Newbie with a few questions....

Hi all!
I was sooooo excited to find out that DG has a forum just for chicks! (sorry guys...lol)
I would so very much appreciate any and all suggestions and comments from anyone and everyone.
I am using an existing playhouse in my backyard that I converting into the coop. I'm planning on ordering 10-12 one day old chicks (so far it looks like I have to order a minimum of 25, unless you know something I don't)

So...if you could offer me one piece of advice or one suggestion or one 'make sure you do this' or a 'make sure you don't do this'.....bring it on! I am ready to tackle this project head on!!! I'm so excited!

I'm headed outside now to set my posts for the run. I'll take a picture of my progress so far. Who knows, you may see something I did wrong or something I'm leaving out, etc....

Thanks ahead of time! I just love Dave's Garden....don't you?
Pinger

Hi, Pinger, welcome!

I have learned a lot here, so I am sure you will, too. I have ordered eggs in the past and used an incubator to hatch guinea fowl, and that way, I was able to get the amount I wanted, but there is the extra expense of the incubator.

I wish I had a playhouse to build my coop with! Mine is not very pretty - I just started hammering wood together until it looked like something they could live in.

Can't wait to see your pictures!

Beth

hi, and welcome!

there are a couple of hatcheries, i think Meyer is one, that will ship less birds. some with extra chicks [otherwise unwated i suppose], some with heating pads.

25 has always been the minimum number for them to keep warm but not squish and kill one another...

Meyer also has a great starter kit that includes the brooder and lamps and feed, etc...

tf

Check out Healthy Chicks and more hatchery, I think you can order less, also check with local feed places or (if you have them there) Tractor Supply Plus, most feed places order chicks for people and because it combines orders, you only have to order what you want. Tractor Supply, orders and gets in bunches of chicks to direct sell (here it's in April). Check around, it will at least save you any "small order" fees. This was how I got started.

The first thing you have to decied is what do you want the chickens for
Egg,meat,both,or just for pets,animated yard bling bling.....

www.mypetchicken.com does small orders. i got my best chicks from them and I am now hatching the eggs from them this year. I also think Ideal does minimum $20 or $25. But i hear they add extra roosters for warmth if you dont order enough. So you could ask them not to do that since you seem to be ordering plenty anyway. Then like the others said....the feed store local to you usually do orders too. I find that sometimes they mix them up and dont always give people the right stuff, so i recommend ordering your own if you find what you want through one of the places that do small orders. Good Luck :)

This message was edited Mar 2, 2008 5:16 PM

Wow!
I came in to get some water and see if I had any responses...and woohoo!
Crestedchik...I am soley doing this for the eggs. Well, and company...lol. I've started my list already, going over the deifferent types on the MacMurray website. I'd also like to try and stay with the smaller birds.

Best place to get feeders? Do I need to run a dropcord for electricity for lights, fans, heaters, etc....?
Anything I should NOT feed them?
How much of a run area do I need for 10-12 chix?
How long do I keep them inside...until they get all of their feathers or do you go by something else?
The playhouse is up in the air, with a slide on one side (now removed) and a ladder on the other (where I can get in the coop). I have a board that is a 2 x 8 for the ramp to get up in the coop (cutting a hole in the floor of the house) Question is....what should I use as the 'rungs' on the ramp? I have all sizes of wood....even lattice strips. I didn't know how thick the wood should be for them to climb up. Is a 2 x4 too thick...lattice too thin? Also, how far apart should the 'rungs' be?
Do I need to worry about the angle of the ramp? I mean, I know that I would not put it vertical...but didn't know if there was a more specific standard....?
Thanks for all of the comments....keep 'em coming!
Headed back out....will check back later!
Ping

Oh yeah...I'm going to use wooden wine boxes for the nesting boxes...think that's ok?

I suggest as big a run as you can offer them. The bigger the better. The love to poke around and explore. The rungs on the ramp should be just enough to help them grip onto. I think if they are too big, it is goofy to walk on. I think the lattice might be ok......try it. You can always nail a few bigger ones on ig needed later. There is no right or wrong really, as long as they can get up it. As for your nest boxes....that sounds nice for them. They are not very picky. For that many birds, 2 or 3 will be plenty if they are big enough. I dont know how big wine crates are. The chicks need to be kept in for quite a while......i would think you could find that on mcmurray too. The website i posted has alot of info....look on there. Its much colder up her in Mass so i dont know about down there. I'd say at least til they get the big girl feathers.
where ever you get your chicks will probably have feeders, or just go to the feed store near you. If you dont want so many chicks, you really need to look away from mcmurray. If you really want to order from them....maybe you should think of getting bantams instead.
Then they wont get as big :)

This message was edited Mar 2, 2008 7:58 PM

Thanks cuckoogirl....I appreciate you and everyone, that has posted....

Comments and suggestions are still welcome!!

Smaller birds are not the best egg layers.

Someone forgot to tell that to mine :) All my birds, standard and bantam have been laying steady all winter in New England. I have silkie and Ameraucana/ee bantams and the only time they dont lay is when they get broody. With the amount of chicks they are talking about getting, i dont think they will have a shortage.

How long do chickens live?
How long will they produce eggs?
Is there anything I should NOT feed them?
Thanks!

I will find a list for you of things NOT to feed them. I'll post it when i do. Mine love raisins. grapes, apples. and oatmeal with br sugar.
They love to have squash. I'll post back when i find you a list, unless some one finds one.

Don’t feed the following things to your chickens:

(I'm sure people have experienced exceptions to this list, but if we want to raise our birds the best way possible, "better safe than sorry".)


Here’s why:

Raw green potato peels
Toxic substance called Solanine.

Anything real salty Can cause salt poisoning in small bodies such as chickens.
Citrus
.

Dried or undercooked Beans Raw, or dry beans, contain a poison called hemaglutin which is toxic to birds.
Avocado Skin and Pit
Skin and pit have low levels of toxicity.

Raw eggs
You don’t want to introduce your chickens to the tastiness of eggs which may be waiting to be collected in the nestboxes.

Candy, Chocolate, Sugar
Their teeth will rot… No, it’s just bad for their systems, and chocolate can be poisonous to most pets.

Wow...I never would have guessed about the avocado and the potato peels. Does that include raw potato as well, cuckoo?
Someone had told me that chickens love egg shells. Wouldn't that be a bit dangerous too, as far as temptation to eat their own eggs?
I'm glad to hear that mine might like oatmeal...my favorite is Maple BrownSugar...and I love grapes, raisins and squash too! Do they like they squash cooked or raw?
This is so much fun, learning all of this....I'm gonna be the best Mom ever! :)

So does anyone know the life span of a chicken? And how long do they produce eggs?

I've also decided on using the lattice strips for the rungs...but how many inches apart should I nail them?
And one other thing...I read where I should dig one foot down to put screening, to keep the chickens in and the undesirables out. Do I really have to dig down a whole foot?

Thanks again!
Ping

Hi ping.......i know a guy that dug a foot down and then a foot out too for extra safety. I would try 2 inches spacing on the lattice. I think it will depend on how steep it is. The more steep the closer together you might need. As for the eggs....The rule i have been told is to not let them look like eggs in anyway. I have given mine scrambled eggs and they love them. The last thing you want is a chicken eating their eggs. So you need to make sure they dont know what they are. I know a family that tosses eggs into the compost. I see some barely break. That looking for trouble. I smash the shells up small so they dont look like egg shells and give them back. If you do a good job they wont know what it is. I was not to thrilled about it at first either....but so many do it....I am just very careful. If i find i have too many once in a while, i like to give them a treat. I think as for the raw potato...i would say it does include it. mash it up. It is fun. But if they dont seem interested in something....they might just be too young. I used to think they hated everything, but eventually they gre to eat anything i give them. It is fun. Also, when they are young....dont feel bad if you ever think they dont like you. Some grow into a cautious bird and make you feel like you are eveil. But as they come to know you are the treat lady.....you are the hero. Mine hear my voice and go nuts. They hear the back door and all run to see if its me with treats :) This is the greatest hobby ever!!!!! It is easy to get carried away too.

Hi, Ping. I might get chewed out for saying this, but, you can give chicks raw potato peels provided they are not green. Green potatoes are somewhat toxic to humans also. If you have ever cooked and eaten one, they are as bitter as anything I have ever tasted. (Was very young and didn't know any better about not eating green potatoes.)

They will probably not eat citrus peel, but will peck the insides out of them. The squash can be raw or cooked, and again, they will probably not eat the rind unless it is soft.

As for the eggshells, I put mine through the food processor and process them very small. It is a source of calcium in addition to oyster shell calcium. Cooked eggs are also very good for them if you have an over abundance of them.

They will usually let you know what they will and will not eat. They aren't as dumb as a lot of people think.

I do have a question for you about you cutting a hole in the floor of the house so they can go up into it. How are you going to fasten it once they have gone into it at night? You have to realize that unwanted critters can also get in there if it isn't fastened up.

granny et al: I have been wondering about saving up store bought eggshells to grind up for my chicks when they are finally laying. I usually put them in the compost, but thought I would start saving them--but now I'm worried about possibly infecting my chickens with salmonella or e coli from the factory eggs. Does any one know if this is a real problem?

Granny, I have heard people say they feed them the potatoes too. But i personally dont like to learn things the hard way. I figure if its said to be a risk......i just dont chance it. Besides, there are so many thing they can have and so few warnings. Good catch on the floor of the coop. I had wondered that too but its so hard to picture things without a photo. Maybe ping will show us a photo sometime. ping, check your Dmail BTW.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2008 11:57 PM

Cat, I had never thought about store bought eggshells. My sister saves her eggshells for my chicks and she buys store eggs sometimes. So far we haven't had any problems with e-coli or salmonella in our flock, although it could be one if it happened.

Ping, Rice is another one they like and its low cost for a good supply. I keep frozen peas on hand to add in. They thaw fast and the chickens LOVE them. With this great snack list, your going to have some great friends.

"their teeth will rot" LOL cuckoogirl!

Ping, just start talking to the chicks, or singing to them, teaching them ho you will call them. they will learn you are the chicken mama!

cuckoo, i think they can't get salmonella that way. and e coli comes from poo. if you were to introduce a roo or hen that has the virus that causes salmonella, which i believe is pullorem, then you could contamiante your flock. on rare occasion a roo can pass it to his hen or offspring. hens with it pass it to the chicks.

i figure my eggshells are better than the ones from the store, mor ecalcium and protein in them.

i am guilty of pitching raw eggs... the cats and chickens fight for them. esp in the winter when bug pickings are slim and they need that extra protein. i figure they won't eat an egg in the henhouse unless its a bad egg or i fail to keep their feeders full...

tf

Tam......i think you mixed up your salmonella thing. I wasnt the one asking that LOL...it was cat.
BTW.....I dont get credit for the post about the things to not feed.....I didn't write it. I just copied it from a big poultry forum.
I think they get info from people who really know what they are talking about. I dont....I am learning as i go and Finding great places
to find info. Its amazing how much is out there. Nice that some people have a sense of humor though...LOL.

duh! i read too fast sometimes... OK, Catscan, did you get that?

I think its wrong to have a post this long with no cute pics. so this has nothing to do with nothing here, just cant stand no pics.

oh, well, we had to see that, didn't we? is that a red silkie brooding them?

Cuckoo, and all, do you remember when so many people quit eating eggs because the "experts" said they were bad for us? And, at one time tomatoes weren't eaten because they were believed to be poison? And, of course, I could list quite a few things like that because there are many. I would have to say that there is an old saying that if you repeat something often enough that everyone will believe it.

Most likely, the chicks won't eat something that is bad for them. But their systems are different to ours so some things that we can't eat they might be able to. Personally, I really don't know what they can and can't eat. I always thought that tomato plants were toxic to them. Well, a wild tomato grew right outside their run and they did eat it with no ill effects. And of course it IS from the nightshade family. So, it is toxic to humans. Don't know about bird digestions.

If I am not mistaken, doesn't salmonella come from improperly processed foods? At least that seems to be what I have heard. E-coli does come from poo, but it is a naturally occuring thing and the reason you wash meat (and I wash eggs for our consumption). It's also the reason you should wash your hands after handling any animal including the chicks.

Hi TamaraFaye, I knew it was for me! I think you are right about e coli, and there is only one strain that is dangerous anyway. But the bacteria Salmonella is present in eggs at times--they are very concerned here in California about it causing disease in children, the aging and immuno-supressed patients. No raw eggs in Caesar Salads, no tasting raw cookie batter--no joy in life! I was hoping to avoid it by assuming that it is more likely to be present under battery conditions--but I think they find it in free-range eggs sometimes too. I guess I'll just live dangerously. I love raw cookie dough:-) and my immune system is holding up pretty well so far.....

Hi granny! I just saw your post. E coli seems to be everywhere. I guess we need it to have healthy intestines--but there is a strain that is very dangerous (I personally think it escaped from a lab--we used to watch people wash their antibiotic resistant transformed e coli cultures down the drain all the time at school--Bad Idea!) I always just link e coli and salmonella together--although I think it is salmonella that is a big problem with processed chicken. I'm sure it healthier to eat chicken that has lived a nice, healthy, uncrowded life.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2008 1:20 AM

I saw citrus listed, they shouldn't eat them, why? I am curious. Mine won't touch onions, potato peeling I gave them to them before I figured out they would not eat them. I always heard they won't eat what will kill them. Avocados will kill a parrot dead, so I figured not to feed them that, plus the usual no booze (why?!) tobacco, anything with lots of sugar salt or meat. My Mom always said never feed the animals you are going to eat meat. Maybe its an old wifes tale. I am raising my eating animals meat-free.

catscan, TX animal health comes once a year [i volunteer & it is free] to test my flock for pullorum. as long as they all test negative for that virus/disease, their eggs are free of salmonella, which is a bacteria in the hens reproductive tract caused by pullorem... i hope that makes sense. see if your state has a testing program. also i have seen test kits available from catalogs, maybe stromberg's... then you need to get rid of any that test positive & retest every year. also, don't accpet outside chckens as gifts without testing, don't buy them without a health cert showing they are pullorum free, & only buy your chicks from pullorem free hatcheries/breeders...

TamaraFaye, Thank you! I hadn't even considered pullorum as being a Salmonella. I just read a description of the disease in chicks and it sounds awful. All my chicks have been very, very healthy despite my worrying over them. I will look into having them tested and be carefull about what hatchery I use in the future. I'm sure we have a state testing program. My beautiful "Poultry Calendar" from the county says that they will test backyard flocks. Here is a very interesting/upsetting site on poultry diseases: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/disbact.htm

I always save up my egg shells and bake 'em. That makes them free of bacteria from anything they picked up on the outside of the shell while in the nesting area. This also removes any egg taste, so they are not going to be tempted to eat their own eggs.

Throw them a bug like a grasshopper or something once in a while and watch out for a scramble. They will grab it and run. They will drop it and another chicken will grab it. They will do that for as long as any part of the bug is left. They also love worms. They love old bread. Mine love potato peels. I don't use potatoes if they are green. If a small grass snake gets into their yard it will be a sight to behold, because they will torture him to death, then fight over him like he was a grand prize.

Speaking of snakes, you need to be able to see into your nesting area when you gather your eggs. It is no fun to pick up a chicken snake. They are not poisonus, but they do bite. They also scare the daylights out of me. They will eat your eggs if they get a chance. I always put golf balls in the nests. If a snake eats a golf ball he will leave the area and die.

You need to be sure that your babies have a nice warm place when you get them. No drafts. You will need a light for heat. On MacMurrays sight they have instructions for care of the new chicks. You will feed them chicken starter from the feed store at first.

If you are buying the chickens for eggs, read up on the breeds that you are leaning towards and research whether they are good layers or not. Also, little chickens lay little eggs. If I were to fix DH a meal of banty eggs, he would want twice as many as from my standards.

My bantams are for show, so I incubate their eggs and eat the eggs from the standards except for the one I incubate to raise for baking or fryers.

Good luck!

Granny.....I really did not know about the times when people stopped eating eggs or anything actually. I grew up a kid that ate everything put in front of me except liver. I was a tank! As an adult the only food i would not eat is sushi. It just seems wrong to me and looks fake.

CHARLENE.....what kind of bantams do you raise? When my life permits, i would like to have a special setup to raise cuckoo marans bantams and buff orpington bantams. The bantams i have now are silkie and ee bantams. I love the randomness of the ee and the ones i have are so friendly and sweet its unreal. Even the rooster is the sweetest thing i ever knew.

as for e.coli and salmonella....I worry more about mites and lice than that. I think i would make myself sick worrying about getting sick. I try to keep things clean and i wash my hands always. I am a hypocondriac (sp) about cancer so i try to keep it limited to just that. Life is too short so i try to just worry about the one thing.

Cuckoogirl, I grew up eating everything you are not supposed to eat according to the "experts" nowadays and am in reasonably good health. I AM, however, a breast cancer survivor (5yrs). And, I still eat what we aren't supposed to. If we followed what "experts" say about food, we would not eat anything and only survive on water. According to them everything we eat is wrong for us!! LOL.

I don't worry about e-coli or salmonella. If we keep things reasonably clean, and of course wash our hands regularly, there is very little chance of contamination from germs. One thing I keep on hand is instant hand sanitizer for when I am outside and may not be coming to the house to wash my hands. I noticed that our little hospital now has dispensers in all the examining rooms with it on the wall just as you go out the door. Makes sense to me to keep a bottle of it around (usually in my pocket) so I can clean my hands after handling dirty stuff.

Cuckoogirl, I have OE BB Reds. You are right about them being little pets. You can pick them up and they will allow you to just hold them.

They are sooo pretty.

I am going to get some showgirls pretty soon. I think they are awesome.

I have a very large chicken tractor for the standards. I have a small one for the oe's. When it warms up, I'll show you a picture of them.

The little one just takes a couple of hours. It has a few things about it that I love and a couple things I would like to tweek. The good news is that it is cheap, easy and fast and best of all safe from predators other than snakes. You can't make anything that will keep those bugers out unless it's a concrete box.

Congrats on 5 yrs. I lost an aunt to ovarian and i have had melanoma found on me. Lucky it was still on the surface so i am fine. I dont fear the melanoma.....I fear the ovarian as well as many others that are usually not found til its spread. I try to use the fear to live for today and remember we all could lose tomorrow......so try to enjoy today :)

Granny, I don't think the water is very safe either. LOL

Charelensplants, I agree. The water around here is pretty good though. In fact, Nestle is pumping our water to fill the bottles of water they sell.

I don't understand why dried beans would be toxic
Its in the mixes for cage birds(parrots)

I have a couple of horses, and in the winter, I give them beet pulp after it has been soaked over night. The chickens found a bucket of it soaking, and they devoured it!
I do love my chickens and my guineas. I have to laugh when I watch them run toward me when I open the door to go outside for anything!

I have found that a red, blinking solar light that goes on at dusk on each side of the chicken run about 3 feet off the ground works at keeping 4 footed predators away, so I have not had any problem with something trying to dig under the run. In fact, my run is very secure, and I don't have to close the coop door at night.

I used hardware wire on the floor o the coop, and covered it with pine bedding. Now that I found those lights, I probably did not need to do that.

When we had a lot of snow (most of the winter for us), I went out and saw possum and raccoon and skunk tracks, and they all stopped and turned around about 30 feet from the run, so these lights seem to really work well.

I did put a chicken wire roof on the run, because we have huge owls. The sides of the run are all 1/2 inch hardware wire, and it is very strong.

I had not seen anyone mention those kind of lights for protection, so I thought I would mention them.