Just got off the phone with Meyers. They had about half the breeds I wanted. Alas I couldn't get runner ducks without ordering 10. :( So about July 1st, I have coming to me: 1 Black Star, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Dominiques, and 2 Black Astrolorps, hopefully all female. Then, later in the summer, I will get: 2 Delawares, 2 Marans, 2 Buff Chanteclers, 2 Wellsummers, and 2 Buckeyes, hopefully if all goes well.
I hope to have 2 Speckeled Sussex from a breeder in Coeur D'Lene next week and I also have someone who's building me a tractor that has 2 barnvelder pullets (which Meyers didn't have), so I may bring those home as well. She also has one Welsummer, I'll think about that one.
Anyway, I've finally done it! So exciting but scary too. Now I need a list of everything I have to get together before the Sussex arrive next week - what do I need in the way of equipment?
Also, I forgot to ask Meyers, do the chickens get vaccinated before they're sent to me?
Any advice will be much appreciated!
I did it - I ordered chicks!!!!!
Congrats!! never ordered from them, myself, but surely with all the experienced Bird-mavens (and dear ol' Haystack!!) you'll get everything you need...G'luck!!
Congrats as well, I am afraid to ordering online, and the feed stores are not carrying them anymore...
And dont be afraid to ask for advise, the Bird Mavens and Haystack have been wonderful for me and have always given much needed advise.
My feed store doesn't order many of the breeds I wanted, so we'll see what happens.
Trying to figure out what to use as their brooder. A box, a wading pool? Should I get my hubby to build a wooden box? If so, what dimensions? It seems that if you use something like a wading pool, then how do you hang the feeder/ waterer, infrared light?
Also, I was going to put them in our bathroom but then read that the dust will drive you nuts. How long before I can put them out on our covered porch? Obviously I would make sure they were predator proof. We have beds on our porch and I could even sleep out there with them.
Gwendalou, you should call Meyer's back with your order number and ask for the chicks to be vaccinated for Marek's. That's what we do. We don't bother with the coccidiosis vaccine because we've only had that problem once - but that was when we got goslings from Meyer's instead of Murray McMurray so it may be something to think about just as a precaution. Most places won't vaccinate unless it's requested, and of course it's a bit extra but it's better than losing your babies.
Congratulations on your upcoming flock!
Will do. I wonder why they didn't ask me if I wanted that done. Why wouldn't you just do the coccidiosis just as a precaution? Is it because of cost or is it potentially bad for the chicks (like some vaccinations are in question for children and dogs)?
I guess we just tend to want to keep things simple and introduce as few chemicals as possible. We buy feed, once they're grown, that doesn't have additives or antibiotics, too, although we do use medicated feed while they're little.
I ordered chicks from Murray McMurray and from Cackle Hatchery this year. MMcM asked if I wanted them vaccinated but Cackle didn't - go figure.
Gwendalou! Congratulations!! Ohhh, I'm so excited for you. I remember my first chicks and I was beside myself with worry over them. For the first week, the chicks should be in an enclosed area with access to a chick waterer. You should get a proper chick waterer and don't use a shallow dish or whatever, because chicks are notoriously not bright, and can VERY easily drown in even less than an inch of water. Some people use a dish with marbles in it, but I think a chick waterer is best. The brooder should be enclosed and should be 95 degrees for the first week, then dropping approximately 5 degrees per week thereafter, until it's room temperature, at which point they don't need the light any more. Don't use an energy saver coiled bulb thing for heat - it doesn't make heat. You need the regular old fashioned light! If you can get a brooder lamp from a local feed store, all the better. Use a thermometer, check the temp. You don't want to fry them!
You don't need to sleep out with the chicks. They will be fine. Is your covered porch enclosed (predator proof)? If so, and if your temperatures are warm, that is the perfect place for them. We have used various contraptions for hanging the lamp including a plant stand, a hook in the ceiling, etc. Just ensure that the lamp is close enough for warmth but not close enough to set bedding on fire. Also, I once had a chick get singed feathers from standing too close to the lamp! (did I mention they are not too bright somtimes?!) Or, keep them on the porch in the daytime and bring them in at night for extra protection.
Thanks, CMoxon. I'm going to get a proper waterer and in fact a proper everything. They don't appear to be overly expensive and if I enjoy the chickens, I'll likely use everything again in the future. If not, there's always Freecycle!
My porch isn't enclosed. However, we are completely 100% fenced in from any predators, so all I have to worry about are flying predators (not likely on the covered porch) and also my own dogs and cat. But Haystack mentioned covering the top of the brooder with chicken wire or hardware cloth (and hanging the lamp from that), so that's what I'll do, even indoors.
I actually like to sleep outside. The beds aren't as comfy as our indoor beds (a few years back we sprung for a very comfy pillow top bed), but I inherited fairly decent little-used guest room beds and we didn't have anywhere to put them so switched out the crummy beds on the porch with these. So they are fairly nice. The mattress sets on a wooden platform. If they were on boxsprings, they would be deluxe! But I gave the boxsprings away and only kept the mattresses as I had these wooden platforms for outdoor beds my fil built. My hubby sleeps out there whenever it's warm here (not that often in the PNW) and sometimes I sleep out there just for fun.
I don't tend to be a worrier, at least not over things like this, but I am highly inquisitive (hence all the questions I'm forever bugging ya'll with and ya'll are so nice to answer over and over) and always want to find out everything I can. Then there is my extreme lack of a memory - LOL - and also my denseness since I've never been around chickens more than just seeing them on other people's property. I'm always very interested but most people aren't that interested in talking about their chickens to the extent that I am interested in hearing!
Then there is the fact that the books always make it seem much harder than people like you say it is and so the books discourage me. And I was just reading on a chicken website things to do before and right when you get your chicks and they went on and on about checking for pasty butt and gee, I'm not that good at stuff like that. I'm a very inexperienced animal handler. Hopefully baby chick pasty butt isn't as common as this website was making it out to be!
Those outdoor beds sound like a great place to sleep, now that you explained it more! I would love that, especially when I'm reluctant to turn on the AC and the heat is worse inside than outside!
Pasty butt. Hmmm. I've only seen it a couple of times in my chicks. If you plan on handling them much (which will make them more amenable to handling as they get older), you will unquestionably notice pasty butt. They will have a sort of dried up chunk of poop on their butt and it's stuck. It's not that hard to get it off and it saves their life, so you do need to do it, but it isn't all that common.
I wasn't a big worrier either, until I had all these little fluffballs depending on me for their very lives, and I was worried I'd do the wrong things. Hopefully you will be more sensible and not worry and just be attentive. Forgetfulness isn't bad as long as you don't forget to feed and water them. :o)
Congratulations! You'll soon be addicted, it's inevitable. I use a childs swimming pool for the brooder, but the kind that unrolls. They're very convenient, as you can adjust them to be pretty much any size you need, and increase it as they grow. Set it up at full size so it can get rid of the plastic smell, and become "used" to being open. I used gallon bottles of water to keep the sides up.
I'm concerned that you may end up with predators you don't expect. Most of the critters most dangerous to chicks are unphased bu fences, unless you've got electric fencing. I'm unsure of what lives in the PNW, but my guess is that at least there are raccoons. They can't jump, but they sure can climb! One raccoon can decimate a flock in no time, and they are very creative at getting where they want to be. Remember, having the light on will make them a target. A neighborhood cat will have a field day with this "canned hunt", and I've even heard of possums being a problem, although mine never bothered with anything but eggs. If hubby can build you a wooden box with a hardware cloth top tha can be sucurely locked for the porch (the light can go on top) there shouls at least be time for you to intervene before it's breached.
I'm excited for you, it will be great fun:)
We've never been breached before my anything. We have deer fencing which is fairly high and also it's flexible so animals can't climb it. Nothing has ever come in before. The only unwanteds we get are rats, which I'm sure will come. And hopefully the cat will do his job! We also have rabbits but hopefully they won't bother chickens. And the rabbits don't come up to the house/porch either. They pretty much stay at the way front of the property now.
We don't have possums and stuff like that. We're on an island. We do have coyotes only because some idiot imported them in the way past, to take care of the rabbits. (Coyotes don't even eat rabbits naturally so now we have both a rabbit problem and a coyote problem.)
I'm going to go check out Haystack's operation on Monday, so am really looking forward to that! And I do think hubby will build me a box. He doesn't want chickens but once they get here..... He's a huge softy. LOL He'll be the one out there talking to the chickens all the time, once they're grown and out in their yard.
Congratulations. We're new to chickens too. We used a 55 gallon Rubbermate tote for our brooder. The heat lamp clamped to the side of it. We bought two so we could keep one clean with new pine shavings down in it to transfer the chickes over while we cleaned out the other. The garden hose worked great on it with a scrub brush and dried it and put clean shavings down so it was ready when the other got dirty.
Mine are out in their coop and pen now. They are growing and doing great. We put an old wooden ladder in their pen and they love to climb up and roost on the upper rungs. We put it up at an angle. I have been giving them a little grass and kitchen scraps and they love it. I did sell ten of them to the neighbors. 22 chickens were just too many for us. We now have 12. We did not get ours vaccinated or get their wings clipped or debeaked. All options were available for ten cents per chick but I declined. We do give them a medicated feed now.
Good luck and have fun.
Brenda
Yes, congratulations from me also. I just let my very first "teenageers" out in their run for the first time about a week and a half ago. It is just so exciting to finally have chickens! I mail ordered mine as well and it worked out fine.
My DH didn't particularly want the chickens either but went along with it to humour me. He will get eggs out of the deal after all. Now that they are here he is mesmerized by them. He has dreams of expansion! Oh my!
Sounds as if you have a unique situation with predators. I admit to being paranoid, but I just hate to see things killed, as we all do. Is the deer fence you have strong enough to deter coyotes? I've had dogs go through chicken wire easily, but maybe your deer fence is different than what I've seen here, which is plastic.
Sounds good!
I guess a determined animal could get in somehow. I don't know. I know we've never had coyotes or anything else get in. We have neighbors who have only their chickens fenced in and nothing has ever gotten their chickens. I think the coyotes have better places to be. I also think maybe our dogs deter other animals.
You can rest assured that the coop will be 100% secured to the best of our ability. So I should only have to worry about daytime critters and as of now, I'm mainly concerned about overhead attacks.