# What chicks to get



## blulady (8 mo ago)

We just started raising chickens this year and need advice on what is best for hot summers and cold winters. Here is what I been looking qat to buy. 

cinnamon Queens, barred Plymouth rock or the white ones, Rhode Island whites.

Our neighbors gave us some to start out with but most were roosters. lol
Also is there some kind of seed that we can plant in their pens that might grow faster than they eat it. We have no way of moving them around so grass can grow back Since we dont use any kind of spray on our yard they like the clipping from when we mow.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

A lot of questions popped into my head as I read about several things.

How cold? How hot? That makes a difference.

No, there isn't a fast germinating seed that will survive the birds. 

How big are your pens with how many birds? 

Be very careful of giving them clippings. Because they can't snip off the amount they want when it's still attached to soil the clippings can cause a blockage in the crop by wadding up in a ball.


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## fuzzies (Jul 27, 2021)

All of what Robin said! Some people think temperatures in the 30's F are absolutely frigid, and others think that anything above 75° F is impossibly hot, so knowing exactly what constitutes your hot summers and cold winters will help us to make better breed suggestions.

Pen size versus number of birds can make a difference as to how fast they clear it out, but inevitably no greenery can survive their pecking and scratching for long in a penned situation. You can give them some permanent greenery by making a grazing frame for them, though. That's basically just a frame made of 2x4s with fencing over the top so that the birds can't peck or scratch at the greenery you plant within, but can eat the bits that grow up through the fence over time. Some people also move their grazing frames every once in a while and replant them so the birds can peck at the already grown plants while fresh plants are growing under the frame in a new spot. That's what I end up doing with grazing frames here because otherwise moles get underneath them and push the soil up until the plants get wrecked by the chickens anyway.  Anyway, that's just an option if you want to give them more access to greenery without them completely destroying it!


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## Lillith (10 mo ago)

I live in an area with brutally cold winters (Often below zero, a few weeks of -30°F overnight, sometimes dropping to -50°F with windchill), and most chickens will do okay provided they have a draft-free coop and plenty of feed avaialable. After this most recent winter where it stayed very cold for far longer than usual, I'm putting a heat source in that will turn on when it starts to get really brutal, because I did struggle with keeping frostbite at bay. My current batch all have single combs, and the tips were still touched with frostbite even though I have an insulated coop and I heap up the bedding in winter. The rooster even lost his comb to frostbite, which I felt terrible about. But really, they were fine for the majority of the winter. It wasn't until it started dropping below -15 for long periods of time that I started to notice ill effects.

That being said, if I did not have electricity in my coop, I think I would pick breeds that have small combs (pea, cushion, rose, etc.) so there's less likelihood of frostbite. If your winters aren't as brutal as I've described, I think just about anything besides the breeds specifically developed for hot weather would be perfectly fine provided they have appropriate shelter in winter.

My summers probably aren't as oppressive as summers in more southern locations, but we have a few weeks of 90°F+ weather, and even my fluffiest hen was okay as long as she had water and shade. She certainly didn't do much, but she was fine. Winter worries me more, I guess, haha.


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

Our pen is 10f by 20 ft this an estimate but pretty close. Winters it gets to below freezing, sometimes below 0. Summers range from low 80s to 90 with a heat index of over 100. We have 7 now but three will be going to a farm soon as they roosters. They others will be one rooster and 3 hens we think. not sure if some might still be roosters. lol Going to get 5 more, hen chicks. Also in the summer their pen has lots of shade

Thanks for he replies


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I would go with the breeds with the comb types that @Lillith suggested. Far fewer concerns about frostbite on the combs. I wouldn't worry as much about the heat. There are things you can do to mitigate the effects of a lot of heat. Wet areas for them to wallow in. Misters, fans.


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## Lillith (10 mo ago)

Honestly...if you're only sometimes below zero I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's important to have a draft-free coop, good ventilation, and try to keep moisture out of the coop, which is a main contributor to frostbite. I do have water in the coop because they are often locked in their coop in brutal temps, but it's in a nipple drinker, so spills are minimal. I believe my chickens were running around as happy as could be with temps in the 20s last fall until snow hit the ground!

I still wouldn't go with breeds developed in regions with hotter climates, of course, but I would say breeds developed in Europe or the US where actual winters occur would be fine. I think the ones you listed would do just fine.


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## Sardonyx#1 (9 mo ago)

I have Buckeyes which do well in Kentucky. We do have days of below freezing in winter and occasional 90+ degrees in summer with high humidity.


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

Thanks to all


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Now you need to let us know what you finally settle on. Maybe a few of these and a few of those?


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

Decided on the Cinnamon Queen. They have small wattles, and produce eggs earlier than other chickens. Also when do chickens start their first molt? Heres a picture of them
Cinnamon Queen Chicks


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Birds molt according to their time schedule. I usually had someone molting all through the year.


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

Ok been a long time since I been around chickens. 
We got a little egg from one that just laid her first one. My son could not believe how much smaller it was from the others. 😅


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

LOL First eggs can be so cute. How small was this one?


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

About half the size of a large egg which been getting from the one hen that is laying


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

So many times that first egg is missed because they're not much bigger than a quarter. They are so beyond cute.


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

We finally found new homes for the other three roosters. All our hens are laying now. Two little ones and the one they named big mama,. The rooster we kept started crowing this am even though he never did before. If I can figure out how to get picture from my phone to here will post pictures


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Are you using a computer or your phone? 

That must mean your rooster wasn't top dog in the batch of boys. Now that he's alone he can carry on like a big dog.


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

True he was the littlest of them all. I use the computer mostly to visit, but think I can take pics on my phone and upload them to here not sure if they will be big enough to see though
Or should I use an app like image shack for them


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

What I do is take them with my phone. Load them on my computer. Then all I have to do is drag the photo to the forum. 

The dragging to the forum part can be touchy if you don't drag it just right to the right spot. 

I wonder if there is better information on how to do that in the how to on the forum. But I figured it out and I'm no longer at an age where I have the patience to mess with new stuff.


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

How to get them from phone to computer is the hard part prolly


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I have an iphone and a mac so mine work differently. 

I have to connect my phone to my computer via cable. Open my photo area where it will see my phone and I can download from there. 

We might need @Poultry Judge, @fuzzies or @ChickenBiscuts for a windows application.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

robin416 said:


> I have an iphone and a mac so mine work differently.
> 
> I have to connect my phone to my computer via cable. Open my photo area where it will see my phone and I can download from there.
> 
> We might need @Poultry Judge, @fuzzies or @ChickenBiscuts for a windows application.


I usually send my pics from my phone to my email and open them on my laptop. That's probably not the most efficient way but I'm not tech savvy.


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## fuzzies (Jul 27, 2021)

I have my phone set up with the Google Photos app so that it automatically uploads my pictures to photos.google.com and then I can go there on my laptop to access them. That requires having or making a Google account, of course.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Doesn't everyone have a Google account of one kind of another?  

PJ, how do you move the pics from your email to the forum? Or is Melissa the one doing the uploading for you?


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

google sounds the easiest, I have pictures on there


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Holler if you have trouble. There has to be someone here who can walk you through it. I did check the How To on the forum. It was pretty useless.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

robin416 said:


> Doesn't everyone have a Google account of one kind of another?
> 
> PJ, how do you move the pics from your email to the forum? Or is Melissa the one doing the uploading for you?


No, Melissa does not help me with the technology machines. I work from a laptop with a large monitor attached because I am half blind, I send pictures from my phone to the computer and then save them on the desktop. From there I select them and upload them to the forum. I know there are lots of ways to do it, but by placing them on the desktop, it's a reminder that I wished to do something with a particular picture. I still think that the sanctuary would have more of a community footprint if we had a tech savvy high school or college volunteer to help us with a website.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Poultry Judge said:


> No, Melissa does not help me with the technology machines. I work from a laptop with a large monitor attached because I am half blind, I send pictures from my phone to the computer and then save them on the desktop. From there I select them and upload them to the forum. I know there are lots of ways to do it, but by placing them on the desktop, it's a reminder that I wished to do something with a particular picture. I still think that the sanctuary would have more of a community footprint if we had a tech savvy high school or college volunteer to help us with a website.


Couldn't Melissa find someone since she teaches? Or did you just come up with that idea?


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## blulady (8 mo ago)

How do you send them from your phone to your computer?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

When I still had windows I had to connect the phone to the computer with a cable. Then wait for the computer to tell me the phone was connected and then give it permission to download the pics. 

That could have changed since I last had windows though. PJ mentioned he emailed the pics to himself. The pics can be downloaded from you email too.


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