:eek: Thanks for the tip! I had no idea anything could get through the shell.
Ha! They’re porous 
Bitty baby birds have to breathe before they hatch :yes:
Really, the conditions production hens are kept in is pretty bad. Your birds and eggs will be mucho cleaner. Most eggs you’ll gather will be clean. Every now and then one will have a poopy footprint–wash those. Or feed them to the dogs.
I do not wash or refrigerate my eggs.
With just 3 hens, it takes a few days to make a dozen.
I keep a carton on the counter & just use the “oldest” (3-4 days) first.
On the rare occasion an egg has a muddy footprint or fleck of poop, I just wipe with a damp paper towel.
I give eggs to friends & to date, nobody has gotten a bad egg, or sick from eating them.
Funny, I came here looking for an old chicken thread of mine. Unfortunately, I had to rehome them in my divorce last year but I’m getting itchy to try again. Your barn set up is really similar to what I want for chickens and a few goats in the future.
I agree with everything said here about building Fort Knox the first time, adding that you should give them the largest outdoor enclosure you can, provided it is just as secure as the coop. The overhang will be so useful with weather protection, fresh air and relieving boredom. You could easily get away with one 8 foot stall for roosting, nest boxes, food and water if you plan to start with less than 6 chickens and give them 24 hour access to the outdoor area. Later on you could use the adjoining stall for the dozen new chicks you are bound to get. A door or removable partition on that side can be built in now so the two areas can be connected. I wouldn’t worry about windows so much if they can get outside whenever they want and have plenty of ventilation.
Which direction does the wind blow? Keeping drafts off them while sleeping is important so you’d want to orient the roost in a protected area if you choose to leave a door open to the run. It can be a dutch door with a smaller hole cut into the bottom with a closeable chicken door. That gives you several options depending on the weather. I loved them having 24 hour access to the run because I never felt guilty about sleeping in and it was easy for someone else to care for them and collect eggs once a day without having to herd or count chickens. And, they weren’t upset about a different schedule if I was away for a week.
Came across videos from this coop builder and like what he does and has to say about chicken keeping. Of course, he’s advertising his own (very expensive) product but some of the ideas are really helpful for DIY.
I never saw anyone respond about raising them in a 100 gal tank but that’s what I did. I just put it in my finished (heated) basement and hung the heat light from the side with the little clamp that it came with. My tank is metal one that had had a couple of small rust holes in it so it was no longer usable for holding water. I didn’t want to deal with a rubber tank and a heat light. As someone else mentioned, put your water up on bricks or short 2x4s because they do kick the shavings into the water if you don’t.
I kept my chicks in long enough that they could jump/fly up to the side because it didn’t seem warm enough to put them out yet. I just topped the tank with some chicken wire when I wasn’t there playing with them. As someone else said, do play with them a lot. Mine turned out to be really friendly because I handled them and fed them treats of torn lettuce.
I got my chicks from TSC and they were really healthy. I got 10 white rocks the first time. Very friendly and funny. The second time I got 3 red sexlinks and 3 gold sexlinks. They aren’t as friendly but I think that’s because my work hours changed and I didn’t get home from work early enough to spend daylight hours in their run. I’ve read that the hybrids aren’t as healthy/long lived. I don’t know if that’s true or not. Mine have been pretty healthy.
Oh, and I don’t know if it’s just my TSC but the chicks don’t stay in the store long. People snap them right up.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw your post was… Chicken Burritos! :lol: And then I got hungry for Mexican food. How are your naughty burritos? Still stealing hay from the poor horse? I think of you every time a donkey video comes across my FB feed!
I’m also worried about one of my dogs and chickens. I guess I’m more worried that I’ll spend hours and hours and $'s redoing the barn for chickens, only to have to give the chickens away because she won’t leave them alone. Because I won’t keep them if she is going to torture them, even from outside the chicken run (that just wouldn’t be fair to the poor chickens). But I’m hopeful that she can get used to the chickens like she got used to the cats. If not, then I’ll find the chickens a new home.
I’ve seen those movable chicken tractors you’re talking about. I’ve often wondered what would keep a larger animal from tipping one over, since its not attached to the ground. Or do they have a mesh floor that means that even if tipped, the chickens are protected?
Hmmmm… hadn’t thought about the fact that the trough I was going to use us that hard plastic type (I think it’s a High Country 100 gallon trough - its green hard plastic). So using that heat plate that @Simkie mentioned, probably not a good idea? Or does it not get that warm on the bottom? I have one of those lamps with the clamp that you can put a heat bulb in.
Those tractors are pretty sturdy, the ones I’ve seen. I would not trust them for overnight housing, though- we have lost too many to snakes, and they don’t have wire bottoms (you wouldn’t want them, they love a good dust bath and need to be able to get down in the ground and clean up 
I don’t have any experience with the heat plates. Not sure how hot they get. Maybe @Simkie will come back and tell us.
I think you’d be fine using a heat plate in a trough. I’ve used them in a plastic cat carrier (THAT’S a story! :lol:) and in a dog crate, on a plastic pan. Oh, also on vinyl flooring. No problems anywhere. Works fine. They get warm but aren’t going to melt plastic–they’re actually made of plastic. They’re great, really love them. :yes:
The heat plates are much, much safer than the heat lamps and are perfectly fine to use in a Rubbermaid trough - that’s why I use for my brooders. The heat plates don’t radiate a lot of heat except underneath - they can be fairly cool to top on the top and sides and nice and toasty for the chicks underneath. They’re also a lot more energy efficient - I noticed a difference in my power bill using them.
Oh, and on more thing - I run the cord for the heater plate out through the drain hole of the tub, then duct tape down the section of cord inside the tub.
That is SO clever!
@Simkie and @McGurk - thanks for the additional info on the heat plates. I had only looked online for a second previously to get an idea of cost. Now that I look again, a bit more thoroughly, I see that the plate doesn’t actually sit on the ground (I was thinking “plate” as in, the chickens sit on it to keep warm). Now I see its on stilts and they huddle under it to keep warm.
Great suggestion. Now I just have to find my big crescent wrench to get the drain plug out, Those things are always such a PITA to get off.
Thanks for the info on the heating plate! Heat lamps have always made me really nervous.
My chickens are shut up at night but free-range during the day. They are a huge help with keeping manure scattered and reducing the fly population.
Re dogs - my border collies and my Brittany can, will and have killed chickens at every opportunity.:mad: Dogs have about a 1/3 acre fenced to run in, when they are not in the house. Nevertheless, they will tunnel under the fence to kill chickens.
So I ran hot wire around the bottom of the fenced yard - dogs learned to start tunneling farther away so as not to contact the wire.
I recently had to hire someone to truck in 3 dump truck loads of dirt to fill in the tunnels the dogs created hunting chickens and moles. Now dogs only have access to the yard when I’m sitting on the porch supervising, and spend unsupervised time either in the house or in their concrete-floored runs.
OTOH, Aoife, my border/pyr, is very in touch with her LGD side and is fine with chickens, even wee baby chicks. She will protect them from the other animals.
Barn cats are also no problem - the grown hens will on occasion chase Butch Catsidy. I think this is because his sister, Sundance Kitty, spends a lot of time bonding with them when they’re young. When they grow up, they’re like her minions. I suspect she sics them on her brother, with whom she has sibling rivalry issues.
I’ll post photos of my brooder setup when I’m at home this evening. Two more tricks - set the legs of the heater plates at different levels so chicks can regulate the heat that much more - snuggle down to the low end if they’re cold, move toward the higher end when they get warm.
And best thing ever - put press 'n seal wrap on top of the brooder plates. It’s the correct width, just trim the length. Once the chicks learn to perch on top, you clean them by replacing the wrap, which beats the heck out of scrubbing them.
Speaking of chicks at TSC, when you get chicks there or your local co-op or at a private farm for that matter, is there anything specific to look for or avoid? I mean, I know what to look for in a puppy or kitten or a horse, but not sure if that translates to a chick?
buy the first batch from tsc. then join local FB chicken groups and make friends.over time you will suss out who has NPIP certs, whose pens look nasty, etc
If you are looking for nice quality birds get them from a breeder. If you are wanting to make sure you only have hens, mypetchicken does a great job sexing their chicks. Another route is to only buy sex linked birds.
TSC and Rural King are notorious for selling people the wrong breed bird, poor quality birds, or mostly roosters. Doesn’t mean they won’t lay eggs if they turn out to be hens, but I liked picking a variety pack from Mypetchicken and their experience picking out day old chicks that will be hens.
Also, standard sized birds seem to do a much better job staying alive. I love my silkies, but they seem to walk into the mouths of predators on a regular basis. No more of them until we get a covered run. The standard birds free range and seem to spend a good deal of time in the road, despite having 10 of their own acres and ummm 300 more behind us. However, they are big, fast, see well, and are good at using cover so they seem to stay alive better.
When you pick out baby chickens, look for the ones who are bright and active. Ones that are peeping and active and eating and moving around. Chicks who are listless or just huddling under the heat source are questionable. Look at their butts–if you see a lot of dried poop, pass. Check their feet. Toes should be straight, legs should be straight. If you have time to watch them for awhile, seeing them eat and drink is a bonus. If any look especially brave or bold, those might be boys. Oh, beaks should line up–upper with lower.
Google for videos of bitties adjusting their crop. It’s weird and can be concerning if you don’t know know it’s normal. They also wipe their beaks on stuff after they eat–also normal. Dust bathing and sunning under the heat source can also look a little scary, but are normal.
Know what pasty butt is and check for it once you get them home. Watch for misaligned beaks. Make sure everyone knows how to eat and drink.
I haven’t read all of the responses so I don’t know if this has already been mentioned or not, but check out backyardchickens.com it is a WEALTH of information on everything chickens. I don’t have chickens (yet!) but have been spending some time learning about coop designs and building, runs, breeds, care, etc etc. A great group of helpful folks there! Good luck and post pictures when you get some!
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