[gracie]

My chicken coop is in construction, chicks have been in incubator for just over a week so I need to get my act in gear. I have ordered a Haynes Manual, should be here tomorrow but so excited i  need to ask questions now.
Hubby has picked lots of tips up on here for the coop, will post photos when i find out how.
He is going to concrete footings then attach coop to that, he figures best way to stop the lovely little foxes coming to visit.
1. The coop is going on my allotment in my garden and will be just soil, I have read of all the different things people put down, what would be everyones preference if they started with a soil base. The run will be quite long so i thought i would put a couple of slabs down at one end to give them a variety of surfaces, didnt know if they liked a little tap dance on a hard surface every now and then. Any thoughts?

2.  The housing end is quite enclosed, as the whole thing will be fox proof is there any reason that they have to be shut in every night or can the door be left open. I was thinking ahead to if i go away for the night, rather than get anyone round to shut them in, i was wondering if they could just be left with an open door.  See told you i was naive.

3. Do they like to have a window, obviously if door could be left open they would have a little light anyway.

4. Going back a step, when i get the chicks can i use normal sawdust for them when i first get them, i have been offered loads, or is straw better?

Now have to go and do the school run, i have lots more questions but will read a few more threads first so i dont keep duplicating.

[Newbie]

I elave mine open during the spring summer and autum but cloes them up on a night in winter, don't want them to catch a chill!! Having said that they are pretty hardy, depending on the breed, I have a friend whose flock roost in trees and she hasn't lost any despite the harsh winter.

[Casey76]

Hi Gracie, welcome to the forum

Just a couple of things to clarify... you said that your "chicks have been in the incubator for just over a week" do you mean that someone else (or yourself) are incubating eggs for you?

Will you get the chicks upon hatching, or will you wait until they are off heat before they come to you?

If you get them when they are a day old, then they will need to be artificially brooded indoors with a heat lamp for the first 5 or 6 weeks before they can be weaned off heat and go to live outside.

I'll stop there in case you meant something different lol!  If you need more advice on raising chick , just cheep and someone will come running

There are lots of theings you can put on the ground if your run is going to be bare soil.  I currently have a mix of wood chippings and aubiose.  It's easy to rake over, and every so often I'll take the top off and put it in the compost bin.  the wood chippigs come from my garden, so plenty to go around, but you can use undyed softwood mulch from a garden centre as well.

Unless the run was completely fox proof (wire dug into the ground etc; or electrified) I wouldn't be happy unless the hen house was shut each night.  I only say this becasue just recently I had a marten actually go into the hen house to take my birds after I forgot to close up one night - though my overall pen isn't completely secure as I back onto farmland, so a little different to a town garden.

Hens don't need a window in the house.  A few ventilation holes above head height covered with weldmesh is sufficient.

You should never use "sawdust" as it is too dusty and will aggravate the respiratory system.  you can use dust extracted shavngs, or other wood or hemp based horse bedding.  Straw can be used in the nest boxes, but is not particularly suitable for general litter.

Good luck  

[gracie]

Thanks newbie, i hoped that would be the case as i wouldnt want to worry them if things suddenly changed one night, of course temperature would be a big consideration at different times of the year.
Casey76, yes i shall be getting them early, I have a toilet in the back of my garage so at one end of that i was going to (this i have to clarify) cut the bottoms off heavy duty cardboard boxes and the chicks could then stand on the easy to clean laminate, but i thought this would maybe be a bit too slippery for them so that was then i thought i could use the sawdust, but i havent actually checked on this yet, guess i am so keen to get going i am asking questions a bit too early, but i guess chicks will be even more susceptable to the dust than the chickens so probably a  no no.
The run will be attached to concrete footings and its hubbys intention for these to be deep enough to prevent anything digging in or out. The main area of the coop is big enough for me to stand in and has a corrugated roof (sure there is a technical name for it but thats not my field. Then there will be a run extention at just over my knee height to make sure they have plenty of room and hubby was pricing up heavy duty chicken mesh, small enough to stop small birds getting in (learnt that on here) so i think we will have done all we can to fox proof.
I have to find out the size of the door and best size for the nest boxes before hubby gets home, i know i have read it on here already. Cant wait for my book to come, i dont think anyone will get fed around here when it does.

[Casey76]

Well, I wouldn't normally advise chicks for a very beginner... but hey! I got my first chicks only a month after my first POLs

How many chicks are you getting?  and how far will they have to travel from the hatching place to your house?  You will need a shallow cardboard box (with lid) in which to transport your chicks first of all.

You will have to have your brooder set up and up to temperature befor you introduce your chicks.  The brooder will be better in a place with a stable temperature, and free from draughts - I use my spare room for the first four weeks.

I've found using a big plastic box is suitable for the first week/s depending on how many chicks you are getting



Using a suitable heat source (e.g. infra red lamp) for the first week, the temperature underneath the lamp should be 33-35*C, and you should decrease the temperature 2-3*C every week for 5 weeks, when you can then start to turn off the heat during the day and just keep the heat on at night.  At this time you can start to harden off your chicks by putting them outside, in a secure pen with food, water and shade) for a few hours during the day and bringing them back in at night.

For the first 6-8 weeks you should feed a chick starter, which is specially formulated for little chicks, and then you can move onto a grower pellet.  When to move onto layers is a bit of a contentious issue, but I prefer to keep my chickens on growers until they have laid their first egg, before transitioning to layers.

Of course fresh water should always be provided, and once the chicks have got their feet i stringly suggest getting a suspendable watere, otherwise you will be cleaning it out three or four times a day! - same with a chick feeder.  If they can't poo in it, it will make your life easier.

In my brooder I usually use dust extracted shavings or aubiose, and for the first week I cover it with kitchen roll.  This is so easy to whip out and replace, and can be composted (if you are of that mind).  ONce the chicks know what their food is, they are less likely to try and eat the bedding, so after a week I let them go directly onto the shavings/aubiose.

I'd advise you to pick each one up every day to check them over, make sure they are not "pasting up" (this is where the faeces stick to the down/feathers, and can end up covering the vent.  When this happens the chick cannot eliminate, and this is life-threatening).

Oh, one more question... are your chicks sexed (or sexable), or are you getting "straight run" i.e. as they hatch.  Do you know what you will do with any resulting cockerels?

I love little chickes, though I do get tired of the DUST they make!

[gracie]

Great information Casey, thank you. I only have to travel about 3 miles with them, one of the teachers at school has a small holding and she has provided the eggs. They wont get sexed until later (found out to be very careful on the internet yesterday, when i put sexing eggs in google, wont be making that mistake again .
The toilet area is off a kitchen in the garage and will be ideal for the heat lamp, I havent spoken to my friend with the small holding this week but when i go in weds she will ensure i am going on the right road.
I wont have to worry about making sure they are going to be picked up enough, guess i should check, is it bad for them to be held too much, think i may have to be restrained, as will only want the best for my girls.
There are 16 eggs at present and there are 2 of us that would like some, so at best i shall get 8. Mother in Law used to work for some sort of company (not sure what as it was before my time) and she had to check on chickens and can do the sexing quite early, (apparently there is an art to this) and I can give any cockrels back to where they have come from. My ideal amount of girls is 4, so fingers crossed for that, but i dont think i shall be able to give any extra back, how on earth would you choose, so the coop and run are being made with definite ability to extend.
do you think that in the early days a large plastic box would be better. The only reason i came up with the bottomless box idea is that my friend purchased some interslotting walls that are meant for making a chick home.
I realise i am a novice but i am taking this very seriously as I these girls are going to be part of our family and my 8 year old son is so excited, as well as the 23 year old daughter, so I will have plenty of help. I still have a fortnight to make sure i am properly prepared, and as previously said i havent got my book yet and am hoping to digest lots of information  then, but i do believe real experiences and advice cant be beaten so thanks again

[Casey76]

Well, first of all, be prepared for not all of the eggs to hatch!  There are a lot of reasons why an egg might not hatch, even if the chick makes it all the way through to day 21.

I like to handle all of my chicks.  they always seem to go through a wild stage at 3-6 weeks when they are scared of everything, but as long as you are confident and calm you wont hurt a chick (no squeezing though )

I like the plastic box, because after the hatch has moved onto the next brooder it is easy to clean and disinfect (and it holds all the equipment for the next year )

When they get too big for the box, they go into a rabbit cage



Then finally down into the basement to be weaned off heat



The Haynes Chicken Manual is a very good book.  it is certainly one of the best books I've come across for a beginner (and consequently is one of my most dog-eared chicken books)

[gracie]

I love all your housing ideas, sure i have friends that will have discarded animal cages I could borrow for a while. Looking at your last house, do they like to be a bit enclosed, when they get to this stage if I was going to either  cut the toilet room in half with a board going across it so they could just have one end if they like to be snug or i could just board across the door so they could have the whole room, usual width of a toilet room but maybe a couple of feet longer.  Can they be intimidated if the space is too big, i know they can when tiny, i was thinking of the chicks you have in the third picture.

I do realise i may not get all the 8 eggs i am hoping for. As a novice, if there arent many hatched I may possibly wait for the next lot and let the other person take what there is this time, as if i dont get 4 chicks then i would have to wait and introduce more later and i guess you need a bit more experience to mix newer chicks with settled ones. So fingers crossed, if not i may have to wait a bit  longer to be a chicken mummy.