[tetley]

I don't know where to begin.  
We are working towards getting chickens....started fencing an area off around a stone outbuilding, and ordered a book from amazon  :oops:  .   But a friend of mine gave me one of her cockerels yesterday as he has been fighting and causing trouble.  Trouble is, I feel completely unprepared.  I gave him some porridge oats and water for breakfast this morning, and he is having to stay shut in the shed as we have a dog, and I am worried what will happen if I let him out.  This is the shed

Today I need to go and get some supplies......I need all the advice I can get!!  I need a drinker, feeder and some food.  The floor of the shed is concrete, do I put anything down on this?  Oh dear, I feel a bit of a ninny.  I am also worried about my cats, and the local dogs.  Strangely enough, no one else in the hamlet keeps chickens.  My husband is putting up 1.5m fencing.  Can you tell me what inside the shed should be like, I mean can someone show me a picture of what they have done?  and will mr coq be ok shut inside for 2/3 days? as you can tell I am totally unprepared and feeling a bit overwhelmed about caring for such a thing!!  he is black with baggy trousers, I am told he is a bantam, and I picked him up yesterday and couldn't believe how light he is!! the only chicken I have ever held is one from the fridge shelf in the supermarket  :shock:  please help me  
here he is

[noshed]

He looks very handsome. Someone will be along soon who knows the score but there are some articles on here which might help. I know next to s*d all about chickens but I'm sure he won't just keel over and die in 5 mins.

[tetley]

   I hope so!! don't want to be put off before I have started  

[mercury]

First of all tetley(i like the username by the way) don't be put of, theres nothing mysterious about poultry keeping, for the floor, you can't beat shavings(not sawdust) if you can't get shavings, straw or peat will do the job, he will need poultry grit at all times, and for feed mixed corn, ie-wheat, barley, maise,ect, if you could fix a perch about 4ft from the floor, that would be ideal, the inside walls you could whitewash(limewash), as for the dogs and cats, i would'nt let them come into contact to be on the safe side, anything else, just ask  

[jack russell]

Hiya tetley

He will be ok for a few days he will poop on anything he can perch on so be warned i use straw on the floor of my shed sometime wood shavings, this make cleaning up easier and give them something to do by scatting around.  He will need a perch normally a piece of timber approx 2" sq.  There are many different types of drinkers and feeders i may be an idea to go back to where you got him and ask if they have any spares or even to see what they use.  A mixed corn will be good for him to eat as well as any left over veggies or peelings you have. I have two Jack Russells and they roam with my chooks freely and the local cats don't bother them either.  The Hen House is a great source of info on here   and welcome to your new venture

[Aunt Sally]

He is beautiful, and the advice above is brilliant.  When you get the hens he will eat the same feed as them.  Mine have layers pellets.  Provide nest boxs for the girls about one to every 4-5 hens  

[Wildeone]

And didn't i read on here that you should have 12 hens to one cockerel..... thats worth knowing surely.

[tetley]

Thanks everyone,  Aunt Sally, when you say nesting boxes.....do they have to be a box with sides?  or can they be an open crate type box?  told you I was new to this.

[poultrygeist]

I gave him some porridge oats and water for breakfast this morning

He's getting better treatment than I do !!  

 as you can tell I am totally unprepared and feeling a bit overwhelmed about caring for such a thing!!

We're still very green ourselves, but as you will discover there aren't many hard and fast rules, just a lot of guidelines which vary from person to person.
It sounds like you're more likely to spoil him than harm him. As long as they have food (which is almost anything from their point of view!), water, and somewhere to perch off the floor away from draughts, they seem to thrive.
The hygeine, etc can be learnt from this forum and any probs can be dealt with as you go along. You will always get someone happy to advise.
Good luck with your new addition(s).

[tetley]

And didn't i read on here that you should have 12 hens to one cockerel..... thats worth knowing surely.

EH  :shock: ?    I was planning on about 4/5 hens

[milliebecks]

He looks lovely - probably a pekin bantam. I have a pekin cokerel with a mixture of bantams and 'big' hens - they're great little characters.

The only thing I would add to the advice you have been given by the others is that chooks are very gregarious, so don't delay too long in finding him some lady friends.  He will be very fed up if he spends too long on his own.

My dogs got used to the chooks being around in time, and are now fine with them. Some dogs will always see them as dinner though - so be careful at first.

Good luck - oh and lots more photos please

[Aunt Sally]

Thanks everyone,  Aunt Sally, when you say nesting boxes.....do they have to be a box with sides?  or can they be an open crate type box?  told you I was new to this.

They like somewhere a little private and dakish to give birth in.  A wooden crate on its side with some straw in put in a darkish corner would be perfect.

12 hens to one cockerel is about what Munty reccomends.

Be sure to treat the acccommodation for red mites BEFORE they arrive.  There are lots of product to choose from.  I like Diaton and put it in their dust bath too to combat lice.

Keep asking questions tetley, loads of people here to help.  But don't try to learn everything at once.

[babe]

aw tetley, you sound like you've gotten yourself in a right tizwas :?

i suggest a nice hot cup of frothy coffee, sit back and let the panic past.

 :roll: say's the nutter who's been staring at an incubator for the past 4 hours   :shock:

[Wildeone]

if they have a cockerel with them does that mean you can't eat the eggs?

[tetley]

thanks again!!  Aunt Sally, you are being too technical for me     dust bath??? what's one of them then?      
thanks for the advice re; the nesting boxes
I think you are right babe, a drink is called for, kettle on  
he has been cockaricko-ing (that is french for cockadoodledoo) so I guess he is happy....but is that because he is in the dark, it isn't completely dark, there are cutouts in the door for the swallows, and there is a gap between the ceiling and the roof where I think they kept rabbits (I think that is what my neighbour told me).