Chicken tips

1. Chicken math is real.  I made my coop small because I only wanted 3 hens.  I also wanted to reduce the footprint in our yard, so my husband wouldn't think the chickens were taking up too much room.  I ended up with 5 chickens.  If they all turn out to be hens, I'll have to rehome some.  
2. Build more room than you need in your run and coop.  (See #1)
3. Horizontal nipple waterers are the way to go.  They don't leak.  They help keep the water nice and clean.
4. When building your coop, aviation snips and a miter saw come in very handy.
5. Place "rungs" on a ramp about 4" apart, especially if you have young bantams.
6. more to come...

horizontal chicken nipples - best thing so far

When I went to IFA to get my "replacement" chick (she was to replace a chick that didn't die), I also picked up a chick water with a horizontal nipple.  It was $8, which I thought was a little steep, but I was sick of the chicks throwing their bedding and poop in the regular chick waterer.  This one was completely enclosed, so no bedding, no problems.

The nipple works by the chicken pushing aside the metal button and water drips out into a little catcher.  I had seen the vertical nipples, but I didn't want to have to hang the wateter.

The waterer said to wait until the chicks were 8 days old, so I did.  Then I put it in.  The chicks would have nothing to do with it.  I was worried they would die of dehydration (don't know if this was a valid concern or not), so in the morning and at night, I would put their old waterer back in so they could get a short drink.  Finally, I took one of the chicks, pushed the button and dipped its beak in the water.  After that, they seemed to catch on.  (I also stopped giving them their old waterer. )  I was super happy because now I didn't have to worry about them tipping the waterer over while I was gone and the water stayed nice and clean.

Once my chicks moved out to the coop, I wanted a bigger version of the waterer.   IFA had one, but it was $24.  Ouch.  Instead, I bought five of the nipples on ebay for $12, got a used 3 gallon icing bucket from a bakery ($1), and my husband drilled a few 3/8"  holes.  Now I have a big waterer for their run.  Tomorrow, in it goes.

Out to the coop

After a week or so of taking the chicks out to visit the run, it was time for them move out of the garage.  (Yay.)  I moved them out at about six weeks old.  I don't have electricity out there, so I didn't want them to get too cold at night.  The first day, I let them be in the coop and in the run because it was supposed to be very hot.  The next two days were cooler, so I locked them in the coop to get them used to the idea that the coop was where they slept, not the run.

I let them out again, but there was just one problem: the ramp.  I have a fairly steep ramp running up to the coop and the chicks would have nothing to do with it.  My dad tried showing them their food dish, but they had no interest.  I got some of their food and sprinkled it on the "rungs" of the ramp.  They ate the lower stuff, but didn't really get the idea.  The next day, I put scratch on each of the rungs.  The first chicken ate the scratch and eventually figured out she could get up into the coop.  I also added a few new steps so that the rungs are now 4" apart instead of 6".  Now all the chicks, including the bantams can make it up into the coop.

Helping a slow growing chick

Holly, the gold sex-link chick I bought from IFA, seemed to be doing OK, but wasn't growing.  Here's what I did (after consulting the wisdom of backyardchickens.com).

1. fed her mash three times a day.  I made the mash by mixing warm water with her starter feed.  I just put it in a lid from a peanut butter jar in the brooder for all the chicks to enjoy.  She really liked this.
2. Fed her a hard boiled egg every other day.  Instead of mash for breakfast, I fed her (and the other chicks) a freshly boiled, mashed hard boiled egg.  I mash the egg with a fork.  I only leave it in the brooder for about half an hour then throw away what they don't eat.  I do it every other day since I had read that feeding chicks too much hard boiled egg can cause diarrhea or constipation.  I had also read that chicks shouldn't be fed hard boiled eggs that had been refrigerated since bacteria can grow. It isn't enough to harm humans, but it can harm chicks. (Don't know if this is true, but I didn't want to take chances.)
3. Bought a back up chick.  Since the sex-link was the only one I knew for sure was a hen, I went back to IFA and bought a back up golden sex-link chick in case she didn't make it.  I think the other chick helped because she shook up the pecking order (the silkie had been picking on Holly) and she was brown too.  All the other chicks were black and I think it made the golden sex-link stand out.
4. Bought a food scale from Wal-mart to weigh her.  It was reassuring to be able to tell that she was getting heavier.
5. Prayed.  This definitely helped me keep a good perspective.

Right now Holly is growing.  She is almost as big as the bantams now. (She was much smaller.)  She is about 2/3 the size of the other sex-link. I'm hoping she grows up to lay many delicious eggs.

Updated (6/5/14): I switched over to fermented feed, which is about the same as mash in my mind.  Holly is only slightly smaller than the other sex-link.

My Chicken Breeds

I had a series of posts about what kind of chickens to get.  Here's what I ended up with:

• Gold Sex Link (2)- I bought a back up one since my original one didn't seem to be growing
• barred rock - this chick is a character and huge.  Coloring says hen, but attitude says roo, so I'll have to wait and see.
• silkie - black and fluffy.  a little bit of a bully
• cochin - black and fluffy.  This one was supposed to be a silkie, but the nice lady at IFA knew nothing about chickens

There's a chance the barred rock and at least one of the bantams will be a rooster, so that will take me down to a manageable number of chickens.  I don't think I'll be able to keep all five.   If I did it over again, I might have just gotten all sex links, I'm having trouble with the "is it going to be a roo" stress.

If you build it, they will come

I've been building my chicken coop.  I started the last week in February and am almost done now, mid April.  I built the Purina chicken coop plan.  I modified it a to be a little smaller 3x4 since that's what my husband was ok with.  

I'm torn at this point if I wish I hadn't made the coop smaller.  I'm not very strong, so I'm not sure I would have been able to handle building the slightly larger coop.  On the other hand, I ended up with 5 chickens, so at least one of them will have to go.  

I strongly recommend having a miter saw and jig saw for building the coop.  It was a million times easier cutting the lumber with the miter saw than trying to use a circular saw and straight edge.

One thing that worked well for me was to attach the legs to the floor, we set the floor on a bench we had then attached the legs.  We were able to get the legs all at the same height that way.

The other thing I learned is that this coop cost a lot more than planned.  It wasn't the wood either.  The screws, nails, hinges, and locks really add up fast.  I ended up using two boxes of roofing nails and three and a half boxes of deck screws.  Plan on it costing about double what you think it should.  

Rethinking the chicken breeds I want

I've been rethinking the chicken breeds I want.  Egg production wasn't important to me originally, but I've decided I would have trouble having chickens and still having to buy the majority of my eggs.  That means I have to decide between the silkie and the buff orpington.

The problem with the silkie is that they really don't lay at all.  It would be strictly a pet, but it is a bantam, so it wouldn't eat as much as the other chickens.  It also might have problems in the winter (either getting muddy or wet).  It also wouldn't be as destructive when free ranging.

The problem with the buff orpington is that they lay, but they are known for going broody.  They are also quite large (8 pounds).  This means I would have a large bird that eats a lot that isn't laying all that much (3 eggs a week according to Henderson's guide).  Based on looks, it is my favorite chicken.

Here are the current breeds I'm considering:
1. Silkie

2. Australorp - the Australian version of the orpington.  It is usually black and in my opinion not as pretty.  But it lays 4 eggs a week and doesn't go broody.  6.5 pounds

3. Easter Egger - four eggs a week.   5.5 pounds.  I really don't like how they look though.

4. Red Sex Linked (golden buff) - five eggs a week, but bred for production, so after two years they start having problems. 4 pounds

5. Buff Orpington - three eggs a week and goes broody. 8 lbs

(alanreeves001)

I'm currently leaning towards the buff orpington, australorp and the golden buff.

Best case senario, I would be getting 9 eggs a week, enough for each of us to have one egg, plus three for baking.  I might still have to supplement, seems like we go through about a dozen eggs a week, but the majority of eggs would be coming from our flock.