The Chickies Get A Permanent Home in the Backyard!

Just when we thought we were out of chicken housing options and were facing a chicken crisis, we found a solution. Donna kept checking Craig's list for possible chicken homes. We didn't find any chicken houses, but we did find a dog house built by a local, recent high school grad. I decided we would visit the local Craig's List poster. If he could build a dog house, could he modify it for use with chickens? When we met Grant, the builder of the dog house, we knew we had come to the right place. His place was further out into the rural part of our town, and he had at least 100 chickens, of many different breeds. Grant's chickens were well kept and preening like show dogs. This was a guy who loved and understood chickens. He agreed to modify the dog house into a chicken tractor. Here's Grant with the finished product in our backyard and the the chickens enjoying their new home.

Once we had the new coop in the backyard, we painted the tin roof and exposed wood green to make it more visually appealing for our neighbors.

The new home has turned out to be a winner. Rhett still enjoys looking after the chickens.

We occasionally have to move the chickens out when we move the tractor and put in water and food. Today, all three chickens got out of the tractor and were roaming around the backyard. Luckily, there were no hawks around to dive bomb them. Donna managed to round the chickens up and catch them with a butterfly net that we use for that exact purpose.

Here they are happily back in their tractor. We've got about three or four weeks before they're fully mature. We're looking forward to getting some eggs soon!

Still Looking for A Permanent Coop

By early mid-May, it was obvious the chicks were outgrowing their dining room table nighttime home. We looked online for possible permanent coops, but none of them appealed to us, and we thought the chicks would be too big by the time we ordered and built a kit. We kept them in the soccer tractor during the day, but of course, they couldn't be in there at night. We'd already spotted a large coyote roaming our neighborhood late one night, and we knew any home for the chicks would need to withstand an attack by this large predator.

At first we tried building our own permanent coop.

Here we are in our garage painting and priming wood. We eventually built a fairly large box out of plywood, and we attended to attach it below our kids swing set, which had a large platform, and was a perfect chicken coop size. However, we couldn't figure out exactly how to attach the box at a decent height. Not only that, we figured out that the space would actually be too big for our three chickens, and also, we wanted something that could be moved around the yard so that the chickens could eat the grass and bugs.

In addition to the coyotes, our area also has large hawks and cormorants, so we can't let the chickens free range. Belle, the pure white one, would not last long, as a hawk would certainly spot her. We've come home numerous times when our cat would be hiding from one of the hawks or cormorants circling above, so we knew the chickens would need strong protection from above. At this point, we only had about a week before the chickens would outgrow their current home in the brooder, and of course, they couldn't live in the soccer tractor at night. We were running out of time.

The Chicks Go From Babyhood to Adolescence

I'm Donna's husband, Dave, making this post. I have to say that, although I wasn't sold on the idea of backyard chickens in the beginning, I am really enjoying them now.

It's been quite awhile since our last post when the chicks were one week old. Since then, they've grown fast, and we've gone through several chicken coop solutions. The dining room table Target storage box brooder worked well for awhile, but the chicks quickly started to outgrow it. We came up with a temporary solution. After seeing some brooders online that were built with PVC pipe, I figured out I could modify my kids' backyard soccer goal into a chicken tractor. The kids so far have not warmed to soccer and never used it, and the size and weight of it was perfect.

This new coop only took a few hours to build, and it worked great. We moved it all around the yard, and the chickies were able to eat lots of grass and bugs and fertilize the lawn, just as I had hoped they would. Our dog Rhett really enjoyed watching them, too. It took him awhile to learn he was supposed to guard them and not eat them, but he soon figured it out.

The soccer tractor turned out to be very portable, and the chickies loved it.

Rhett really enjoyed spending time outdoors with the chicks. The only problem was, we couldn't use it at night, because the raccoons and coyotes would be able to make quick work of the chickens in a temporary shelter like this one. The chicks were clearly outgrowing the dining room table brooder, and getting bigger every day. So, the race to create a permanent coop was on.

Growing Fast!

Today's post is kind of fun. My chick babies are a week old today, and you can already see them getting some length on their legs. I also spend at least 15 minutes a day holding each one of them individually and petting them and whispering sweet chicken-nothings into their ears (where are their ears?). So now, when I walk over to the brooder to talk to them, instead of running away from me, they run towards me. It is very cute!

I took some pictures of them through the plastic of the brooder. It was one of the reason's that I bought a clear plastic container, as I wanted to be able to see them, and have my boys be able to see them from their lower height.

So, my pictures aren't cloudy, it's just the view through the plastic.

Here is the first one where they just ran over to me.

Doesn't it look like they are saying "Hey Mom!"

This picture is a good one showing how big they are already getting at 7 days old.

I like this next one because it looks like Scarlett is giving Belle a kiss. (Maybe I am the only one enjoying my chicken pictures....)

Can you guess what they are doing here?

"Hey girls, come over here and look at that!"

This is what they ran over to look at: A jealous Collie.

"How come you are always taking a picture of them and not me?"

Feel free to leave a comment. Both the chicks and Rhett love to read them!

Brooder Information

I thought I would share what my chick's brooder looks like. I know that this was one of the things that I learned, as I began to research the proper ownership of chickens. There is no set rule on a chick brooder. They need a certain amount of space, depending upon how many chicks you have; they need a heat source, as they can get cold very easily while they are young; and they need fresh water and appropriate chick food for growth. How you provide these basic necessities can be very flexible.

I bought a long, clear, plastic storage container to use as our brooder. As you can see, it is a 105 Quart size.

Here is a picture of the brooder in full glory.

In my Dining Room, by the way. Next to the Spode China and Waterford Crystal. Only the best for my chicks!

When I knew that I was going to go ahead with my chicken plans, I also wanted to accomplish this as economically as possible. Afterall, keeping chickens IS supposed to be an economical endeavor as a step towards sustainable, green living. Having said that.... have you SEEN the cost of some chicken coops??? Just amazing. But having seen that, it only made me more determined to do this chicken raising as inexpensively as possible.

My plastic brooder came from Target, on sale for about $10.00. I also chose this particular type of container because it is a latch container. You can see how I worked that into the functionality of the brooder.

I bought the heat lamp at a Flea Market here in Tallahassee for $6.

Here is a close-up. Notice that it has a clamp that is used to attach itself in various positions. We also used it to help keep the brooder secure. Besides our Collie Rhett who you have already met, we also have a Tabby cat named Sunshine. Don't be fooled by his name. He's an indoor/outdoor cat with a penchant for killing small birds and leaving them on the front step as an offering. As threatening as dog's can be as predators towards chickens, in this chick stage, Sunshine is a much greater threat in our house. Long live the clamp!

When you look for a heat bulb to use in your heat lamp, you have a choice between red and white. The feed stores use red. When I asked them the difference, I was told that there really wasn't a difference, but usually when the chicks are in large quantities (like at hatcheries or feed stores) they choose red as that supposedly keeps the chicks more calm. I have also read that a white light makes the chicks pick the feathers off of their friends. On a special Martha Stewart episode on chickens, it was said that the red light helps to distract the chicks if one of them starts to bleed from an injury. Instead of attacking the injured bird, they supposedly won't be able to see the blood with the red light.

I also heard that if the chicks had enough space, without being too far from their food and water source, that the white light would be fine. As I am someone who likes to think positive, I decided my chicks were going to be friendly and not attack each other. I went for the white heat bulb. I am happy to report that everyone gets along fine.

Here's a pic.

I haven't mentioned the chick feeder or waterer. They are pretty obvious in action, and very inexpensive to purchase. About $3-$4 a piece. In this pic, Belle is at the waterer, Scarlett is in the foreground. I bought special medicated chick feed at the feed store, and I sprinkle grit in each of the circular openings in the feeder.

For those of you who might be afraid that chickens smell, so far they do not. We put newspaper down in the bottom of the brooder and then pine shavings on top of that. The pine shavings (or similar) are important, as it gives the chicks something to grip with their feet. Having a smooth, slippery surface causes chicks to get splayed leg or a hip injury, which are not fixable. Here is a pic looking straight down into the brooder through the chicken wire. Scarlett is reddish, Belle in yellow and Aunt Pitty Pat is the brown one.

You can see the basic chicken wire over the top of the container. I measured, and had it cut to size at Ace Hardware (so I wouldn't have to pinch myself with the wires :-) The roll of chicken wire cost $13, and I have alot left over. It may, or may not be used for the future chicken abode. I will let you know when we get to that step. We also bought the two extra clamps for about $2 each at Ace Hardware. Again, keeping it Kitty proof.

I thought I would share a couple of cute pictures. Here is a quiz: What do you do with three chicks when you have to clean out their brooder?

Answer: put them in a white fedora of course!

My little chicks say HI!! Feel free to leave a comment and say Hi back.

Pictures of the Babies

Who can resist sweet, fragile and precious newborns? Babies, kittens, puppies and chicks!

As mentioned previously, yesterday we came home with three 2 day old Araucana chicks. We chose three different colors. One of the characteristics of Araucana chickens, is that they have been bred primarily for egg color, and not breed color. If you look at the pictures that I posted previously of the Black Australorp and Buff Orpington, those birds have been bred to their physical standard. Araucana (and Ameraucana's and Easter Eggers) will have different colorings in their feathers, but all of them will (hopefully) lay blue - green colored eggs. I can't wait to see those beautiful eggs!

Here are pictures of my husband and twin boys with their new baby chicks!

This is my DH holding Scarlett. (Don't look at his hair, he just woke up...:-) I think Scarlett has the prettiest coloring right now. She's a beautiful reddish-brown color with great markings all over her back. I can't wait to see how she develops.

Nathan loving on his Belle Watling (Belle for short). Belle is your typical little yellow chick. Nathan came with me to pick up the chicks, and was drawn to a bunch of yellow chicks that were meant for a farmer raising "meat chickens." Ooops. So I led him to the Araucana cage, and they had some little yellow ones there. What I wasn't thinking about at the time, was that Miss Belle may grow up to be a white chicken. White chickens are easier for hawks to spot from the sky. Have I told you how many birds of prey we have in this area??

Alex wearing Aunt PittyPat.Alex is a teensy bit nervous around the chicks, which is why he is more wearing Aunt PittyPat, instead of holding Aunt PittyPat. PittyPat is pretty, too. She is the darkest chick, and she also has very beautiful markings in her "fur."

Me, helping to corral all three chicks. Helping to corral three chicks and two 5 year old boys... I am just loving these chicks.

Can anyone guess where we got the names for our chickens? Anyone? Anyone?

Here is a hint: This is Legendhold Frankly My Dear, better known by his call name - Rhett.

Anyone? Anyone?

Welcome Post!

Hello Everyone!

This is the new and always improving... Southern Backyard Chickens blog. I have always wanted chickens for as long as I can remember. It hasn't happened before now, because for most of my adult life, I have lived in urban environments. The trend to raise backyard chickens is so big now, that there are plenty of people who ARE having chickens in their urban environments. If that sounds like you, check out:

Urban Chickens

The City Chicken

Backyard Chickens

My Pet Chicken

However, I have waited until now, the weekend of Easter in 2010, to get my much-anticipated baby chicks. I have been researching for a couple of months on the best breed of chicken, what kind of shelter do I want to provide, is it legal in my area (more on that later), and the various (but few) responsibilities involved in backyard chicken ownership.

I almost got my chickens 2 weeks ago. I found three baby chicks of the breeds that I was interested in, but I felt unprepared as to their shelter arrangements. Those three breeds were the

Black Australorp

the Buff Orpington

and a Red sex-link chicken

Now that I am ready for my chicks, those three have gotten too large at the Feed Store to be able to remain content in my homemade brooder, and on Good Friday I took home three 2 day old baby chicks which are "allegedly" Araucana's. They may very well be Easter Egger chickens, but I'm OK with that, too. But the owner of the feedstore said he was guaranteed Araucana's, we will see as they grow.

Thank you for following along with my Southern Backyard Chicken blog. This is only my first post, and I already have so much to share with you, but I will pace myself as I celebrate the joys and any tribulations that may come with my flock. I always appreciate Comments, so don't hesitate to share or ask questions!