Where to start?

[Akinfamily]

Hi, I am very new to this and cant wait to get started. I dont want to buy chicks till I have everything from the beginning to the coop and pen. I am hopeing to buy / build a coop and pen by the end of April so hopefully I will be able to get some chicks very shortly after that. I however do not know what I need or how to tend to the chicks till they can go outside into the coop. I need info on everything from what to feed them to what temp they should be kept at. I am lost please help. I have two dogs so I can not have "free" range chickens but I do own two acres and have a large section fenced in for a garden, so other then their pen they will also have the garden in the fall and winter. Altogether they will have about a half of acre to be "free" range on. I would prefer to use homemade or organic (although quite expensive) feed. Homemade would be best as I am a stay at home mom and have the time to do make it. I would like chicks for the eggs and to eat (when they are no longer productive) I would also like to get a rooster at some point or another, if I have to buy him first I will it is not a problem. I just want to do this right. Please help. Thank you for all your help.

 

[drumstick diva]

first stop at the learning center, then see what other forums have to assist you - everything is covered somewhere on this site. Great reading & education

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, akinfamily, and

! Happy you joined us! You are wise to do your homework before taking the poultry plunge and BYC is research central! First stop:

The Learning Center: it is full of the information you need to responsibly care and maintain your flock:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/

The Coops forum is where you can see different styles and designs and see if one suits you:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coop_Designs

The Maintaining Your Coop & Run thread is question and answer but the old threads will answer most of your questions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance

If you are still searching out Breeds, here is a nifty chart to help you choose:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

The Baby Chicks forum is also Q & A but full of great info in the threads:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/11/raising-baby-chicks



Good luck and have fun on your poultry journey!!

 

[ellie32526]

Hi, I am very new to this and cant wait to get started. I dont want to buy chicks till I have everything from the beginning to the coop and pen. I am hopeing to buy / build a coop and pen by the end of April so hopefully I will be able to get some chicks very shortly after that. I however do not know what I need or how to tend to the chicks till they can go outside into the coop. I need info on everything from what to feed them to what temp they should be kept at. I am lost please help. I have two dogs so I can not have "free" range chickens but I do own two acres and have a large section fenced in for a garden, so other then their pen they will also have the garden in the fall and winter. Altogether they will have about a half of acre to be "free" range on. I would prefer to use homemade or organic (although quite expensive) feed. Homemade would be best as I am a stay at home mom and have the time to do make it. I would like chicks for the eggs and to eat (when they are no longer productive) I would also like to get a rooster at some point or another, if I have to buy him first I will it is not a problem. I just want to do this right. Please help. Thank you for all your help.

Chicks need a place that is free from drafts, warm and dry, They need fresh water and feed every day. The temperature should be 90-95 degrees the first week, then reduce it 5 degrees each week until you reach 70 degrees. By that time they should be mostly feathered. They should have chick starter. They do not need grit until they begin to forage for other food. I started pulling grass and giving to mine at three weeks. At that point I added a bowl of chick grit to my coop. They use the grit in their gizzard to grind up their food, but because commercial food is highly processed, they do not need grit if chick starter is all they eat. I ordered GroGelPlus for my chicks because I wanted to make sure they got off to a great start. It is a vitamin/mineral supplement. There are lots of ideas on here so shop around for some good coop plans and ideas on how you want your coop to look. Do you want a coop or a hen house? How many chicks are you planning? Are they for egg production or meat production or just pets?

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!

Glad you joined us!

 

[thasista]

Hi from Kentucky

 

[Aelani]

Hello! Welcome to byc! I am also new to raising chicks. It's a ton of information to take in that's for sure! I have found this site to be very helpful with all my questions. My dh has been building a shed off and on. The more we would sit and look at it...the more and more we kept saying...that could be a chicken coop lol. And so I started looking up breeds good for dual purpose and how to care properly for them and protect from predators. And predators we sure do have! I'm also a stay at home mom. Have two girls and currently pregnant. We also wanted to be set up first....but that didn't happen lol! Soon as I saw the baby chicks in our local TSC it was all over lol. We got a deep brooder tank, heat lamp, diatomaceous earth (mite/lice control), food,water, and a bag of pine shavings. At first we only got six Rhode island reds. It was a straight run...means boys and girls. Then next weekend we went to get more and they had new ones. So daughter and I picked out 5 black giant (straight run), and 5 Ameraucana pullets (all girls). The Ameraucana are Easter eggers...will lay blue or green eggs. My girls are excited for colored eggs! I also bought a book on hatching and brooding chicks. And another book for egg recipes. We have figured out how we want to build the run from pictures on this site. My dh runs a sawmill all day so he got all the wood we need...and he's great at building things. We're going to bury hardware cloth and wrap the run with it to help keep out predators....also our run will be covered. I may also let them have supervised free range as I too live on 2 acres in the country...just waiting to see their personalities in couple months. So far it seems pretty easy, and it's a lot of fun! I have the chicks in our sunroom so if the sun is out I can turn the heat lamp off during the day. They will let you know if they are too hot or cold by their position in the tank. It's still chilly here in northwest Ohio. High hopes for some spring like weather by the end of the week so we can finish the run and putting windows and ventilation in the coop. Figure we have three weeks left til they are ready for the coop. In our case, the chicken came before the coop lol. You'll still have some time if that happens to you as well lol. It's hard to resist the cute babies at the store. If you want a specific breed from a breeder there are some good sites that will ship them to you. You may have to order minimum of 15 or 25 chicks. We didn't mind getting them from our TSC. They showed us everything we needed. But I did do a ton of research and am still looking up things. My brain has Chicken overload lol! So far it's been great. Everyone loves watching the chicks. Hope your family enjoys them as much as we have!

 

[Akinfamily]

Hello and thank you for the warm welcomes and useful info Now cant I just dig up some diatomaceous earth from my yard and put it in my coop / tank?

 

[Aelani]

The stuff they sell at your local feed store is specially formulated to be around the chickens. It's food grade so it will slice up worms inside them as well.

 

[ellie32526]

Hello and thank you for the warm welcomes and useful info Now cant I just dig up some diatomaceous earth from my yard and put it in my coop / tank?

Do some searching on the Internet or on this site about diatomaceous earth. It is a type of rock that is pulverized and acts as an insecticide by dehydrating insects.