Chicken boarders

[pixiewish]

Hi all

 

Been to see the breeder today and have picked out 3 chickens to pick up on saturday. 2 black pekins and 1 gold-laced orpington bantam. Not quite what I envisaged as they will only be 7 weeks old and I had planned on getting POls

 

So what do I need to know about growers that is different from POLs. I know I need to keep them on growers pellets until they are about 16 weeks....is that the only difference? Can they have corn and treats?

 

Oh and wing clipping when should that be done?

 

The breeders says she doesn't normally worm until 16 weeks, but should I worm anyway just to be safe?

 

She has also said to pop them in the coop when i get home (will be about 11am) and then to let them out into the run for just a couple of hours in the evening before putting them to bed...does that sound ok? I assume I put food and water into the coop with them? How do I stop them knocking it over?

 

Also I have a go with the feeder and drinker, but these seem massive compared to the birds....am I best off using something smaller initially, I have some of those little cups that clip onto the run (for grit)?

 

I have hemcore for the run (which has a cover) and some straw to go in the nest box, I have sprinked biodri and diatom liberally and set up a dust bath. Is there anything else I need to do before saturday (other than decide on names )?

 

Thanks for any advice. Very excited

[dance in the dark]

Wow you really sound very well prepared!

 

I have never seen bantam growers before so I am not sure on size, but it depends what kind of drinkers you have, if they are gravity fed with a little reservoir at the bottom, then size doesn't matter, if it's an open drinker like the glug I would be a little wary as small, young chickens can easily drown, if they are bigger than the drinker it should be fine, but if it looks a bit risky you can always buy a smaller one cheap. As for feeders, as long as they can reach into it, it will be fine.

 

I wouldn't bother clipping their wings, it doesn't hurt them at all, isn't difficult, nor does it affect their appearance, but it's a two person job and with pekins and orpingtons(especially as it's a bantam), the chance of it being necessary are very small. As long as you have a fence over about three feet high I am sure they will be fine. As long as chickens are happy with what they have they normally will avoid trying to fly, and most of what they do is jumping anyway so wing clipping wouldn't make a difference. The only hens of my 19 that have ever made any kind of a break were cream legbars who are known to be good fliers. If you really think it is necessary I would still wait a good couple of months as they won't have full finished feathering yet.

 

If I were you I would pop them in the coop when you get back, leave them in there for maybe 30minutes, then let them out to explore their run, this way you won't need to give them food and water in their coop (as long as your breeder is no more than, say, an hours travelling time, maybe a little more. Just let them get acquainted with where is sheltered and dark (i.e perfect for sleeping) then let them wander out in their own time. That way you don't need to bother with food in their coop, which will always end in a mess, I promise you! you also don't need to let them have food or water at night (although in the very long nights in Winter some people like to give them something to nibble on, just in case) Hopefully then they should put themselves to bed when it starts to get dark, although when they are younger this is normally a little earlier that fully grown hens so I expect at the moment it might be about 8/9pm

 

And as for treats, I don't know the official line, but I give my chicks treat by the time they are seven weeks, although do be sparing, as they will eat a lot less at this age. Corn is best just before bed as it digests more slowly and in the winter it helps to keep them warm through the long nights. Mealworms are also a nutritious (expensive) treat, and they will be very popular.

 

Other than growers pellets the only main difference with grower is that you should not give them any calcium supplements (limestone flour, egg shell improves, oyster shell etc) as they do not need this yet and too much calcium can create cause problems in very young birds (I think liver problems but don't quote me).

 

Other than that I think you are good to go, and sound like you will be a wonderful chicken parent!

[KarenW]

Very exciting, I bet Saturday seems ages away! I don't know much about chicks after they're about a week old up until about 12 weeks so not much help I'm afraid. I got some 12 week olds yesterday, my friend is going to worm them for me when she does the rest of her growers at about 16 weeks, so I'd say wait. I'm not going to clip their wings yet either, I think they look too small so will wait and see how they do for flying!

 

The only other thing is that I put cardboard into the bottom of the nesting box initially - was a bit worried about them falling down the gap in the one in the cube and also as they're a while off laying yet I didn't want to make it too comfy for them and find they all sleep in it! As it turned out though I also got a 8-ish month old frizzle pekin who is laying so I relented and put shredded paper in for her, but then this morning 2 of them were cuddled up in there. They do take advantage of my kind nature - I'll be turfing them out every night from now on though

 

Karen

[Redwing]

The coop cups that you have for grit will be perfect as feeders and drinkers for now

 

They can have corn but its a little early since they will only just had come off chick crumb on to growers pellets so I would wait a week or two. When you start feeding treats give them some insoluble git (you can get special small grit for growers) whatever grit you use it must not have shell in it

 

Remove perches from the coop as these will cause bent breast bones in growers, they should sleep on bedding on the floor

 

I dont worm my growers until they are nearing 16/18 weeks or so

 

You can wing clip them now if you plan tp let them free range (be cautious if you do as they are so small and can be taken by birds or cats and are much more 'jumpy' when young....) but you will need to re wing clip them when they have all of their adult feathers in some weeks time

 

I wouldnt put them in the coop personally as its a long day to be cooped up... the thinking there is that they will know where their bed is when it gets dark but in my experience it takes a few days for growers to get to grips with going to bed at all as most have been raised in pens or sheds and so arent used to coops anyway. Do be around to get them in to bed the first few days, after that they should be fine

[pixiewish]

Thankyou everyone, i am very excited.

 

Redwing - I didn't know that about the perches...so I just slide the perch bit out of the GO and let them sit on bedding on the floor bit?

 

I won't wing clip for now and will see how we get on.

 

Its only a 40min drive from the breeder so i'll pop them in the coop for 30mins or so to settle and then open the door and see what happens

[pixiewish]

Redwing - I have a bag of mixed grit, is that suitable for them? it doesn't say anything about containing shell...

[pixiewish]

Have googled and think the answer to my question is no, so just ordered some chick flint grit which I think is the right stuff...or I hope so anyway

[Tweety]

Yes, the chick flint grit is the right stuff. The mixed grit is not suitable for them yet.

 

Just slide the roosting bars/nest box bit out of the Go, and put some bedding in the poo tray for them to sleep on until they are at least 14 weeks old.

 

Good luck!

[Purplemaniacs]

When I moved my bantam chicks outside to the eglu and run at 7 weeks of age, I put them straight into the run. At bedtime I put a torch in the eglu and gradually they all went in. The next night they did it all by themselves, I was most impressed with them.

 

I use a gravity water holder but use the grub from the eglu I did also put their chick feeder in for the first few days but they all seemed to manage the grub ok.

 

Chrissie

[pixiewish]

Approx how much food should they be having? i read that POL bantams have about 125g pellets/hen/day as a guide, but don't know how much to put out for them as growers?

[Tweety]

Just fill up their food container so that they can help themselves as and when they want to. No need to measure/weigh it out.

It's a good idea to remove their food from the run at night though, you don't want to attract mice or rats!

[pixiewish]

Thanks Tweety, that's what I'm worried about...didn't want to be leaving loads of food spilt and left out.