Waited too long!

[Nyboy]

@Smart Red check your locale craigs list, under farm and garden section. Here I see 4 to 5 ads a day for chicks almost every breed.

 

[Lavender2]

I see them on our area craigslist all the time also. Speaking of craigslist ... is this really big enough for 6-8 hens?... http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/grd/4959299830.html

Coop is 5' by 3.75'... pen 7' by 4'

 

[journey11]

@Lavender2 , I have 6.5 feet of roost space in my tractor and it comfortably holds 8 hens. The way they bunch together, I think it will hold 10. They say 18" of roost space per standard size chicken, but I've always noticed they bunch together on one end. The only thing about that coop that concerned me is the wimpy roost bars. I don't think they look very comfortable. Also, that floor would need covered with linoleum or sealed with some of that rubbery paint or else would be hard to clean and may degrade. It's a cute coop otherwise though!

Look what I found on my Craigslist... Hatching eggs, $40/doz.+ for Lavender Cuckoo Ameraucanas. Now that's some chicken eye-candy. I'd be afraid to try this as a first hatching project, but I saved the poster's info for future reference. http://charlestonwv.craigslist.org/grd/4964106656.html

I am not seeing much in the way of chicks on there and I've looked through 2 area pages so far. Saw some Golden Comet chicks going for $8 each (1-2 weeks old). That's excessive. Another lady had 4 different common breeds for $2.50 each. People selling roosters for $10? I thought you couldn't give a rooster away? There weren't as many chickens on there as I would expect this time of year. I wish they'd have a separate category for livestock too. It's hard to sort through all of the hay, tractor implements and such.

We picked up our chicks at 7:30am and only 8 of 20 were alive on arrival. I've lost 2 more since then and another one is not looking so good. *sigh* I may pick up another 5 chicks at TSC and hopefully have enough layers. My luck, all of these will be cockerels.

 

[Smart Red]

Lavender2, the general rule is 4 square feet per large bird and 2 square feet per bantam. Space outside in a run is at least double that at a minimum.

That coop would comfortably hold 4.65 dual-purpose hens or 9.38 bantams. As for the pen, either 3.5 dual-purpose or 8.75 bantams would fit comfortably. If they were allowed to free-range in a larger space much of the time then the hens might find the coop a bit more welcoming.

Some folks would see no harm in a bit of crowding, but often coop sellers tend to stretch the limits of chicken comfort.

 

[Smart Red]

I have been checking out coops for myself today (my chickens, that is) and still haven't seen quite what I want.

 

[Nyboy]

@journey11 craigs list has a search on top of page put in chicks or hens and it wil pull up only those ads

 

[Lavender2]

Thanks @journey11 and @Smart Red, I was just curious. I thought it was cute also, just seemed small. My SIL is thinking about building a tractor this year and looking at different plans.

Love those lavender chickens @journey11 !! ...but very sorry about your baby chicks!!

 

[baymule]

So sorry about the baby chicks. I just had an idea! A real brain fart. What about going to BYC, look for your state's thread, and ask for people with chicks in your area? There is two Texas threads and probably 10-12 people in my immediate area. You might find just what you want close enough to go pick them up.

@thistlebloom you will love your Red Stars! Big brown eggs! And lots of them!

 

[thistlebloom]

That's such a sad thing Journey. Right on the heels of the other disaster too.

Those lavender ameracaunas are so pretty!

Around here you find all sorts of range on chicken prices.
$10 roosters are common as well as the "just please come get them" ads.
I saw an ad the other day for an old hen that they wanted $15 for. The ad said she was "socialized to kids, dogs, and other chickens" .

 

[journey11]

LOL, my kids would go for that. Ava hates it when they won't stop and let her pick them up. She's working hard on "socializing" these chicks right from the get-go. My dog, however, is socialized to chickens now. I really never would have thought that possible. But she is old and lazy also. They and the cats can walk circles around her (and the cats will sometimes go through her legs.)

I really need to do some searching on BYC. I'll have to make the time to do that. (Most of my limited internet time is spent on here, the weather channel or Amazon. I might get lost on BYC. ) I did find two options for hatching eggs rather close by to me via Craigslist.