Chicken Math is real. 0 to 10 in 72 hrs.

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ATXInstantFlock said:
Our current setup in the garage away from unmanageable children and curious dogs.
Left: The 2 mystery birds are the oldest got paired with the 2 barred rocks which are a bit older.
Right: The 6 others are much smaller so they get their own bin. I really ought to get a 2nd thermometer so I can keep closer tabs on their height. Guides I've seen seem to think they can deal with an almost 5F reduction in temperature for every year of life, so I'm trying to balance their heat needs with home safety. The nets don't seem to get that warm, but I don't want to burn my house down by accident!
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Heat lamps dangling from ratchet straps hanging from garage storage racks so I can control lamp height. I didn't feel secure just clamping them to the plastic bins.
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A suggestion for the near future: either set up the coop and move the chicks and heat lamp out to the coop. Or get a great big cardboard box (like 4 feet square) and move both sets of chicks into it.

At their current ages, it should be safe to combine all the chicks into one large brooder, with just one heat lamp. In general, the younger they are when you combine them, the more smoothly it goes. Adult chickens (or even half-grown chicks) can be rather brutal to each other sometimes.

Hanging the heat lamps instead of clamping to the plastic bin: good choice! I agree that clamping them to the bin would be insecure and dangerous.

ATXInstantFlock said:
I end up deciding plastic might be a more fool proof first choice, and settle on the Large SnapLock chicken coop. The ad says "up to 15", that should be more than enough for chickens, right? Silly me had not been introduced to chicken math yet.
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Um, have you yet read how inaccurate those estimates are? Given the listed dimensions of that coop, I would not try to keep more than 4 or 5 chickens in it.

If you don't want crowded conditions like commercial farmers use, a common rule of thumb is 4 square feet per chicken in the coop, and 10 square feet per chicken in the run, starting at age 8 weeks. They can get by with about half as much space per chicken between about 4 weeks and 8 weeks, and a bit less when they are younger yet.

in general, the more space you give them, the more peaceful your flock will be. Just like people, chickens sometimes want a bit of personal space, and get nasty when they can't get it. In the worst cases, they can injure or kill each other (this is not guaranteed to happen, but in general the people with the most space tend to have the fewest problems within their flocks.)
 
ATXInstantFlock said:
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
While we've joked about having our own supply of fresh eggs, we never planned to raise chickens. As of last Friday we're now backyard chicken farmers(well garage, for now)!

Here's our timeline:
Thu: Our older child's class hatched 6 chicks a few weeks back and they're about to be sent off to their new homes. "Can I please adopt some?" My answer: "If you ask mom and she agrees to take care of them, I'm OK with it". Mom unexpectedly agrees. 😬 Uh-oh!
Fri: We bring home 2 chicks, and immediately run to Petco to buy food. They don't really carry what we need and the helpful employee sends us off to Tractor Supply. I didn't even realize one was so close!
Sat: After deciding that while I'd like to DIY a coop, I realistically won't have enough free time to build one before they'll need to move outside. I spend a lot of time reading about the budget coop options, but am dissuaded by reviews mentioning leaky roofs and thing wooden walls. I end up deciding plastic might be a more fool proof first choice, and settle on the Large SnapLock chicken coop. The ad says "up to 15", that should be more than enough for chickens, right? Silly me had not been introduced to chicken math yet. We do have dogs all around us and some have a strong prey drive, so I wanted something secure to put them into and decided to get a Producer's Pride Poultry Pen. It does feel like we went from 0-60 in no time, but I'd rather spend a little more than to spend all this time/effort and to end up failing because I didn't want to spend a little bit of money up front.
Sun: We're back at Tractor Supply so we can "just look". Kiddo asks, "Can I have 6 more so I have 8 since I'm turning 8?", and breaks out the please eyes. 🥺 So... we end up bringing home another 8 sexed baby pullets. The cost of a second Impeckables poultry starter kit was discounted by $10 if you buy 8 chicks, so the last 2 were "free". Oh boy, what did I get myself into?
Tue: Here I am. 😁

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
We went from 0 to 10 in the span of 72 hours.

(3) What breeds do you have?
The 2 unsexed chicks from school were hatched from eggs, so we have no idea what they are. Could probably use some help identifying them. First pic is Angela knocking the lid off of her feeder and peeking inside. The second pic is of her hopping up onto the ledge when we started getting scared that she might escape if left to her own devices!
View attachment 3809594View attachment 3809593

The 8 additions which are a bit younger:
2x Golden Sex Link
2x Black Sex Link
2x Rhode Island Red
2x Barred Rock

Our current setup in the garage away from unmanageable children and curious dogs.
Left: The 2 mystery birds are the oldest got paired with the 2 barred rocks which are a bit older.
Right: The 6 others are much smaller so they get their own bin. I really ought to get a 2nd thermometer so I can keep closer tabs on their height. Guides I've seen seem to think they can deal with an almost 5F reduction in temperature for every year of life, so I'm trying to balance their heat needs with home safety. The nets don't seem to get that warm, but I don't want to burn my house down by accident!
View attachment 3809595
Heat lamps dangling from ratchet straps hanging from garage storage racks so I can control lamp height. I didn't feel secure just clamping them to the plastic bins.
View attachment 3809623

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Beyond terrifying thoughts of chickens and/or their eggs being raided by armadillos, snakes, and squirrels? 😬
Their cute little cheep-cheep noises are just adorable and their little personalities are already apparent. The biggest one is about 2.5-3 weeks old at this point and she's already exerting her dominance by perching on top of the feeders and trying to escape. We've resorted to throwing fruit tree netting over their plastic brooding box for now as that seems like the only way to keep her safe until they are ready to go outside to their coop.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I'm on extended sabbatical contemplating retirement, so I've had a lot of free time. Or at least I would if I didn't have 2 kids under 10. I'm trying to learn piano & guitar when I'm not playing with my dogs, following our new MLS team (Verde! Listos!).

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
In addition to raising our 2 kids, we have 2 dogs. I've had fresh and saltwater aquariums for many years, but none for the past 8 years or so. We were supposed to get the freshwater tank up and running so my daughter could choose fish for her birthday, but... I guess those plans are on hold until this chicken situation is under control.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? :D
We quickly realized we were in WAY over our heads, but search engines sent us your way. I thought that a lot of the posts/reviews were very thorough and informative, and the whole community seemed to be friendly and supportive.
I'm more of a researcher than an impulsive actor by nature, so this seemed like a great resource for us to begin our backyard chicken journey.

(8) Initial Questions
They seem to love kicking pine shavings into their food/water. Any way to avoid that? Should we raise the feeders by a few inches? We were afraid they might get unstable and be more likely to topple over.
Those gravity water feeders tend to drip very easily making their bedding wet. Any tips?
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Welcome. Mine will not drink from nipples. Therefore, cleaning the water frequently is what I do. I also use bricks to elevate the waterers.
 

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