What information do you wish you had known starting out?

[ragerkid2]

You can always build a second coop!

Big coop is a great idea. I have a decent sized one for a back yard, and it's full. But I want to get more next year... Hmmmm.

 

[stcroixusvi]

Great thing about a second coop is splitting up trouble makers.

One thing I am very glad we were told is to have room under the coop. When it rains, the peeps can still enjoy being outdoors but not get wet.

 

[Queen of the chickens]

I think he has family in the area and works for an airline so has the free miles. I was just told that he timed his visit so he could come to the class.

I would have liked to have known more about predator-proofing at the start. Hardware cloth, NOT chicken wire!!

How many sessions and how long is the class?? I think that an intro class of a few hours should be available in local areas to get ppl started with building a coop and raising chicks and predator-proofing and urban flock ordianances and etc. There is NO need to come from Calif. to Missouri to learn how to raise chicks or build a coop or order pullets from a hatchery....

Then, maybe a longer class that meets for SEVERAL weeks could cover more about breed selection, breeding, anatomy, showing, history, meat bird topics etc. Consider making an outline if it's going to be a multi-week class.

That being said, I believe you should survey your students as to whether they have a coop built or not and whether or not they have chickens yet. A lot of what you will present depends on whether the ppl in the class have experience with peeps....or are just planning for them.

If your "students" have more than say 4 or 5 hens and if any live in rural situations you might want to cover butchering but only if you are offering a multi-session class that meets for at least 6 or 8 weeks.

I'm having difficulty understanding why someone from California would travel all the way to Missouri for a GENERAL chicken-keeping class. I'm aware there are classes offered in Oregon and probably in Calif. on general chicken-keeping.

I guess I would understand the long-distance travel better if the class related to breeding or a specific breed or showing or other specialized topics. The travel and hotel expense alone would pay for a big portion of a scrap-lumber coop plus a LOT of feed plus some egg cartons!!

 

[Queen of the chickens]

Thanks for all the great tips everyone. I will definitely be encouraging all to sign up here. I learn something new on here every time I log on. I will let you all know how it goes.

 

[gryeyes]

Yes, do refer to Brinsea EcoGlow brooders, as I wish I had mine when I first started. It would have made the chick brooding work SO much easier and more safe!

But here are my pearls of wisdom for new chick owners:

When you look in the brooder and they are all dead, do not have a heart attack yet. Tap the side of the brooder first - the chicks will wake up. They just fall asleep like that. Sometimes on their backs, or with their heads across stuff in the brooder (like laying their heads on the chopping block). They DO look dead, but they're just asleep.

When you pick up a chick and feel a tumor on its neck, do not panic then, either. That's a full crop. The chicks are piggies and will stuff themselves. That crop will empty over night and be all normal again in the morning. Not tumors. Whew!

When you see one or another chick on its side, kicking and twitching, it is NOT having a seizure. It may even flap its wings and roll over onto its other side to do it some more. This is dust bathing behavior in the brooder bedding. Perfectly normal. And very silly looking once you know what it is, which is NOT a seizure. Trust me.

And a bonus, fourth warning: You will fall in love with them. This will not change even when they grow up into chickens and start to lay eggs. You will love them more. And I bet you will do a great big dance and run excitedly into the house, screaming with delight when the first one lays her first egg.

Welcome to the wonderful world of keeping chickens!

 

[dainerra]

one thing I would tell them is "It's as simple or extravagant as you want it to be" You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive specialty lights or custom made brooders/coops. If you are handy, simple inexpensive designs can be found online. In an emergency, a large cardboard box makes a good short-term brooder. If you don't have other pets or children, it makes a decent brooder for the long haul.

Yes, they can be exciting, but remember they are not humans. They WILL attack and kill anything they can; they WILL eat it. They will kill each other if one of them gets hurt, so remove any injured birds. Don't let them suffer if they are severely injured. Make plans now to either have an emergency vet fund or plan to dispatch the bird yourself. Maybe you could also cover some basic first aid tips?

The number 1 tip?? Just enjoy your birds! Don't spend every second stressing and worrying; they have survived for hundreds of years and are sturdier than you realize. Once they are grown, anyway For some reason, people always seem to think that the chicks aren't delicate.

 

[OldGuy43]

one thing I would tell them is "It's as simple or extravagant as you want it to be"
The number 1 tip?? Just enjoy your birds! Don't spend every second stressing and worrying; they have survived for hundreds of years and are sturdier than you realize. Once they are grown, anyway

Agreed.

I can buy an adolescent hen who will start laying in a matter of weeks for $10.00. Why would I spend $200.00 on a vet bill for a sick/injured one. They are not pets. They are livestock and I expect them to turn a profit. If I want a pet I will get a cat, dog or goldfish. They're much easier to housebreak.

 

[Nslangton]

Make a budget for your coop, feeders, nest boxers, perches, etc. After you come up with a $ amount for everything that you think you will need triple the $ amount and that should cover what it is really going to cost.

 

[ragerkid2]

Quote:


SO TRUE

 

[xC0000005]

I'd remind folks that chicks, while cute, are essentially composed of four ingredients:
Food
Water
Crap
Dust

Keeping them in the house is fantastic until you realize that they have some how packed tiny hair dryers into the cage with them and are now blowing a fine mixture of the above out into the house. Soon everything in the room will be coated with a layer of FCD, and you really, really want to have a plan for where your cuties are going to go that doesn't involve your airways and their vent material. Also some pictures of 3 week old chicks would work like chicken birth control for owners who think "awwww, so cute." Show them the chick-a-saurus phase where the chickens look like a feathered gremlin and then they'll understand those super cute easter chicks turn out very chuggly for a while.

I also wish I'd known that no matter how much space I give them, they all pack into the same 4 foot spot, and somehow that's normal.