[bucketman]

with your help ive decided where to get chucks from coup will be here next week so will try and build run this weekend and get the chucks mid November going away at xmas so may delay till Jan if I cant get baby sitters
So what do I need in in my chucks first aid kit 
rob

[morri2]

Hi Rob,  Not a lot really I don't think, not to start with - you need your feeding equipment and perhaps a decent guide book so you can spot any problems.  You might in due course need some insect spray if they get mites.  Usually if you get a sick one, the vet prescribes an antibiotic which you can give orally via a syringe (quite easy to do).  If you keep a veg patch or decent flower garden its a good idea to make sure your fences are good and high.  Someone else on the site might have a bit more input on the first aid kit, but really its quite straightforward with chickens. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone out there who has had problems!!!

[bamford6]

Shopping list for newbies
 fri 22/10 07, 2010 10:47 am

New members often ask what they need to buy when they are starting out. To help you with this and to save you trawling through the forum (a daunting task when you're new) we've compiled a list of some of the products that are available (with some links for information). There are very few things you need at the beginning so don't feel you need everything on the list. The basics are shelter, food, water, grit & bedding. Anything else is at your discretion.

To help you further, we have marked essential items as  and recommended items as  . Anything else is either for specific purposes (ie illness or injury) & can be bought as required or is something which your hens don't necessarily need but you might like to buy for them! It is not a definitive list but will give you a place to start.

*The links and websites are not recommendations or necessarily best price, but are for information only.*

Feed
Layers pellets or mash 
Mixed poultry corn (as an afternoon treat, give in moderation) 

Run material / bedding 
Hemcore
Aubiose
Easibed
Rubber Chippings
Woodchips
Wood shavings
Bark
Straw (be aware that this can get very damp under the top layer)
Shredded paper can be used in nestbox
(Hay should not be used due to harmful mould spores which can give hens breathing problems. It can also cause impacted crop.)

Supplements
Grit/oystershell  (grinds food in the crop/provides calcium for hard eggshells)
Bokashi bran (aids digestion, firms up poo, reduces smells)
Apple cider vinegar (helps deter internal parasites/good for general health)
Poultry Spice / Battles Poultry Drink (general health tonic)
Garlic powder (reduces smells/good for general health
Limestone flour (extra calcium if eggshells become brittle)
Cod liver oil (facilitates absorbtion of calcium)
Avipro which is a probiotic, it can be used to perk up convalescent or poorly hens

Beastie repellents
Diatomaceous Earth (Diatom) 
Red Mite Powder / Louse powder 
Citronella and Eucalyptus essential oils - a few drops will keep the run free from flies in the summer

Cleaning/disinfectant products
Poultry Shield (multi-purpose cleaner/eradicates Red Mite/lice on housing]
Biotech V1 (spray disinfectant)
Pet friendly spray
Stalosan F / Biodri / Stablezone (broad spectrum powdered disinfectants for run area)
Ecover washing up liquid (for washing eglu & feeders)
Garden Lime (not builders lime - neutralises acidity of soil, caused by poo)

Worming 
Flubenvet (recommended by Omleteers!)
Verm-X (herbal wormer)

Medication - ie for lice/mites, scaley leg mite etc
Xeno 200 *Not licensed for use in poultry in UK
Johnson's Anti Mite Spray *Not licensed for use in poultry in UK
Scaley Leg Mite treatment
Citricidal (for colds & snuffles)
Purple spray (antiseptic & to disguise wounds & help prevent pecking)
Tea tree oil (use diluted to bathe minor wounds)
Bachs Rescue Remedy (for traumatised/ill chickens)
Arnica (to treat bruised areas)
Vet wound powder

Treats
Dried mealworms
Wild bird seed balls (made with honey not fat)

Other
Ukadex Anti-Peck Spray / Anti-Pek Spray
Bumper bits (to prevent feather pulling)
Vaseline (can be used to treat Scaley Leg Mite along with Anti-Mite Spray)

More "other"
Metal bin to store feed in
Comfy chair for chicken watching!
Fully charged camera!
Compost bin for all that lovely poo!

[bucketman]

Hi
going to timber yard for wood for run. But that is some list of stuff to buy
rob

[tazbabe]

i don't have any of that stuff.

my crowd live in a converted 6 x 4 shed (for converted, read old kitchen cupboard for a nesting box, and some branches screwed between the sides of the shed where they perch) with a home made 12 x 6 run on the side, somewhere for them to eat without the dog getting in on the act, and they spend the odd day in there if i know i can't get back before dark to shut them in.

the only concession i have to bought items is a small water but for inside, outside one is an old horse feeding trug.

no complaints so far!

[bucketman]

just spent £268 for wood wire and nails/screws the coup is £120 chucks about £60(still got to get them) For 6. Will buy some corrugated pvc tomorrow for there roof and some more wood. Then got to get some of the stuff on the list. £478 and rising NOT telling her indoors
rob

[little blue]

as long as you can keep the water clean and fresh, and the food dry, dont go mad on "accessories"
get some antiseptic spray, a tub of vaseline (scaley leg) and one day some Diatom (for red mite)
 if you ever need any medicines/wormers get them when needed as they dont keep forever.

I agree that wood and wire can cost you a fortune... if theres no way to recycle or reclaim.
your girls will have a palace! what breed of hens are you getting?

[bucketman]

The run will be sort of a prefab 10 panels 1mtr by 1.8mtr then chicken wire on this. The roof was going to be of the same design but will now cover half in  corrugated plastic to protect coup. One of the panels will have like a barn door thing so I can get in and chucks can get out on to garden. Whole thing will be about 3 x 2mtrs and just less than 2mtr high. The whole thing will be held in place by 50x50mm posts placed 1mtr apart.
Do any of you reckon I should bury the first 150mm of the pannels into the ground to deter foxs and alike. If so will add a little on to the ends but whole garden has a 2mtr high fence all round
As for what bread my plan is 6 chucks was going to ask you lot. The place I will buy them from stocks loads of breeds. But how about
2 Rhode Rock
2 Calder Ranger
2 Speckledy
Like the colours
rob

[little blue]

sounds good... nothing like a bit of variety of colour & breed - best of all worlds!

[langdon]

got be honest mate, thats silly money to be spending on housing etc
as smallholders i believe that we have to try and save and use what is good and practical that we can get our hands on first,
and then go and but what we might need.
blimey i hope your chucks are going to lay golden eggs for you.
langdon

[bamford6]

this is the new shed i built and you will be doin this in 12 months

[jacob and Georgina]

i would say that housing and fencing are the two most important things to spend the money on the run must be fox proof and house water and draught proof if you dont spend money on doing it properly you may end up with no chickens before too long! it is all well and good using recycled materails but in my experiance this is not always best!! 

[bucketman]

Yes I know its a lot of money, but they are my first chicks and will hopfully the run will last along time. The way I look at it is if I do the best I can then if it goes wrong then its my fault. I could have probably got some pallets from work, some cheapo wire and made it smaller, but you get that. The coup I'm getting would fit 8 chucks, but will keep it at 6. I was originally going to just get 4. If I spend all this and the chucks are happy and lay I will be happy
As for one egg never mind a golden egg I would buzz
rob 

[bucketman]

made five of the the prefab panels today. They look smart if I do say so my self. Will put some wood in the middel to add strenth. Old pallets from work (Langon will be pleased ) Also cut the whole in the fence between so called veg patch and garden.  One thing the fence am cutting down is covered in Ivy should I kill it or let it cover some of the run as a wind break. Will build one panel a night thru week still got to build the one with door in.
rob 

[knightquest]

I've got ivy in my run and there's no problem with it 

On a cautious note.....I've seen foxy boy jump a six foot fence from a standing start so enclosing the whole run and coop is a better bet. I made my run which is four meters by three meters out of pallets for the roof and the posts (by glueing and screwing them together) then just wrapping the netting across them and nailing it on.

The coop is a thirty something year old dog kennel that I lined with creosoted 6mm ply.

They have a metal feeder that has food available all day and a metal drinker which is washed out every day. I also add cider vinegar to a smaller plastic drinker every day too. I give oyster shell in an old dog dish.

I have six isa warrens and I love 'em.

Ian