# Getting ready for chicks to come



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I built the chicken coop yesterday. It was a lot of fun to do. Every time I saw a little grasshopper or other bug crawling around I thought to myself, next year you will be a good chicken snack! Lily tried to "help" by hanging around most of the time I was working.

I will add pictures when I can find the adapter cable for the camera I used.

In the meantime I am gathering all the other things I will need.

I have:
a brooder lamp 
materials for setting up the brooder
chick feeder and waterer
gro gel powder
ordered save a chick in case they are stressed when they get here
the coop is built and ready for later on
got a peck and play ex pen for "letting them out" in yard until I am more comfortable with letting them range
adult feeder and 2 waterers

The chicks are on order for August 12th-ish. They will have the Marek's vaccine.

My local nursery yard has chicken feed and I will pick up next week so it is fresh. How much should I get for four chicks?

Other things I know I need include:
containers for feed and bedding
pine shavings for bedding in brooder and coop
chick grit

Poodlecrazy#1 (or others with experience) I have a question about avoiding coccidiosis. I have read there is a vaccine, but that if you vaccinate you shouldn't use medicated feed. What's the story there? What do you think is the best strategy? Since it is late in the season I have just this one shot to raise up these birds before winter. I would hate to only have one of them make it since I would worry about losing her to the cold.

Also is there anything else I need to put on my must haves list?


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

lily cd re said:


> I built the chicken coop yesterday. It was a lot of fun to do. Every time I saw a little grasshopper or other bug crawling around I thought to myself, next year you will be a good chicken snack! Lily tried to "help" by hanging around most of the time I was working.
> 
> I will add pictures when I can find the adapter cable for the camera I used.
> 
> ...





Can't wait to see pictures of your coop! They are amazing at eating little bugs scurrying around the yard or coop. They will even go after lizards and mice! 
The chicks will start out on Chick Start, I have 15 coming and got a 25lbs bag, but at two weeks old they are going to transition to grower feed. I figure for 4 chicks a 25lbs bag would last you a while! Once that's finished up you could probably go to a grower feed but make sure to read the instructions on the bag as all feeds are somewhat different and require transitions at different ages. With somewhere around 20 hens we go through 100lbs of feed per month 50lbs layer feed mixed with 50lbs of scratch. Less in the winter with a mixture slightly higher in scratch than layer feed. 
I use straw or hay as my bedding only because when they get older the bigger pieces are more difficult for them to kick into the waterer (which they do a lot!) that is also why my waterer and feeder are elevated. Having to clean out the waterer constantly is a big pain in the butt! Which leads me to answer your other question.
I have never had any issues with coccidiosis with either my chicks or my hens. I don't get them vaccinated for it (which needs to be done at 1 day old) but I do use medicated feed. Doing both medicated feed and vaccine would cause the chick to be unprotected as you said. It's kind of like the two canceling each other out. Similar to when a pup is vaccinated but it still has it's mothers antibodies. If you know any other chicken fanciers in your area I would talk to them and see how they deal with coccidiosis prevention. I don't know if my success is due to just not having it around my area all that bad (which I see a lot in the desert, we don't even have to worry about fleas and ticks because they just can't survive in the dryness and heat), or because of prevention techniques (which really are not that much). A few key things to preventing it in chicks other than vaccinate or feed is cleanliness, keeping the brooder as clean and dry as possible as well as the waterer. Keeping food off the floor so it doesn't get contaminated. Probiotics is also a great idea to help them fight off the nasty little parasite. And of course bio security never visit another persons flock and then your own or vise versa. always clean up in between including your shoes which are big carriers of all sorts of diseases. 

Your list sounds good to me. Of course just like getting a new puppy I through in extras . Worms as treats, as well as small bits if veggies and fruits. I even started raising mealworms for my chickens, lol. MPC sent me a pack of seeds for a chicken garden last time I ordered from them which was nice. I haven't planted it yet. Oh and grit, you might not need it for a while, but they will eventually need it. Especially if you want to give then treats like me . The more time you spend with them as babies the friendlier they will be as they grow up. 


. . 




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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

Poodlecrazy pretty much covered everything. But just some extra things I thought may be helpful to you. 

I have had chickens my entire life growing up...in fact we just got 11 chicks this past Spring! They are pretty messy so be prepared for them to kick all of the food out of their feeder and kick shavings into their waterer. So if you can buy one that has little holes for them to peck through rather than the open saucer. Same with the waterer...and set it up a little higher than the bedding so they don't kick the bedding into it. Thats what works for us 

We honestly never vaccinated our hens and never had a problem with any virus or disease...we even had some hens live past age 10. We showed them in 4H for many many years. I love having chickens around.

What breeds did you get?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I've kept other birds in the past (cockatiel, budgies, song birds) so I do know birds will be messy. I appreciate the advice about raising the food and water to help minimize mess (and waste).

I got four Blue Amercaunas. I feel very lucky to have found them since they are rare (I guess actually very rare).

On a side note I got a print catalog from Meyer Hatchery yesterday. I think I am lucky that my local ordinance only allows me to have eight birds. Chickens could be like potato chips and poodles otherwise......gotta get more!


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Can hardly wait til you get them! That's how I am with farm life...I want more and more. I can hardly wait to hear more about your chicks.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

lily cd re said:


> I got four Blue Amercaunas. I feel very lucky to have found them since they are rare (I guess actually very rare).
> 
> 
> 
> Chickens could be like potato chips and poodles otherwise......gotta get more!



Yes they are very rare! Just regular pure bred Amercaunas are hard to come by (usually you end up with Easter Eggers). The blue gene was just recently added and perfected (as much as the blue gene can be in chickens) in the past year or two I believe. I remember when MPC was so excited about being able to finally sell them. 

And yes they are exactly like potato chips and poodles, you can't just have one! I mean look at me, my limit in my city is 11.5 (goes by acreage) and I have around 20 and just got 15 more! Lol, thankfully chickens have a natural way of culling so my numbers stay steady. Plus other people love to purchase started Pullets and skip the chick rearing stage. So I get to keep the ones I like and sell the others . Something I would never be able to do with poodles. I would just keep them all, haha. 


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I actually like that the blue gene means they will potentially each look rather different. It will help with knowing who is who. I think I would be able to tell them apart anyway, but for others who come by (even for BF), who is still just wandering around saying "oh joy" every time I talk about them. That is his cynical response to everything he isn't fully convinced about the merits of.

PS, still haven't found that cord for the camera!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

*here are pics*

Last week I stained the pieces. They were sitting on the deck calling to me, so I got to work Monday morning and quickly had the coop walls up. Then I added the run and finally got the next box and roofs on. I had a little helper most of the day too. It took about three hours working time, with some breaks for paying attention to the helper thrown in.

I also have a pic of my supplies. It reminds me of when Jacamar was waiting for Panda to arrive to have pictures of supplies.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

So from my shipping date and knowing that it is 21 days from fertilization to hatching, I figure my little girls look something like this right about now.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1574705/thumbs/o-EMBRYO-facebook.jpg


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

UMmmmmmm......cute???? lol

I know they will be, eventually!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

It is a vaguely creepy like alien inside you kind of a picture, but ironically I lectured on early embryonic development in class tonight. But my little helper is cute isn't she?

Here is a pic of the other little helper who showed up while I was building, a little out of focus, but that is a praying mantis that was on my shoulder. It was only about 1 1/2 inches long.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Oh it is so cute! I love it ?! It will be perfect for you 4 girls. Your supplies look great! Great feeders and is that round black and white thing a waterer or something else? Lucky little chicks to have a nice little play pen for outside adventures. Also love your little helpers especially the black one . Tell the small little helper that he needs to be careful or he will end up breakfast lunch or dinner. Lol. 

I love watching eggs develop into chicks. It's actually been my weakness when trying to hatch them from eggs because I candle them to often. Well the first one I did, I learned since then. But it was just amazing! Thankfully it was a white egg and I could see everything that happened with the little guy. When his heart started to beat, when his eye started to form, when he got a bit older and did little dances around the egg, and my favorite was when his foot formed and he pushed it against the egg and it was perfectly outlined! Sadly he didn't make it to hatch day and I was so sad . None of them did except one and she couldn't get out of her egg. I'll see if I can find some photos I took when candling them. It was truly an amazing experience and I would recommend it to everyone . 


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

What a cute coop!!!!!! Love it! Your 'little girls' are going to be so spoiled!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The round black and white thing is a solar sipper. I hope it works well to help keep liquid water available during cold days. I do have an outdoor electric outlet close to the coop so I can use a heated waterer if the need arises.

Yes the tiny helper is lucky to be very fast. I am not sure where it came from since I had many egg cases in different places in the yard this winter, but none wildly close to where I was working. I've been seeing them for a couple of weeks now that they are starting to get big. When I first moved to this house the yard was pretty empty of much of anything other than the deck and pool. As I've been here six years now, the things I started when I got here have taken off as you can see from the gardens along the fence line. Since I obviously don't want to use a lot of chemicals in the yard because of the dogs I bought praying mantis egg cases for the first three years. Two winters ago I was very happy to see that I had egg cases all around the yard as evidence that they are here to stay.

It was very funny to be doing embryology last night in class. When I finished lecture I had a warm and fuzzy feeling thinking about my little tiny girls floating in their eggs with their new beating hearts bulging out of their tiny bodies and their little paddles that will be their wings and legs.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Here is one of the mantises that is part of my "foundation stock." She is very heavy with eggs. This was in September 2012. So this year's tiny helper is her grandchild.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> Here is one of the mantises that is part of my "foundation stock." She is very heavy with eggs. This was in September 2012. So this year's tiny helper is her grandchild.


I have not encouraged praying mantises but they have been appearing more and more around our home since we moved here in 2010. I make sure to move them if they are on our doors (don't want them inside) but I never kill them since I know they eat critters I don't like.

I saw a baby praying mantise on my deck last week. So small but the same shape. Almost didn't see it.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

MiniPoo have you adopted a less chemically oriented strategy for your yard than the previous owners? I think we have done so. In addition to the praying mantises which I actively worked on getting, we also have little brown snakes and one year we had a fat toad. I really do very little spraying, just for paper wasps which there are a lot of and some anti-fungals on the roses (which are far away from where the chicken coop is and into which area Lily and Peeves are not to go.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> MiniPoo have you adopted a less chemically oriented strategy for your yard than the previous owners? I think we have done so. In addition to the praying mantises which I actively worked on getting, we also have little brown snakes and one year we had a fat toad. I really do very little spraying, just for paper wasps which there are a lot of and some anti-fungals on the roses (which are far away from where the chicken coop is and into which area Lily and Peeves are not to go.


We built our home on an empty lot in 2010. I don't use many chemicals in the back yard because of the dogs. We get toads (which I like but DH does not) but no snakes (which is fine with me). I think praying mantis were here before the house was built. There are empty lots near us as well as a farmers field. We are on the edge of town.

I am fine with my dogs, toads or frogs, praying mantises, and butterflies. No room for chickens, I am sorry to say. So will have to enjoy them vicariously thru you and poodlecrazy.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

*Little chickies*

So I figure my chicks should be finishing day 10 of development today. My girls still look like aliens, but they have little beaks now and should be starting to sprout feathers.

http://www.cobb-vantress.com/images/default-source/press-releases/10.jpg?sfvrsn=0


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

What's that expression? A face only a mother could love!

Won't be long until they're looking more like this :chicken:


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

This is what I watched growing in incubated eggs!.................................. This is a one day old Umbrella Cockatoo! For the first week this baby got hand fed every 2 hours 24/7, no sleeping for me during breeding season! 
Boy I miss my feathered babies! 
I just loved checking eggs!!!!!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

So now my girlies are about 16 days old. They really look like little birds now, feathers and all. They are probably starting to feel cramped in their shells. They should be here in a week.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IfZ6kSNvsGA/TcK1vlP8i9I/AAAAAAAASME/Lx0Z0rbEz5A/s1600/Egg+Embryo+Development+Day+16.jpg


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

So my girlies should be hatching on Monday (21 days post fertilization) which puts them pretty much here at this point. Now they look more like little birds!

http://www.cobb-vantress.com/images/default-source/press-releases/17.jpg?sfvrsn=0


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## YoungZebeee (Jun 29, 2014)

Adorable. I'd love to get eggs myself to watch hatch, but we don't have a farm where I live. Only store-bought -_-


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm not hatching them myself! OMG I would be very nervous over that especially since I can't have roosters where I live. I ordered them from a hatchery. They should hatch and ship on Monday and reach me Tuesday or Wednesday.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

*Today is hatching day!*

http://realfarmville.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/800px-hatching.jpg

This is where we should be during the day today, so that later my girlies http://www.whitmorefarm.com/images/gallery/original/067.jpg can start making their way to me.

The next pictures here will be my own! No more searching for other images!


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

YoungZebeee said:


> Adorable. I'd love to get eggs myself to watch hatch, but we don't have a farm where I live. Only store-bought -_-



You can actually purchase fertilized eggs online and have them shipped to you. I did that twice and had 1 grew to hatch day but couldn't hatch and the second batch two hatched! The shipping lessens your hatch rate but you still do have some hatching success. I think it really is the incubator where I went wrong I didn't have a good incubator the first time and the second time I have them to my broody hen. 


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Awwww they are going to be so cute when you get them! I am saying a little prayer that they all arrive safe and healthy. I can't wait to see pictures of them as they grow. Have you got shipping info yet. I think around this time 3 weeks ago I got my NPIP certificate and my tracking number for them. They usually ship out around 2-3pm. 


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I do have my tracking number. I also found a tracking service that gives you on the road updates (supposedly). We'll see how that part works out.

It isn't too hot, nor is it unseasonably cool here right now, so I am hopeful they will all make it safely.

I have the brooder all set up and will plug in the lamp early tomorrow to warm things up. I gave it a test today and had a nice 95 deg on the floor of the set up right under the lamp.

YoungZebeee the reason I ordered hatched chicks was to get all females since we are not allowed to have roosters in my town. It is fairly suburban. Nobody nearby (including me) wants to listen to a crowing rooster either. I am very much hoping for no cockerels in the mix by mistake.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Well this is cool, it looks like that tracking site will give "live" updates. It will be nice to see in the morning whether they will get here tomorrow or not.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Hmmm that's interesting, the tracking number I got with my chicks never did work. I guess they ship so fast that they don't scan the code. Is that tracking service something you paid extra for? 

Right now I don't have any light on my chicks. They are older and the days are so hot lately the garage stays about 95 degrees all day long and never drops below 80 during the night. When I first set my brooder up and turned on the light it would stay around 105 to 100 so I had to keep the light a bit higher than usual. 


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

No nothing extra for the tracking info. It is trackingex.com which is an all in one tracking service for USPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. They should get here today. As of about 10:45 they had just left Cleveland which is just under 8 hours away. I am waiting for an update which will come once they scan through the next transfer which should be on Long Island this morning. Hopefully they will get to my post office before 4:00 this afternoon.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

How cool! I'll have to try that next time. Apparently it works well. I'm so excited for you! 4:00 seems so late to me but that's probably because I have always gotten my chicks super early in the morning it is just an early morning thing for me now lol. I will be checking in all day to see if you get them . 


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

They are here! And they all look good (nice clean butts, perky eyes, good appetites). I picked them up around noon at the PO.

I will start a new thread.


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