Your brooder suggestions worked great--pics of chicks in their comfy home :)

[sarahandbray]

Only had about two weeks to read up on chickens before the babies came--don't worry--real, live friends and family with chickens, too--but this site has been the best!

Things I've gleaned off of here that we're priceless:
--puppy pads for the first few days (XL from TSC work great!)
--brooder overflow/annex can be kiddie pool
--Chicken Gatorade rocks! (Save A Chick or Quik Chik)
--lamps are easy to regulate based on behavior
--checking 2X daily for pasty butt

Here are some pics:

 

[lightchick]

Awww adorable! The silver/blue chick in the first pic is very cute!

 

[fshinggrl]

Great set up! You have quite the flock!

 

[iwiw60]

You've done a great job for sure! I do have one suggestion...in this pic:


That a whole lotta food to be dumped out and wasted. Reason? Your chicks are growing and getting bigger. I would suggest that you raise their feeder up...use a piece of wood or a small paver. They're having a field day in their feed!!

Same thing with their waterer, you might raise it up some, too. You have a great bunch of fuzzy-butts there!!

 

[sarahandbray]

You're right--they are big feed wasters!! The water was on one Trex sample and now I have both of them on two samples each. Seems to be a good height especially when they're in the kiddie pool getting their scratch on
I'll raise up their feeders, too. Thanks!

 

[iwiw60]

You're very welcome! So how big is your coop and run going to be? Have you built it already? What's the size? That's a lot of chickens so think big!!

Let me know...I'd be interested to know and maybe I could help you with some suggestions along the way, etc.

 

[sarahandbray]

There's 44 chicks in there. Combined, we have a total of 50sf of brooder space. 25' in kiddie pool and 24' in giant dog crate.

Coop is 10X10. Chicks are straight-run. Hoping for 50/50 at least, which would put us at 22 hens, maybe 2-3 Roos that we could keep.

Getting 164' of electric fencing so will have plenty of pastured area. Would also like a smaller, entirely enclosed area off of the coop for the winter or days when we're not around. Have a huge portable screen porch thing that is plenty big for this--will retrofit to make it work.

Working on our plan for once they outgrow the brooder space but are too small for the coop. Not sure what this intermediary step should be at 3-4 weeks...some say build big brooder and keep in Morton Bldg (where they are now) or move out to final coop with heat at night.

Upstate, NY--days average in the low-70's for Sept. and 50's at night.

Thanks for the help!
Sarah

 

[iwiw60]

There's 44 chicks in there. Combined, we have a total of 50sf of brooder space. 25' in kiddie pool and 24' in giant dog crate.

Coop is 10X10. Chicks are straight-run. Hoping for 50/50 at least, which would put us at 22 hens, maybe 2-3 Roos that we could keep.

Getting 164' of electric fencing so will have plenty of pastured area. Would also like a smaller, entirely enclosed area off of the coop for the winter or days when we're not around. Have a huge portable screen porch thing that is plenty big for this--will retrofit to make it work.

Working on our plan for once they outgrow the brooder space but are too small for the coop. Not sure what this intermediary step should be at 3-4 weeks...some say build big brooder and keep in Morton Bldg (where they are now) or move out to final coop with heat at night.

Upstate, NY--days average in the low-70's for Sept. and 50's at night.

Thanks for the help!
Sarah

Eeek! If your coop is only 10x10 even at 22 hens that's going to be TIGHT. Think about it...10x10 is 100 sq.ft. Each hen needs at least 6-8 sq.ft. Even at 6 x 22 that's 132 square feet...pretty tight for sure. Plus by the time you get all your roosts, nest boxes, feed and water stations in there.....uh-oh. And that's if you only have 22 hens. You're doing such a fabulous job with your babies I'll bet you get almost 100% to the finish line!

As for larger brooder space as they grow, do you have any produce stands, farmers markets, etc., around? Go and ask for one of their watermelon boxes (or two)....they are PERFECT!!

Best of luck, and please re-think your space for when they are grown.

 

[sarahandbray]

Thanks! When we build new, I will certainly make it larger. Right now, we are retrofitting a 10x10 pony shed, so we'll have to make do for this year.

I had read 4sf was the standard per bird in the coop and 10sf minimum for run space. At 4sf/25 chickens, that's 100sf. Hoping to let them out in the winter and shovel/snow blow their run. The run and pasture will more than exceed the minimums, so I hope we'll be good!!

Sarah

 

[lightchick]

I think you have a big enough coop. Most books I've read say that chickens should have about 2-4 sq feet. I think you're OK.