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Raising Chickens

@Johnny B congrats on jumping in with both feet. It’s a fun “hobby”, especially when the butt nuggets start dropping. 😎.

We usually kept our chicks at 100* for the first few weeks. Not much diff than 95* though. If they get hot, they have plenty of room to move away from it. I like the trough you have em in. Plenty of room to grow.

If you ever hatch out babies, watch that water container. We had a lil one get stuck in it and drowned. Yers are old enough/strong enough not to get stuck. Baby chicks will sleep anywhere!! 😂😂

Don’t forget to add a lil chick grit to their food source. Can’t remember exactly what age they start it. Helps with digestion.

Backyardchickens.com is a great resource. You’ll see some real “birds” post on that site, so take ‘em with a grain of salt. Ideas for low cost coops to high dollar suites on there, too. No need to get real fancy. Also, unless they are gonna stay inside of it at all times(meaning the inside four walls), you can get away with a smaller square footage than you’ll read. You can make a portable chicken wire and pvc pipe play coop you can drag around the yard. Just make sure they have a side shaded for the hot afternoon sun.

Have fun and feel free to ask questions. Enjoy.

Floyd T
Thanks for the input and resource Floyd! I never thought about “portable play coops” before.
 
I hate the smell of chickenshit.

I don't know if it would be permitted where I live?

I don't eat a lot of eggs, however that could change if I were getting better quality eggs?
I get my eggs from a lady that works with us that has chickens. They are tastier imo. Especially soft boiled
 
Well, the weather has been pretty good, so my wife has been “volunteering” me to do things. It’s been slow-going on getting the coop built, but I was able to spend a couple hours yesterday working on it. Keep in mind this is my first time leading a project like this, so it’s probably not that great.
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If you aren't a hunter and have never gutted and cleaned an animal you might want to buy a full grown one or two to see if that is something you wish to do before you get too deep into it.
 
If you aren't a hunter and have never gutted and cleaned an animal you might want to buy a full grown one or two to see if that is something you wish to do before you get too deep into it.
Oh, I’m a hunter and don’t really mind the smell.
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The downside of keeping chickens in the garage is that the smell lingers a little bit. The reason I said they’re gross is because they poop everywhere. Including in their food and water. It feels like I’m constantly cleaning their watered and feeder.
 
I was able to spend some time on the coop the last two days. I had my kids help me with the flooring, but they ended up being a distraction when I started framing. They’re not quite ready to use power tools without supervision so it was pretty slow going at first, but I wanted to be sure to include them so they’d get some experience and to gain some ownership in the final product. Only things left are to back wall, build the double door and put the roof on.
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