Is your dog's unusual barking a secret code for something mysterious?

[scottishchicken]

Oh boy, this is it. It didn't feel quite real until I actually arranged to pick up our chooks, but now it's all coming home to roost (!)

 

I'm off to pick up 6 birds on Sunday - 2 white sussex, 2 bluebells and 2 Isa Browns. I think we've got everything we need from the shopping list for newbies. My little girls (human ones) are very excited and my wife is generously tolerant.

 

There's a brand new wooden coop (sorry omlet, but it's going to live inside so we don't need one of your megacoops) in a secure walk-in run and I guess that's it. Gulp!

[jennym]

That looks nice and spacious, I'm sure they'll be happy. Looking forward to pics of the new girls!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't worry, it'll all fall into place once they arrive . Have you decided on names yet? I'm assuming your little girls will want to name them (cue fluffy girly names ).

[chicken bark]

Nice selection of girls. I hope you've got a 'sleeps to go' countdown chart.

[Chicken Kitty]

It's a very exciting time for you!!.....We've only had our 'girls' a couple of weeks but I can't imagine them not being here now! Hope all goes well for you on Sunday!

[Chortle Chook]

What fun! Your new hen house looks ginormous . . . guess that 6 will only be the start of things

[scottishchicken]

Heh, spot on, we've got a list of names already, and 'sleeps to go' is being recounted at every opportunity. The house is pretty ginormous Cheeky Chook - nothing like a bit of room for expansion should the urge take us, which I'm suspecting after reading these forums, it's somewhat likely to!

[chickanne]

Will not be able to show my girlies this thread as they would be sooo jealous.

 

That is a palace not a coop! You will have to think of a fitting name for it as well as christening the girls ....

[johnandkymberley]

Congrats, everything will be fine once they are in, i have 1 white sussex and she is beautiful, bigger than the rest though like fowl! Chryssie her name is-short for chrysanthemum, and she is such a drama queen! also have 5 isa browns and they are such sweethearts, you will have lots of fun!!

[scottishchicken]

Well, the converted greenhouse has been christened the Whitehouse, as befits its rather salubrious status. And here it is, complete with hens! I can't quite believe it - it was just a few weeks ago we decided to go ahead and get chickens, and here they are - six 20 week old pullets, seemingly happy and settling in nicely.

[pips_pekins]

They look lovely and healthy. Do they have names yet? BTW, the greenhouse has converted really well; I am quite .

[scottishchicken]

Thanks Pips We have a list of names, but I'm waiting for my little girls to come home and apply them. I've already taken a bit of a shine to one of the osa browns, so I may have to name her myself.

[Plum]

Smashing girls, they are going to enjoy hopping up and down on all the levels and burrowing in that earth. So you changed your mind about the breeds

[scottishchicken]

Hi Plum

 

They're really expoloring down there - no-one has made the top level yet, but there's poo everywhere else

 

Strangely, I was having a chat with a chicken keeping friend-of-a-friend last night whose Sussex's were terrible layers, so I panicked and switched last minute.

[chicken bark]

Glad they have arrived and thanks for the photos. They are lucky girls.

Bet you keep going and watching them now. That'll be all your spare time gone. Brilliant.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Congratulations on your new girls, they look lovely . Your 'greenhouse' looks like a fantastic chicken playground .

[scottishchicken]

Went out and got a DVD for the evening, but can't get the wife in from the run to watch it

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Get used to it . Chicken TV is much more hentertaining .

[Chortle Chook]

Oh that does look lovely for your girls. Will it be easy to clean? Looks like it'll need nothing much more than a sweep around.

[scottishchicken]

It should be OK to clean I think - at least the central concrete section will be. I'm not sure what will happen with the side beds over time, I'm guessing they're going to get very full of poo and we'll have to skim off the top layer of poo/soil.

 

But, big news, first egg this morning! On their first morning here! After the palaver getting them into their coop last night, I reckon it was just reward.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Congratulations on the egg .

 

Are you using any bedding on the soil bits? Hemcore, Easibed or Aubiose (other brands available!) make collecting the poo much easier .

[scottishchicken]

I've not got any bedding on the soil bit because it's super-dry soil and any bedding would just get mixed in. I suspect in time all the dry dust soil will be removed and we'll have to replace it with bark or something that the poo will wash through. I'm guessing anyway.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

If the soil is loose that should be fine but if it gets impacted at all, then the poo will just sit on top and get flattened . Horse type bedding is good because it dries out the poos and it either disappears or if they're big, you can collect them up (good for the compost!). It also gives them something to scratch about in, which they enjoy .

 

You could use Stalosan F (a powdered disinfectant) to keep the inside of your run free of nasties.

[scottishchicken]

Howdy - thanks a lot for the tips - I love this board!

 

The soil is super dry and dusty and the birds were rolling around in it for the first few days, loving their dust bath. That has tailed off a bit and I'm wondering if it's because there is poo in the soil. One thought I had was that I could riddle the dusty soil on the big weekly cleanout to get the worst poo out of it. Should I use Stalosan in the soil bed or is it best left to its own devices?

 

Discovered yesterday that chickens like bolted rocket in a very big way.

[scottishchicken]

Oh, meant to say your WIR pics have inspired me. Next stage of development is chicken ladders and springboards! (although after last night getting the high roosters down from the plank in the rafters I reckon we'll be keeping it all lower level!)