# The chicks have moved in!



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

We finished the chicken coop last night and so the chicks moved into their new Condo.  They were so happy last night when we put them in there, they were going crazy flying from one side of the coop to the other like saying: "Holly Molly, look at all this space!" :rofl: One of them jumped on the perch right away but another one had a hard time, she kept trying to jump on it and kept missing it and falling back down. :rofl: Then the one that was on the perch saw us (hubby and I) peaking through the window and the crazy chick flew into the window!!  :rofl:


----------



## Ashley_M (Feb 19, 2003)

Cute! What breed? Are they hens only?


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Yes, only hens... Red Sex Links


----------



## TriadGSD (Feb 19, 2011)

awesome! wished i had bought a house in the country


----------



## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

They are so cute:wub:

That set up looks very nice and cozy!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

TriadGSD said:


> awesome! wished i had bought a house in the country


Best thing I ever did!


----------



## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

What is the outside arrangement? What do your dogs say to the birds?
Very cute!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

We are building a big run probably 12 by 24 feet. Right now they will stay in the coop till the run is finished. I don't think the dogs know they are there yet, we just moved them in last night.


----------



## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

The dogs will have fun!


----------



## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

So cute! I'm jealous!!!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Don't worry Jessica, if they are laying eggs when ever you come down to see us, you can take some fresh eggs home with you.


----------



## countrygirl31995 (Apr 16, 2012)

Cute! I love chickens! I used to raise them when I was a teenager and I miss having all the little babies! Now I only have 6 bantams that are "retired". My oldest is 10 years old.


----------



## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

GSDBESTK9 said:


> Don't worry Jessica, if they are laying eggs when ever you come down to see us, you can take some fresh eggs home with you.


YAY! Now I just need to figure out what 4 months from now is and that's when I'll be there! lol


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

LOL Well, you can just come before then too.


----------



## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

i remember when we put our flock in the coop, little tiny poof heads running around, too cute, now they are all grown and my one rooster is just beautiful, my other rooster is nasty as they get. sexlinks i had in the past, if you spend time with them you can train them (pick them up) etc... nice laidback breed, they are nosey too


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

soooo cute! They look VERY happy!! Almost done with the inside of our million dollar chicken coop! Then on to the outside.. 

Love watching them grow:


----------



## spidermilk (Mar 18, 2010)

TriadGSD said:


> awesome! wished i had bought a house in the country


In my city they have made an ordinance so that you can raise chickens in town. (It isn't some po-dunk town either.) They have very strict rules about the coop and the care. Maybe your town has something similar?


----------



## mahhi22 (Jul 14, 2009)

spidermilk said:


> In my city they have made an ordinance so that you can raise chickens in town. (It isn't some po-dunk town either.) They have very strict rules about the coop and the care. Maybe your town has something similar?


In Seattle, you can have up to 5 hens (I think) & no roosters. Seattle sure ain't po-dunk that's for sure


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

The coop looks great! Eggs will be served up before you know it. 
Diane I saw that link you put up on fb with the recycled trampoline frame....I think that would make a great tractor type coop. We may be recycling ours to let our chickens take care of the bugs in the yard, but still be safe from predators(my dogs)!


----------



## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

We finally got to work on our "official" coop this week. It's about halfway done...we're building a big 8x7 shed for them. Right now I have some in a converted playhouse, and my cockerels are free ranging outside and seem really happy. They come running whenever they see me...it's so cute!! No incidents with the dogs - at least not yet! And I have 2 groups of chicks brooding inside...the oldest is just about ready to go outside. I hope to have our coop/shed done by this weekend so I can move them out there together.
I'll try to get some pics once we make some more progress - it looks kinda sad so far!!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Would love to see your pictures!


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

also would love to see "coop" progress pics, I am taking bits and pieces here and there for mine.

JANE, wasn't that a hoot??? The trampoline would make a good 'tractor' for grazing!

I have to get some updates of my "shed conversion"....I painted, then decided to put linoleum on the wall behind the 'poop board',,well THAT was a disaester The stinkin stuff fell off, glue all over the wall, I had to scrape down Now I'm thinking of using this stuff they use in restaurants behind sinks that screws to the wall...

Caroline, are you going to paint your nest boxes? (inside) I saw on the chicken board, that some paint them 'brown' or a dark color, it promotes egg laying because they like a dark place to nest???

Then I saw a NEAT idea, on site, that some line their nest boxes with a plastic container, low sides, fits right in, fill it with hay/shavings, for easy nest box cleaning


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I was not planning on painting the inside, but maybe I should??? :thinking:

By the way, I'm getting six more chicks!!! I have convinced hubby.  But I'm going to wait till we have the run finished.

I know I want to get 6 more, but not sure which, I like the Australorps, Rhode Island Reds and the Buff Orpingtons. At first I was thinking 3 Australorps and 3 BO, but know I'm thinking 2 Australorps, 2 OB and 2 RIR. :rofl: :crazy:

Where did you order yours from??


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

LOL chicken math has taken over !! LOL..

I went on mypetchicken, they have a really good descrip of all birds thats kinda what I went with.

I wanted, friendly, easy going, hardy (cold & heat) good layers..so thats why I went with the BUff's who are very popular I hear, australorps, wyandottes and speckled sussex..they say the barred plymouth rocks are nice too..as well as the RIR..

I ordered mine from My Pet Chicken,,you can order any amount, the shipping was 39$ I think? (same cost of the chickens! LOL),,,I picked my breeds and when you click into it, they tell you what 'dates' they are available, so then I tried to pick all the breeds I wanted to be available on the same date..This is bad but I'm thinking of adding a couple more to my order LOL...


----------



## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

I got 6 australorps, I am not crazy about them. Of the 6, 5 were boys, although they were sold straight run so I just had bad luck. They are growing soo much slower than any of my others. They also seem the most skittish, I can't really get near any of them but some of my SLW's and Easter Eggers let me pet them and pick them up.

I like my wyandottes a lot, and I know someone with speckled sussex and she loves hers. I also have a bunch of easter eggers, a some are really skittish but some are really friendly and they come in a huge variety of colors.

Ideal Hatchery has no minimum order and they don't charge a whole lot for shipping. I got 15 Russian Orloffs and 2 Cuckoo Marans about 2 weeks ago for $60, including shipping. They charged 2.55 for shipping and then a $7 quarter box fee. I won't be keeping all of them, I will sell the extras once I have my favorites picked out. Their Orloffs are sold out til next spring so I think they'll be in high demand! They aren't the best layers but IMO they are gorgeous. 
I ordered mine over the phone because their website isn't always up to date.


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Ok, I have a chance to get some 4 week old Barred Rocks for free. I would have to drive 68 miles to go get them and the only problem is that neither the person who has them or I know how to sex them, and I don't want Roosters!!! What should I do. :crazy:

She says that they came from a hatchery and that they should mostly be females, but I don't think that is the case. :nono:


----------



## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

See if you can get her to take pics - I wouldn't ride that far without seeing the birds first. Then you can post them on the chicken forums to see what the experts think. I think barred rocks can be sexed by their coloring.


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

thats not a bad price on Ideal..are they in TX? I always worry about the farther they are the longer it will take to ship/problems arising.

Ok, Carolina, and this is ONLY what i read on the chicken board, how true it is I do not know..someone posted to tell the sex, put them on their backs in your hand, there little feet will start flapping, if they stop flapping relatively soon, they are girls if they continue to flap they are boys.. Sounds kinda cooky to me, but it seemed to be from a seasoned poster LOL..

I was thinking of adding barred rocks to my order..


----------



## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

Yep Ideal is in TX...my chicks got here in 2 days. I think they must have a system with their PO to get the chicks out quickly. They were hatched Wednesday morning and arrived Friday morning. One did not survive the trip, and one died a week later (suddenly - so maybe ate some bedding??) but the others are doing great.
Think they have a tendency to put in male chicks as packing peanuts/for warmth - but I think you can request none?? I didn't say anything just out of curiosity and didn't get any with my order.


----------



## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

Just finished round 3 of work on our shed/coop...I should be studying for my finals but am itching to get this done!! LOL

Not too much framing left to do - just the roof boards, then we can put plywood around the outside.


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I actually found a post on the forum that tells you how to sex them, seems pretty easy!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

That is nice!!


----------



## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

phgsd said:


> Ideal Hatchery has no minimum order and they don't charge a whole lot for shipping. I got 15 Russian Orloffs and 2 Cuckoo Marans about 2 weeks ago for $60, including shipping. They charged 2.55 for shipping and then a $7 quarter box fee. I won't be keeping all of them, I will sell the extras once I have my favorites picked out. Their Orloffs are sold out til next spring so I think they'll be in high demand! They aren't the best layers but IMO they are gorgeous.
> I ordered mine over the phone because their website isn't always up to date.


I had two Russian Orloffs and adored them, I ordered them specially from the supplier and was so happy when they came. Unfortunately less then a month after I got them a racoon managed to pry open the small coop door and got into the coop and killed two of the chickens, and one was one of my Orloffs! I was SO mad!  I waited months for them to come in and they were SO pretty and nice temperments


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

nice coop !!!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Looks like I'm getting the 6 Barred Rocks!!!  I'm so excited!!!!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I got my 6 Barred Rocks today!! I'm so excited.  I sure hope I chose right though and got all hens  I have not put them in the coop yet with my Sex Links cause we had to run to VA to breed Dorian, but I'm hoping I won't have any issues putting them together, hope they like each other. :crazy:


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

So far so good!!


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

they are so cute, the little chirpers!!! Hey just think if you sexed them all right, you could get a huge paying job sexing chickens !!!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

:rofl: I doubt that!

Hey did you order Barred Rocks? If not, I think you should consider it.  These are so much friendlier than my Red Sex Links. I really really like them.


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

no, but I was thinking of 'adding' a couple to my order..I have a week to decide..I figured what's a couple more, and the barred rocks are available on my "ship date"..


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

How many did you order??


----------



## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

I am also going to have to do some intros this weekend - I am getting 3 new chickens, one blue ameracuana, one black copper marans and one cuckoo marans. And I have one group I hatched out myself - they are almost 6 weeks old and ready to go out into the coop, along with the 6 pullets I have out in my temporary coop...hopefully I can get all 3 groups together without too much fuss!
Our coop is almost finished - I'm exhausted! LOL I am getting the 3 new birds on Sunday so need it done by then. It looks like we'll make it. It's going to be such a relief having all the chickens in one place!


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Actually, my Reds were keeping the BRs from the feeder and water.  I had to put another feeder and water on the other side of the coop but now I'm worried. I don't want to loose any of my BRs, so I keep checking on them. I sure hope they will accept them in the next day or so.


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

Carolina, I ordered 8,,am debating about adding a couple more LOL..Here are some pics of the poop board building we are working on

view from inside shed


















view from outside which will be run area 









and since we had some stuff laying around did a corner one I bought a sheet of commercial kitchen grade fiberglass and used that to line the poop boards and walls.


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Very nice Diane!! Hey how far are you from PA?? The lady that gave me my Barred Rocks is looking to get rid of a few more. They were hatched April 19 so they just turned 3 weeks old, and they were sexed at the hatchary so they are mostly hens. They were very easy to tell females from males which she really didn't have many. Maybe 2 or 3 that I saw.


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

oh I'm way far from PA: probably 10+ hours ..but thanks


----------

