Do hens feed the chicks? I didn't think they needed a "mom" to feed them... why would it make a difference if they're eating on their own versus staying with the hen? *confused*

It's been a long time since I had chicks (my last remaining hens are 15 years old), but there is something about the hen that keeps the chicks healthy. Maybe the chicks aren't as prone to getting sick because their temperatures are more regulated, I don't know. I did know at one time because I read about all this on the chicken forums I belonged to at the time and also in the chicken care books I bought. The chicks pretty much live under or very close to the hen and they never got sick. The chicks raised by the hens always seemed more robust to me. And it's really cute to see the chicks peaking out from the hen's feathers.

Silkie hens make really really good mothers and silkie roosters are the best fathers in the chicken world.

I haven't found the answer to why this is less common in hen-raised chicks, but here's some info on why we give medicated feed to hand-raised poultry babies.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/...

The medicated feeds I'm familiar with only have something in them to control Coccidiosis, which is a disease that will give the chicks diarrhea and possibly kill them.
http://www.feathersite.com/Pou...

I forgot to check the feed this morning to see if it's coccidiosis. I'm familiar with that in dogs & cats, but didn't think that birds could get it. The poo isn't bloody, but I'm going to go ahead & pick up some medicated feed tonight when I get home just for funsies. looks like it couldn't hurt.

I managed to get a picture of a couple of my old hens. It's really hard since they seem to be constantly moving. I got 5 eggs from the dark one this winter, which is pretty good for a 15 year old hen. They're banty cochins.

wow, a 15 year old chicken? I didn't know they lived that long! They're usually dinner way before then... lolllllll

15 years old, and still laying some eggs, that's amazing. I have had several get to be 9 years old, but never beyond that. I have one now a leghorn crossed with a black star that is 9 this summer. We'll see if she keeps going. She did lay some eggs last summer. Not many. The last one I had that was 9 was doing really well, but she started to have rooster characteristics. She would crow, grew spurs, and her comb got bigger and bright red. I had leaned that this could happen in my HS ag classes, but had never seen it until then. You can read about it on the feather site. She was so healthy, but one night I forgot to close the coup, and she along with my two other roosters were laying dead in the morning. I have coons and coyotes here, not sure which one got them.

Most of mine lived to about 12 or 13. Mine are in a coop that has welded wire fencing on the floor a couple of inches under the dirt and up the wall about a foot. This is to keep the racoons, foxes and coyotes from digging under. my neighbors have lost a lot of chickens to predators digging under to get in the coop.

We had our entire coop cleaned out one year (mink), except for one broody hen on a clutch of eggs. She must have had some luck going for her that night. She lived about 9 years too.

We're building a chicken coop, but planning to let the chickens run during the day. I'm hoping my Lab/australian cattle dog will keep them within bounds. We have 10 acres, but I really don't want them ranging that far. I'm looking for info--I'm a total newby at this. Can you guys point me towards a good book or website? This winter has been so mild that I'm afraid we're going to have a huge grasshopper problem this year. I would get guineas and just let them feast, but I would also like to have eggs. I love the pretty chickens I see at the fair, but the local feed store doesn't get them in for sale. They do have the silkies. Help?

Until they got really old and slow, my chickens were outside during the day. They would all go into the coop by themselves at night. I locked up the coop to keep the predators out rather than keep the chickens in.
They really don't go far from their roost. Mine stayed on my acre. Anytime they felt threatened, they would run to the coop.
I did have to fence off the garden since they would party hardy in there and pull up all my young plants.

You can construct a movable cage for grass feeding as well. Some have wheels, but I just drag mine around, it's not that heavy. Our dogs would injure our fowl....probably.
The door on mine is very simple too. The chicken wire just bends over when you open the door, and it's kept closed with a bungee cord. Very quick construction.

Chelle - That's what I'm going to be building. Looks simple enough, shouldn't cost much to make. Not like these fancy foofoo coops that are $500+

But the fancy foofoo coops on craigslist that look like like pretty little little cottages are soo cute!

That said, mine live in an old ugly pony barn that came with the house.

Chelle, do your chickens live in a more predator proof coop at night? Or don't you have a raccoon problem?

I built them a nice house for nighttime and foul (ha! fowl ) weather use, and the fellas built them an aviary. The peacock and turkeys have a nice sturdy shed and their own aviary. There are just too many hungry critters here right next to the state park. The portable cage we use mostly for the babies so that they can spend most of their time on nice clean grass.

Toni,

Yeah, it was pretty easy to throw together...some chicken wire, furring strips, staples and screws were all I used. Mine is hardware-free.

my coop looks like a crack house LOL
plastic and duct tape all over it.

Chickens don't care what their housing looks like as long as it saves them from the predators. I never buy anything when I decide to build another coop. The design is dictated by the materials on hand.

Well we have lots and lots of scrap materials on hand so it sounds like I'm good to go! I appreciate your answers and photos. i looked on Amazon for a book, and it sounds like the Dummies book is the best one. Anyone have that one? Or a better one? There's also a Dummies book for building a coop, but if I go with the simple styles and recycled materials, I don't need to pay $12 to show me how...that much I can figure out. I love those fancy ones, but if I'm going to raise chickens this year, I have to get it all set up within the next week. IF I wait until next year, I can obsess over the fancy ones.

They're growing so fast!

On Saturday I went to Murdocks (http://www.murdochs.com/) and picked up a 50lb bag of medicated chick feed. They had the option of a 5lb bag for $5.99 or a 50lb bag for $17.99. Guess which one I went with. Anyways, so I've been feeding them the medicated stuff & the poopy bottoms have disappeared. The chicks aren't too keen on being held but I do that because I don't want them to be too freaky with humans. The little black one is really the worst about being touched/picked up, so that's why I held him/her the longest. They're little greedy guts, eatting about 4 cups of food a day now. Two of them don't mind me holding them on their backs as much.. in fact one started to fall asleep! I figured that it's the defense mechanism that some animals do when they're on their backs.. dead things aren't to be eaten, so let's play dead. You can see the little pin feathers coming in on the one I managed to get a shot of with his/her wings spread.

These pictures were taken right after I cleaned their tote. They can live in this tote for another week or so before I have to move them to a bigger facility as they will definitely be out of room. Their food bowls are empty & the odd thing to the bottom right is a flat rock that their water container sits on so it doesn't get water all over their bedding.