Washingtonians

[justbugged]

Hey I found the cable. The pics are coming, So all you chicken and duckles people watch out.

 

[TerrorBird]

Quote:
You couldn't go wrong with Australorps or black sexlinks either! Sorry, I'm just partial to the black birds. They're green in the sun, and the Australorps are just so fluffy and nice. But the black sexlinks are quite striking; they have a very intense look to them. Still, I wish you luck!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Or we could take over yer yard and the yard of a couple neighbors that way unlike at a "public"park it would all be private. lol

 

[justbugged]

You all are more than welcome to come over and roast some marshmallows over the coals of my latest mini bonfire.

 

[itsren]

In Tacoma there is a max of 6 hens, and no roosters are allowed That said, I'm planning to build a coop to house 8-10... :wink:

And your six hens will love you for it! Especially if you somehow forget how to count... 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9... hey, that's only 6 numbers, right?

 

[Imp]

So when do they move from the indoors to the outdoors? Can they stay in the small animal cage/box while they are indoors? And I realize I can look this up (and I intend to anyhow... but you all are so handy at the moment LOL), but how long do they need supplemented heating and in what progression are they weaned off?

They can move outside when they are fully feathered about 6-8 weeks old. Since yours will be reaching that point when the weather is cold; it would be a good thing to gradually acclimatize themselves to the outside temps, maybe some day trips for a while.
Yes they can stay in the brooder while indoors. I will warn you that they grow incredibly fast. The first time I brooded chicks I thought they could stay in a bird cage for weeks. I quickly realized maybe 1 week. I now use an XL dog crate.
The heating progression is generally start at 90*F, drop the temperature 5*F each week.
A lot of people find this is a little too hot. I start at 85*F and drop about 5*F each week. Inside the house I find I turn off the heat at week 4 or when I'd be reaching about 70*F.
It has already been mentioned, but a lot of people like keeping one area or end of the brooder at that temperature the other end at room temp. this allows the chicks to self regulate. They will move around the brooder to find where they are most comfortable. You will be able to watch the chicks to see if they are uncomfortable.

OH, and this may be a really silly question, but do the wood shavings have to be pine? Or can they be a mixture of different woods?

Not a silly question- very important.
Pine is OK, make sure it is dried. Also any of the hardwoods like aspen are good.
Stay away from cedar, the volatile oils in cedar can be toxic to small animals.

Imp/Russ

 

[ErinMartin927]

You couldn't go wrong with Australorps or black sexlinks either! Sorry, I'm just partial to the black birds. They're green in the sun, and the Australorps are just so fluffy and nice. But the black sexlinks are quite striking; they have a very intense look to them. Still, I wish you luck!

If I had my way I'd have 4 barred rocks reserved, I think they look crazy awesome - but I let my kids pick Off to google the breeds you suggested... the only reason I was trying to find some GSL is because a friend told me they are one of the sweetest breeds (she has a ton of chickens and does 4h with her family of 8 kids)

 

[justbugged]

Here we are. I managed to wrangle an unrelated auction goer into taking our picture. The Justahannah found us, and we needed another picture of all of us together. So Itsren's oldest DS, got talked into taking the picture of the year. He managed to unmask the Rustler.

 

[justbugged]

I posted pictures, before midnight. This is only remarkable given that I only got about 2 hours of sleep last night.. I think that I just might take the nasty little puppies off to bed with me.

 

[itsren]

We already have the aquarium... I do have the thermometer - should I keep it about chick height (3'' or so) if I end up using this while trying to track down a free or dirt cheap alternative? And the feed store has them in an aquarium/terrerium, but it's a good 5-6 feet long LOL I have a large dog crate, but holy bejebus I don't want that back in here until it's time to whelp pups again - that thing takes up massive amounts of space in my teeny little 1120 sq ft home. I'm thinking a rabbit cage sitting on my dresser will solve this issue!

If you're not spending money on it, and the chicks are really tiny, I'd set that up for a few days until I had something more suitable. Yes, thermometer at chick height. Set up the light before you get the chicks and try to get the aquarium regulated.

Ok... just a thought about the rabbit cage vs. dog crate. I know it's a pain to have a large crate in a small house. I did that. I used a 3'x4' wire dog cage for my secondary brooder. I covered the sides of it with cardboard so the chicks couldn't escape between the bars. I learned the hard way - chicks grow very fast! Even if you bought a rabbit cage, you'd probably could get away with using it for a very short time and still have to go bigger to give the chicks play room. They need to fully feather before they can come out from beneath the light, and it also takes a bit of time to get a coop built. Even if you plan to kick them outside to the coop quickly, you'll still need to provide a heat lamp so they will survive.

I tell you, it is mind boggling how quickly chicks get big. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it first-hand.