Countdown to having our very first chooks

[mew]

Im sooo excited MOH and I are having 3 ex battery rescue chickens on 21 June. MOH is currently building the coop.

Weve never owned chickens before so really am looking for any tips or advice to novices such as myself particularly when starting off with chickens.

I need to source some plastic eggs (or alternatives) as Ive read this helps them to learn to lay in the nesting boxes instead of whereever they are at the time.

Also any suggestions on the best place to buy the feeders from and what kind. Ive read the funnelled ones are the best so they cant fowl them.

Any bits of info / advice would be greatly received.

I'll be sure to post some pics when we get them home.

Their names will be Dorothy (Dot), Maureen (Mo) and Florence (Flo) but MOH wants to call the third one Streethawk.....!!!

Thank youuuuu

MEW

[tim&fatima]

Hello mew,

Congrats,
We had our first chickens last august ish, it is fantastic, and you never get tired looking out into back garden to see them running about.
We decided we would only have two, but now we have six chickens and 11 chicks. so watch out they are very addictive.
Make sure the pen is big enough for twice as many chickens to watch you start with.
Also, as long as you make the nesting boxes warm and position them in the darkest part of the hen house, they should lay there.
You can put eggs in the nesting boxes if you like ( just use cheap @sd@ ones) but be careful the chooks don't go broody.

I see your in stafford, are you close to penkridge? cause they have a market on Wednesdays, and you can get cheap feeders from there, they even sell chickens (for when you need more.

[MKG]

Dorothy (Dot), Maureen (Mo) and Florence (Flo).

C'mon - I've got to know why.

[wiggy]

Hi congrats on saving a few girls.
Where I live we have loads of chickens - i think theres about 25 and 6 cocks.
As your getting ex battery they WILL be shell shocked the first few days so your best bet is to leave them alone to discover their new home.
Ex battery hens can live for a good few years but sometimes they might only live for a few weeks after going to a new home - the stress can kill them.
In your coop do you have a outside run with it or are they going to be kept inside? If they are kept inside give them things to enterain them - old CD's hung from the roof, footballs are always fun for them to play with as well.

I dont know about feeders as ours are put anyway at night and get fed then but they have soooo much land to roam about on - theres always bugs and things for them to nibble on here!
As for plastic eggs you could use kinder eggs - that might work but i've never had that problem so im not too sure
Most of all be prepared for your girls to look - well horrible at first anyway. Chickens are hardy little creatures and can recover really quickly

They are so much fun to watch - ours like cheese! They cheese race around the field with lumps of it in their mouth - higlhly amusing to watch

good luck x

[mew]

Thanks for all the advice

MKG - Not an exciting reason in afraid. I really wanted some old fashioned names, originally was going to have my grandma's names Gladys and Philis but I just preferred Dot Mo and Flo as I thought they went together quite well, but MHO still getting on about bl*)dy Streethawk....!

The coop will have an enclosed run so we will keep them in there for a few days, Will sort some CDs to hand from (MHO has some really ropey taste in music so im sure I can find something... although im pretty sure hed say the same about me too! )

Im know they'll come looking awful at first but with a bit of TLC im sure they're be fine. Even if they only last a few weeks (but I hope they have a longer life than that) ill be just glad they had a few weeks of freedom.

What feeders are the best, ive seen loads of plastic ones but have been told the galvenised steel ones are much better (but are a lot more expensive).

Thanks again

MEW

[godfreyrob]

Chickens will strip any grass in a short time if they are in an enclosed space-unless its huge. Ok in summer, but it can become a real smelly swamp in winter (and as they walk in and out of the nest boxes your eggs get mucky too).
If you can arrange to divide your available runs into at least two areas - you can alternate access and hopefully let one area grow back while the hens are on the other. I made the mistake the first time of having 6 hens in a single run 20' x 12' - within weeks it was bare and as soon as it rained it was a mudbath.

Good luck with the new arrivals - prepare to lose your life to chicken watching!