Hi
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't have any chickens YET!! I have become TOTALLY addicted to this site!!
I want to get some day old chicks (from a feed store - since I can only have about 6 hens in my town) after the first of the year.
Given my relatively mild climate, how soon can I put them out into a coop (what temp?? How many weeks old??) (I am prepared to start them out in a extra large dog crate in a bathroom or the garage - but I am not sure how the rest of the family will cooperate!! -- I mean -my teen daughters wont allow me to have worms in a container under the sink!! But I have three boxes full of worms in the yard!!
I think that the Deep Litter method is where I would go for the coop. I intend to have a dirt-based run. Can I use the "deep litter" idea here too? I was thinking that until I (or my DH) actually get around to building the coop and run next spring I could start "preparing" the run area by piling on leaves, manure, etc. I was thinking that this would give a good start to the "scratching" area since I would not be able to let my chicks "free range". There is a hawk that hangs out in my yard. Once the rains start (could be another month or so -- this IS California), I was thinking that I would scatter the area with grass seed -- so there would be plenty of "greens" when my chicks moved in.
Anything else I should thing about??
I am SO EXCITED to begin!!
Cindy
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't have any chickens YET!! I have become TOTALLY addicted to this site!!
I want to get some day old chicks (from a feed store - since I can only have about 6 hens in my town) after the first of the year.
Given my relatively mild climate, how soon can I put them out into a coop (what temp?? How many weeks old??) (I am prepared to start them out in a extra large dog crate in a bathroom or the garage - but I am not sure how the rest of the family will cooperate!! -- I mean -my teen daughters wont allow me to have worms in a container under the sink!! But I have three boxes full of worms in the yard!!
I think that the Deep Litter method is where I would go for the coop. I intend to have a dirt-based run. Can I use the "deep litter" idea here too? I was thinking that until I (or my DH) actually get around to building the coop and run next spring I could start "preparing" the run area by piling on leaves, manure, etc. I was thinking that this would give a good start to the "scratching" area since I would not be able to let my chicks "free range". There is a hawk that hangs out in my yard. Once the rains start (could be another month or so -- this IS California), I was thinking that I would scatter the area with grass seed -- so there would be plenty of "greens" when my chicks moved in.
Anything else I should thing about??
I am SO EXCITED to begin!!
Cindy
