CHIMBY - Chickens in My Back Yard

[Monsterlover]

I was also thinking we could have turkey jousting at DIMBY

[AkLiz]

I've had chickens for about four years now - they're so much fun!  I'm up in Alaska and they do just fine in the winters.  I cover the screen windows with vinyl sheeting, use a heated dog water bowl instead of the standard waterer to keep their drinking water from freezing, and stuff their coop full of hay.  They even venture out in the snow from time to time

[triangleforge]

Those are some good looking girls! 

[AkLiz]

Thanks   My rooster (I live in the boonies...no one cares about the noise) is the hard-to-see black one in the middle.  The girls are generally good, but occasionally eat their eggs before I get them 

[triangleforge]

It's good to be the rooster, apparently!   

Of course, it's a live fast, become soup young kinda life...

[Timon]

I've been raising my own turkeys

[triangleforge]

Raising or baiting into your backyard, in hopes they'll be hanging around come November? 

And this probably belongs in this thread too:

[AkLiz]

I always knew chickens and ducs could be friends   I too am curious about the turkeys...raising or luring?  Either way, they look neat!

[Timon]

I always knew chickens and ducs could be friends   I too am curious about the turkeys...raising or luring?  Either way, they look neat!

They wander through the yard every now and again. Wild as can be.

[IZ]

I was at my dad's house in Tucson this weekend and snapped a pic of his chickens and the coop he made. 




He has a good looking bunch of chicks.  The coop is pretty cool too!  It's made of steel 2x4's, has 3 levels and approx. 10'x10'x10'.  He has me thinking about getting my own chickens now!  That might be too difficult though to keep up with moving every 12 months with a 1/2 dozen chicks in tow!      

[Polpetta]

Carl and I ordered chicks a couple of months ago. He is building out coop and house.
We have ordered 2 of each (Delaware, Orpington, Plymouth) I have an inquiry in about a Sizzle and a Frizzle.
We were looking for egg layers and Carl wanted some for their meat.
(Frizzle and Sizzle would be so I could get attached to two without the worry of them becoming dinner.) 

They hatch on or around May 5th and then we will go pick them up!

So this is all new to us, but I am wondering not about once they get big.... but how did everyone start their day old chicks?

What did you keep them in? (Box, rubber maid, brooder)
I would like to be able to keep it simple and easy for me to clean, any suggestions.
We do not have a garage so they will be in our house until they are big enough for their pen.

What is sprattle leg? I see causes for it like...not covering their litter when they are real young are there other things that cause it that I need to be concerned about?

Please let me know if their is anything you know from experience that doesn't seemed to be mentioned in books or on line.
I do understand they need to be very warm and need water and food but was wondering if there is other stuff...
What did you do to start them off?

I read that the first couple of days you need to place "screens" on the water container so they don't drowned or drink to much...they mentioned not to use newspaper because it is to slick....what have you used or done?

Do they usually survive from all the traveling they do as a day old chic? If you get 6 do the 6 usually make it into the pen?

I have read a lot from different sites and blogs...are their ones anyone recommends?
http://www.backyardchickens.com/
http://www.chickencrossing.org/
http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/what_do_chickens_eat.html
http://www.birdhobbyist.com/articles/BirdHobbyist/Species/PetChickens.html
http://smallfarm.about.com/od/farmanimals/a/chickensupplies.htm
http://dblrsupply.pinnaclecart.com/pages/CareTipsforBabyPoultry.html


I am really excited about raising them and a bit worried about the start! 

Thanks for any info you can send my way!

[triangleforge]

Congrats, Polpetta -- it's going to be a lot of fun! I'm no expert, but all four of ours are still alive, so here's what we did:

Brooder: we used a cardboard dishwasher box in the office/TV/guest room, which worked great for four until they were big enough to go outside, and I suspect would have managed six. One thing you'll definitely need is a trouble light or something similar to hold a 100 watt bulb for heat, and a thermometer to measure the temp in the brooder. If I remember right, they need to be 90-100 degrees for the first few days (just like under momma) and then you gradually raise the light higher to reduce the heat to room temperature. Since it's for heat, it's on all the time.

Water: we used an inverted bottle waterer that fed a little tray for them to drink from. It gets disgusting fast (as adults, we've got them on bottle waterers that have the little crook neck & ball bearing valves -- Petco stocks them for rabbits and crated dogs. Much less messy.) I haven't heard of a real drowning risk, but I read in a bunch of places that when they first arrive they'll be REALLY dehydrated but haven't learned to drink yet, so you should dip each chick's beak in the waterer as soon as you open them up.

Newspaper: we used newspaper, just laid flat in the bottom of the box; it worked fine for us. Where it gets wet (it will) the chicks will practice scratching and will rip it into shreds.

I've heard that you've got about a 10% chance of any given chick sold to you as a hen being a rooster. If you can't keep roosters (we wouldn't have been able to), Carl may get one for the stock pot a little early.

Good luck and have fun!!!

[ducpainter]

Carl and I ordered chicks a couple of months ago. He is building out coop and house.
We have ordered 2 of each (Delaware, Orpington, Plymouth) I have an inquiry in about a Sizzle and a Frizzle.
We were looking for egg layers and Carl wanted some for their meat.
(Frizzle and Sizzle would be so I could get attached to two without the worry of them becoming dinner.) 

They hatch on or around May 5th and then we will go pick them up!

So this is all new to us, but I am wondering not about once they get big.... but how did everyone start their day old chicks?

What did you keep them in? (Box, rubber maid, brooder)
I would like to be able to keep it simple and easy for me to clean, any suggestions.
We do not have a garage so they will be in our house until they are big enough for their pen.

What is sprattle leg? I see causes for it like...not covering their litter when they are real young are there other things that cause it that I need to be concerned about?

Please let me know if their is anything you know from experience that doesn't seemed to be mentioned in books or on line.
I do understand they need to be very warm and need water and food but was wondering if there is other stuff...
What did you do to start them off?

I read that the first couple of days you need to place "screens" on the water container so they don't drowned or drink to much...they mentioned not to use newspaper because it is to slick....what have you used or done?

Do they usually survive from all the traveling they do as a day old chic? If you get 6 do the 6 usually make it into the pen?

I have read a lot from different sites and blogs...are their ones anyone recommends?
http://www.backyardchickens.com/
http://www.chickencrossing.org/
http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/what_do_chickens_eat.html
http://www.birdhobbyist.com/articles/BirdHobbyist/Species/PetChickens.html
http://smallfarm.about.com/od/farmanimals/a/chickensupplies.htm
http://dblrsupply.pinnaclecart.com/pages/CareTipsforBabyPoultry.html


I am really excited about raising them and a bit worried about the start! 

Thanks for any info you can send my way!

I'll relate my experiences with ducks and turkeys...I hate chickens.

I've never received a dead bird via mail.

You don't need to keep them in the house. You can keep them outside as day olds if you use a heat lamp. Just make a wire circle and hang the light over it. You can add some heavy paper around the bottom to stop drafts. The circle keeps them from smothering in a corner. The chicks will tell you if they're warm enough. If they congregate in a pile they're cold. If they move away from each other they're too warm.

Water and food should be raised off the floor. Birds were designed to eat their food while standing. It also keeps them from shitting in their food and water.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Raising birds for meat and eggs is fun.

[eyeboy]

this is odd... here in Toronto, home of the 'steve jobs wanna-be turtlenecks' in all the coffee shops and 5 degree fahrenheit winters the city is considering allowing chickens in your backyard.

i'd love some cluckers in the yard but my cardboard cat would get jealous.

[AkLiz]

Hey Polpetta,

I started my chicks in a giant Rubbermaid bin (I used a box cutter to remove most of the middle section of the lid and pop-riveted screening on the top) and when they outgrew that, I moved them into a small kiddie pool with screening around the edge.  They lived in my home office until they were big enough to move outside (we still had snow on the ground when I got my chicks home), and it got DUSTY in there!!!!  Be forewarned 

I used pine shavings - not cedar, as those are often treated with somethng that's toxic to birds.  I also got lots of GREAT advice from www.backyardchickens.com   One of the suggestions there was to use a square dowel as a roost, even in the brooder (I put holes in the bin about 2 inches from the bottom for the roost - the chicks were all over it.  I was *incredibly* lucky and didn't have any of my chicks die...that's unusual and I honestly don't know why I lucked out, because I didn't really know what I was doing.

Good luck!!!!!