Changes to the Chickens

[kelsfarm]

Hi!

I would like to know your thoughts:

I am new to chickens, only have been in the backyard chicken world for about 7 months.

I bought a little hobby farm (my first house!! So exciting) so I could finally bring my horse home. The house came with 4 chickens: 2 adult hens and 2 adult roosters. The chickens were totally free range and roosted at night in the pole barn rafters. One of the hens was broody on eggs when we started building stalls and converting the pole barn for horses. She was sitting on a nest of maybe 15 eggs. I didn’t know how long she was sitting on them so I did the egg candeling check and quickly saw that babies were already developing. I moved her and her nest of eggs into another space and just let her do her thing. Well a few weeks later, I started finding half hatched dead chicks!! SO sad she was killing them! So I took her eggs, bought an incubator, and 7 hatched into healthy baby chicks! One sadly passed a few weeks later I don’t know why… so then I had 6. Upon waiting a few months, i ended up with 4 roosters and 1 hen. I put them in their own space in the barn to introduce them to the other chickens for a few weeks, and once I let them free they all got along nicely for a while. Now i know now but didn’t know at the time… too many roosters. Well when the roosters started growing up they got mean towards the hens. I couldn’t bring myself to cull them so I separated them. Bought a nice coop and put the hens there, and left the roosters to free range and have the barn. That seems to have solved the problem. I put a small pen runout for the coop for now until I can actually build a giant run for them in the spring, but it works for now until thaw. Sadly, one of the roosters that came with the house never came home one night so I was now down to 5 roosters, 3 hens.

Reading and reading about chickens I realized I was feeding them wrong. I was feeding flock raised by Purina and mixing in scratch. I know it sounds dumb but there was a duck and a chicken on the bag so I fed this to both my ducks and chickens. Then realized they should be on layer feed so I slowly transitioned them to layer feed pellets and a meal worm sprinkle every morning just because. The layer feed ingredients were almost identical to the duck feed so I feed the ducks the layer feed as well. I have been noticing when I switched the feed after a few weeks the hens didn’t lay as much. But I’m thinking it could also be this winter we are having? I am in Michigan and it’s been windy, cold. I read they do lay less in the winter.

I have grown to love chickens for this short time I’ve been in it! I now see everyone’s addiction! I love their little personalities! So I went to my local hatchery and picked up 12 baby chicks, all different breeds because I want a variety of eggs, and all my friends and family would like to buy eggs from me. I got the chick brooder stuff down pat. They are in my spare room with a heat lamp, water, food, and a mini roosting place that the just started figuring out how to use! I plan to introduce them to my flock once the new coop is constricted with spring right around the corner in the same way I introduced my others: separated in a dog cage sort of enclosure so they can all see eachother and check eachother out.

Now my plans for the coop: I bought a nice new coop Amish built. It is 6x9 and 6 feet tall, kind of a shed type. It has 5 nesting boxes and the different height roosting areas on the long side. A tall door for me to get in and out on the front, and a small door to put a run off of with a ramp in the back. I plan to build a huge run for them off the back maybe like 20x20? Out of 2x4s, the very small square hole wire fencing (I read predators can get through chicken wire) all the way around, and a roof. I plan to use sand and wood chips for the footing of the run, I have fine shaven sawdust in the coop now. In the run will go food and water, an area to dust bathe, and plenty of things for them to play on, play with, and snacks to eat too sometimes. I also have a second smaller shed I want to convert to a coop I would like that to be a rooster coop and run connected to the hen run but separated by the wire fencing. So they will still be able to see each other and interact through the fencing but not be with eachother. The same set up just smaller for the roosters as there isn’t as many, only 5. What do you guys think? I posted a picture of my new hen coop so you could see. I do plan to add more roosting space as well and move their food and water out. Just doing what I can for now until spring.

I feel bad I had to trial and error some things… but I’m trying to give my chickens the best life! A lot of changes now but it will settle soon once I have them settled into their forever place. I would love some input on my experience

 

[rosemarythyme]

Reading and reading about chickens I realized I was feeding them wrong. I was feeding flock raised by Purina and mixing in scratch. I know it sounds dumb but there was a duck and a chicken on the bag so I fed this to both my ducks and chickens. Then realized they should be on layer feed so I slowly transitioned them to layer feed pellets and a meal worm sprinkle every morning just because. The layer feed ingredients were almost identical to the duck feed so I feed the ducks the layer feed as well. I have been noticing when I switched the feed after a few weeks the hens didn’t lay as much. But I’m thinking it could also be this winter we are having? I am in Michigan and it’s been windy, cold. I read they do lay less in the winter.

If you're planning on continuing to keep roosters long term (instead of butchering them , for example) you're better off feeding flock raiser to all the birds, with calcium on the side for the layers. Only active layers need more calcium - the rest (chicks, roosters, non laying females) do not need that level of calcium and it can cause higher incident of organ damage down the line.

If the roosters will all be permanently housed separately from the laying pullets/hens, then you could feed layer feed to the girls that are old enough to lay/actively laying, and then feed flock raiser to chicks or males. But that might be more micromanagement than it's worth.

Only thing I know about ducks is they need niacin, so check that the feed you're using is appropriate for both types of poultry.

I posted a picture of my new hen coop so you could see. I do plan to add more roosting space as well and move their food and water out. Just doing what I can for now until spring.

How much 24/7 ventilation is in there? From the photo, I don't see any.

 

[kelsfarm]

If you're planning on continuing to keep roosters long term (instead of butchering them , for example) you're better off feeding flock raiser to all the birds, with calcium on the side for the layers. Only active layers need more calcium - the rest (chicks, roosters, non laying females) do not need that level of calcium and it can cause higher incident of organ damage down the line.

If the roosters will all be permanently housed separately from the laying pullets/hens, then you could feed layer feed to the girls that are old enough to lay/actively laying, and then feed flock raiser to chicks or males. But that might be more micromanagement than it's worth.

Only thing I know about ducks is they need niacin, so check that the feed you're using is appropriate for both types of poultry.



How much 24/7 ventilation is in there? From the photo, I don't see any.

I read you can ground up egg shells for extra calcium, would that work for my layers?

And there is a metal room on the coop like a pole barn would have and along the peak of the room there is a ventilation slot lone. There is also a window with a screen in it. Should I crack the window? This is something I didn’t know, thank you for bringing it up!

 

[kelsfarm]

I read you can ground up egg shells for extra calcium, would that work for my layers?

And there is a metal room on the coop like a pole barn would have and along the peak of the room there is a ventilation slot lone. There is also a window with a screen in it. Should I crack the window? This is something I didn’t know, thank you for bringing it up!

I stand corrected, there is not a ventilation line at the peak of the roof. But there is the window I can crack with the screen and since I have put the little run off the back, I’ve been leaving the back run door open. Is the back door open good enough on its own?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I read you can ground up egg shells for extra calcium, would that work for my layers?

And there is a metal room on the coop like a pole barn would have and along the peak of the room there is a ventilation slot lone. There is also a window with a screen in it. Should I crack the window? This is something I didn’t know, thank you for bringing it up!

Up to a certain extent egg shells will work. Bigger pieces would be better than powder, so it stays in their digestive tract longer. However if you don't use layer or oyster shell and rely only on egg shell, since they can't absorb 100% of the calcium available in the eggshell, theoretically each time you feed the eggshells back, there's less calcium to absorb.

How big is the window (the actual part that can open for ventilation, not the glass)? How big is the "back run door"? Ideally you want around 1 sq ft of ventilation per bird open 24/7, to allow moisture (for keeping the birds dry and warm in winter) and ammonia (for respiratory health) to escape. Here's an article for you to read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/