Total beginner, welcome any advice

[Jlpiat12]

We are totally new to anything involving raising chickens. We just got chicks today from our local Murdochs. They will be kept for eggs/ as pets. I have been doing as much online research as I can.. but surely would welcome any advice or tips from seasoned backyard chicken owners. We are currently keeping them in a small sheep trough with pine shaving bedding, heat lamp etc.. all the basic recommendations.. in our heated garage (we have cats and cannot keep them in the house). I am so excited as I have always wanted chickens, but now that we have them I am feeling a bit anxious and overwhelmed.. mainly due to my inexperience. Any advice or tips involving chick care as well as how to set up our coop/ run area etc would be immensely appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

 

[007Sean]

If you can post some pics of your setup, it would be most helpful in answering your questions.
What are you feeding them, what is the temerature on the floor of the brooder(at the chicks level) etc?

 

[Bellagarliepp]

We are totally new to anything involving raising chickens. We just got chicks today from our local Murdochs. They will be kept for eggs/ as pets. I have been doing as much online research as I can.. but surely would welcome any advice or tips from seasoned backyard chicken owners. We are currently keeping them in a small sheep trough with pine shaving bedding, heat lamp etc.. all the basic recommendations.. in our heated garage (we have cats and cannot keep them in the house). I am so excited as I have always wanted chickens, but now that we have them I am feeling a bit anxious and overwhelmed.. mainly due to my inexperience. Any advice or tips involving chick care as well as how to set up our coop/ run area etc would be immensely appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

I got my first set of chicks at the end of Febuary from Murdoch’s the chick helpers were so helpful. I have read a lot about chicks/chickens between this site and there are a couple of pages I joined on Facebook that have helped a ton. Any time I feel inexperienced about anything I normally search whatever I am wondering about see if I can find something about it. I have learned that there are no silly questions. At least my chicks seem pretty easy to take care of, have lots of patience with them being scared of you.

 

[Saaniya]

We are totally new to anything involving raising chickens. We just got chicks today from our local Murdochs. They will be kept for eggs/ as pets. I have been doing as much online research as I can.. but surely would welcome any advice or tips from seasoned backyard chicken owners. We are currently keeping them in a small sheep trough with pine shaving bedding, heat lamp etc.. all the basic recommendations.. in our heated garage (we have cats and cannot keep them in the house). I am so excited as I have always wanted chickens, but now that we have them I am feeling a bit anxious and overwhelmed.. mainly due to my inexperience. Any advice or tips involving chick care as well as how to set up our coop/ run area etc would be immensely appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

Welcome here
Would love to see ur flock
I will advise for good biosecurity
For Chickens

 

[Perris]

hello @Jlpiat12 ! welcome to BYC
good luck with your chicks

 

[aart]

If you can post some pics of your setup, it would be most helpful in answering your questions.
What are you feeding them, what is the temerature on the floor of the brooder(at the chicks level) etc?

Ditto Dat^^^


Start building your coop now.

Welcome to BYC @Jlpiat12!
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Welcome to BYC! This is the best place to learn and share all things fowl. Just a suggestion, but I opted for a bunny cage and brooder plate to brood my chicks in this year. The bunny cage sets up in about two minutes and it's easy to clean. Their feathers are coming in quicker with the brooder plate and they seem less crazed as the group I used the heat lamp on last year. And it uses way less electricity. But good luck and do take pictures.

 

[N F C]

Congrats on your new chicks! What breeds do you have?

Do you have a cover over your brooder? Sure don't want the cats getting to them or for the chicks to fly out.

Best wishes to you!

 

[MochaDuck]

Welcome to the wonderful world of chicken owning!

Check out the books:
"Mini encyclopedia of the chicken. Chicken breeds and care" By Frances Bassom
And
"Chick Days. Raising chickens from hatchlings to laying hens" by Jenna Woginrich

Awesome books for beginners.

 

[Jlpiat12]

Here are a couple pictures of our setup. We are feeding the chicks medicated chick starter only. Also we only bought 2 chicks.. which I have read is either fine or not a good idea, but I am having trouble convincing my husband that we should buy more. The lady who helped us purchase them said that they are 1 week old. We got a Barred Rock and a Light Brahma. To answer an earlier question the temperature directly under the lamp is 90 F. Also our cats are strictly indoor cats so no worries there. I am wondering about purchasing a chi cken coop vs building our own and if anyone has any suggestions as to where to purchase from. Thanks for the words of welcome, I am glad I found this page.