What in the world are these big girls doing in our bathroom!

[Roxannemc]

Funny If all the new chicken (or new coop) ppl got together they would have one thing in common; they all have small scabs up their arms and on their hands. SURE sign of hardware cloth struggles

 

[Trace349]

Yes Gardengal. I have been lurking for months. This is the first thread that I could really relate to. We newbies sometimes put the cart before the horse. The chicken expert at my local feed store warned me I should have the coop before I received my chickens. Oh well, lesson learned.

 

[kathyinmo]

No way I would have chickens in my bathroom - or inside my house, for that matter. YIKES ! ! !

I hatch tons of chicks, and they are in a brooder tub inside (basement) for a day or two, until they all hatch and get moved outside or into a garage brooder.

Chickens in the house - no way!

Not here. Ewww, the poop!

 

[GardenGal]

Amazingly enough, there's been no poop outside the box. Dust yes, but so what! Much as I'm glad to be able to just walk into the bathroom when the chicks are outside, I love hearing them trill and peep. But I only have 4 chicks, so it's pretty easy.

Trace, did you get your coop yet? I always pull the cart before the horse too - and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who does that

Roxanne, next time I pick up feed I'm going to check out people's arms and see who's setting up - the bags of chick feed are pretty much a dead give-away though!

 

[Trace349]

Gardengal, No, not a word. I called the company and they are "out of the office due to a family emergency". I work today, but it looks like my DH and I will be spending tomorrow experiencing the beauty of hardware cloth and a post hole digger.. I'd better break out the first aid kit.

 

[GardenGal]

Trace, what a good story you'll have to tell about your first coop. Not much consolation right now...ugh!
So you don't have a coop at all then, right? You can build the coop first and keep your chicks closed in it for a few days. A lot of people do so the chickens will know where home is in case of emergency. BTW, I've found vinyl coated hardware cloth to be WAY cheaper than the galvanised stuff. Our run is covered, but it gets a lot of weather and still looks new after a year. Also, rather than dig straight down you can spread your hardware cloth out 12 or so inches. I did that and then put big crushed rock on top. It was a lot of work to do that but not as much work as digging our rock hard clay ground. We've had coyotes, raccoons, and rodents to deal with, and so far the rodents were the only real problem.

Feel free to pm me if there's any way I can help.

 

[Eowyn2]

Dixie was supposed to be a Barred Rock, but she looks like a bantam Golden Cuckoo Marans with yellow legs - and light colored eggs instead of dark brown ones.  Her personality is just like our BR chick's, very sweet and friendly and adventurous.  Whatever she is, I wish I had 12 more just like her!  She's missing some feathers on her head due to pecking order issues.

Do you think she might be a partridge rock instead?

 

[GardenGal]

This is what a Golden Cuckoo Marans looks like and that's pretty close to Dixie. So many chicken breeds, so little yard