Where to Start??

[doubleatraining]

Many many years ago I had about 20 different poultry on my horse farm. I didn't do anything for them at all. I know that sounds bad but they were pets and other than throw them a little extra horse grain they took care of themselves on 20 acres. I have moved and now have a small back yard but I would LOVE to have 2-3 hens to have a regular egg supply. I have been doing some research on coops and have decided that a chicken tractor would be best. I can move it around the yard and not worry about mowing as much.

I'm going to post my homemade chicken tractor thoughts in the appropriate section but while I'm planning everything I need to know what else I need to be doing....I know they will need food and water. Automatic food/water containers from TSC?? I'm trying to find some local breeders to decide who I want to buy my pullets from. I'm thinking 2 standard sized hens and 1 bantam.

I bought "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" and plan to start reading today.

Any other suggestions, tips, etc would be VERY appreciated.

 

[chickengoober]

I’m relatively new to chickens too. My first coop wasn't much more than a wooden triangle with a small run attached, but my two bantam hens didn’t seem to mind. At first I was crazy worried about them …Am I feeding them right? Are they too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer? Are they infested with mites? Is their coop dirty?... I was thinking I was doing everything wrong when I actually I was doing fine.

A good place to start is with a coop, obviously. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just functional. If it’s a chicken tractor you want there are plenty of great plans on the website (just click on Coop Designs at the top on the page).

Feeding my chickens was very confusing for me, but if you snoop around on BYC you’ll get some idea of what your chickens need. I feed my two bantams layer crumble + whatever they could find in their run. I never used the eggs, but a friend of mine gladly took them (I was told they were pretty good). As for water I just filled their waterer up every morning with the garden hose. I’ve heard of some people putting apple vinegar in their chicken’s water. Never tried it but I heard it’s good for all kinds of things.

Just my bit of tips

 

[ChickiKat]

Get your coop started. Dependant upon where you live you may need a heated waterer for the winter. If you are getting chicks, get a feeder and waterer that fits on a mason jar. We always kept our little ones indoors until we felt they were large enough to know to go up the ramp into the coop. Just be careful to not build your coop too small. Chickens are addictive!!! Good luck.

 

[doubleatraining]

Thanks for the encouragement. I plan to start building my chicken tractor this week. Who knows how long it will actually take me to do it....lol

I would prefer to buy pullets or adults. With my work schedule and time I'm not really set up to raise chicks.