping them contained, and still allowing plant growth.

my goal is to order them by monday.

 

[ndan]

there are alot of people on this site.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

From Washington State!

 

[hogster160]

Hi! I'm a new chicken mom as well. I have 9 chicks, 4 weeks old. They have grown out of their first brooder box already. I sadly expected them to be in it at least a month. After the first week I ended up putting them into my Great Danes crate. Those extra large ones from the animal store. I want to say its 28" w x 42" My tray fits above the wire in the dog crate, it slides right in. Needless to say, my DH is going to start building them a 4' x 6' enclosure in the garage tomorrow. Which is where we will put them next.

Did I mention I had them in my bedroom? Our daughter moved back home and ruined my plans to put them in the spare room. I think they will do ok in the crate for about another week, two tops. I just need to get their temp correct before I put them into the unheated garage. It is insulated, but I live in Indiana, still very cold nights. They will have their heat lamp in the garage as well. They grow a lot faster than I would have possibly thought.

I sure hope you enjoy your babies. I got mine from http://meyerhatchery.com/ in Ohio. Their min order was 15 before April 1.

Enjoy!

Deb

 

[Kevin565]