Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[EmmaE]

My son came home all excited - his class are hatching eggs and are possibly (yet to be confirmed) going to allow the resulting chicks to be adopted in a few weeks! Well, I've been hankering after keeping chickens for a while but had planned on getting a couple of girls that were a little bit older . . . is it a good idea to get chickens so young? Will they need special equipment? What age can they go outside? I have yet to find out which breed they are - some sort of hybrid - and exactly what age they will be rehomed. Any advice gratefully received!

[Olly]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but if you don't have experience of chickens, I wouldn't recommend starting with chicks so young. Firstly you'd need to be sure it was an auto-sexing breed, so you only got girls; they will need to be somewhere warm for the first 6-8 weeks, so you might need a heat lamp; you would need chick crumbs and a drinker, and they need to be somewhere safe from predators which might include your household pets. You wouldn't be able to put them outside in a normal chicken-run, whether an Eglu or something else, for some weeks.

 

Schools usually keep them till they are 2 weeks old in my experience. It will be 4-5 months before they are old enough to lay eggs. It is do-able, a friend has just taken two chicks from her school, but she's already got hens. The advantage is that they wouldn't cost you anything, but my own feeling would be that you'd be better off to start with POL hens.

 

Don't be put off though - others may disagree with me, and the general idea of having chickens in the back garden is a good one, as you'll see from this forum!

[Egluntyne]

I agree with Olly totally.

 

They will need special equipment and housing at such a young age, and unless you are experienced with hens, it will be rather daunting.

 

Also, you could well end up with a pair of cockerels if the chicks are not of an autosexing variety.

 

Best get some point of lay hybrids to start with.

[The Dogmother]

I agree with Olly and Egluntyne.

 

One other thing you have to bear in mind is that YOU want some chickens, not just the children - with the best will in the world, they will soon get bored of looking after them, and it will fall to you. As with any pet; they do need a certain amount of care and attention.

 

Chicken keeping is a wonderful past time and the children wil learn so much from it, but if they are young kiddies, they will need supervising at first.

[EmmaE]

Yes, that's what I thought too . . . the girls and boys are different so its easy to tell which is which so I wasn't too worried by that, and there is a place indoors that would be suitable to put temporary housing until they were old enough to go outside (we don't have cats or dogs), and I'd researched how to feed them and give them water safely. It was the care and any special equipment they would need as they would be so very young, mainly a heat lamp (which I don't have . . . ). Hmmmm . . . back to the drawing board, as they say!

[EmmaE]

Oh yes . . . I've wanted hens for years! Just never got around to it . . . !

[Redwing]

I cant add to the great advice already given

 

Its best to go about this in your own way rather than being lumbered (in the nicest possible way) with a situation that you wouldnt have chosen yourself

[mostin]

Let us know what ever you decide to do........I do think it's better to dip a toe first though. You can always take the chicks next year then when you have lots more chicken experience

[GGLGirls]

I was one of those annoying people in a similar situation to which you describe. My neice's school hatched eggs and we obtained our lovely ladies at 10 days old, no house, no food, no heat lamp, nothing.

 

We did struggle through as there were many sleepless nights worrying about them and having to clean them out every day (as chicks), BUT I have an amazing and understanding OH who built a makeshift 'nursery' the day we collected them with make shift heat lamp (low wattage bulb wired with plug), an arc for when they were ready to go outside and then a wonderful WIR, and not to mention this fabulous forum with lots of friendly and helpful people. We wouldnt have missed it for the world and love our girls to bits. The girls are happy,healthy and exactly 1 year old last week.

 

I think the message Im trying to say is that although we got through it, and ultimately enjoyed it, it was more a mix of sheer luck and lots of research, and would 2nd the advice given by others above.

[chickyhazel]

I would get point of lay first, and get some experience looking after chickens. If you get a couple of chickens and an eglu from omlet this year, then maybe if the school does it again next year you can take them on! Chicks are lovely, but it is best to have chicken experience first, as the others said.

[EmmaE]

Thank you for all your replies - Plan B it is - fully grown chickens

 

We have a poultry place near us (Storrs Poultry) where we can purchase some girls from. But first we have to sort out the coop . . . I know what I want and where it'll go - just have to actually purchase everything and get ready before looking at chickens . . .

[beulah59]

I agree that it's best to start with POL birds, but if the school hatch again next year, you can buy an all-in-one brooder like this

 

 

http://www.ascott.biz/acatalog/Novital-Brooder-Chick-Box-PY333.html

 

I've not used one, but it looks like fun!

[dannablue]

Thank you for all your replies - Plan B it is - fully grown chickens

 

We have a poultry place near us (Storrs Poultry) where we can purchase some girls from. But first we have to sort out the coop . . . I know what I want and where it'll go - just have to actually purchase everything and get ready before looking at chickens . . .

 

 

I got my girls from Storrs They have plenty to choose from. I am glad I went POL, have been rewarded already with eggs from all 4 girls