Picked up a couple of chicks this morning...

[welly2]

Hopefully should be good layers! Any tips for a first timer?

 

[welly2]

Also got these two others, they seem to be getting along although the black one is establishing him/herself as the dominant one and making sure the others know it.

 

[luggy]

Wear a condom you don't know where they've been,

Oh wait, just saw the photo, carry on. . .

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Feed them kitchen scraps and let then wander around the yard. They love scratching up and getting worms and insects

 

[droid]

good stuff welly2, be vigilant against predators, leave a pencil in the egg container in the fridge and write the date down on each egg when put in the fridge. We have a small wheely bin near the pen that has an Ocky strap over it with the feed inside it. They need the right food to grow and then to subsequently lay, cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

They love spent grain

 

[real_beer]

If you've got a dog and it develops a taste for their feed, never ever, ever use any rat bait on your property, even in sheds you usually keep locked .

Batam's are also great chooks too buy for laying and icubating eggs (their own and other breeds) and even though their eggs are small the yokes are a good size.

Edit:
They're great fun to have running around the yard and they all seem to have their own personalities, you can get very attached to them quickly. If we weren't renting I'd have some for sure

 

[real_beer]

Too late to edit! I meant to write Bantam's :lol:

 

[DU99]

is the pen reptile proof

 

[manticle]

Too late to edit! I meant to write Bantam's :lol:

No; you meant to write 'bantams'.

 

[real_beer]

Yes! I'm going to thave to buy Pro Membership again, one hour editing just isn't enough.

But it should really have been 'Bantams' in the start of my first reply because it was at the start of the sentence :lol:

 

[Nullnvoid]

I thought it said batman. Batman would make a lousy chook.

 

[user 36151]

If you've got a dog and it develops a taste for their feed, never ever, ever use any rat bait on your property, even in sheds you usually keep locked .

Batam's are also great chooks too buy for laying and icubating eggs (their own and other breeds) and even though their eggs are small the yokes are a good size.

Edit:
They're great fun to have running around the yard and they all seem to have their own personalities, you can get very attached to them quickly. If we weren't renting I'd have some for sure

my dog has developed the taste for spent grain i throw it on the garden and the dog eats it for weeks muesli bar turds all over the yard

 

[Black Devil Dog]

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1443851568.979639.jpg

Hopefully should be good layers! Any tips for a first timer?

They look like ISA Browns, great layers, but they've been 'designed' to be that way.
Chickens need to scratch the ground, that mesh is going to prevent their natural instinct.

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1443851757.116578.jpg

Also got these two others, they seem to be getting along although the black one is establishing him/herself as the dominant one and making sure the others know it.

The black ones are possibly Australorps. They are one of the most beautiful domestic birds you can have.

Treat all of them well and they will repay you many times over.

 

[spog]

my dog has developed the taste for spent grain i throw it on the garden and the dog eats it for weeks muesli bar turds all over the yard

Get some chooks they'll clean it up.

 

[LiquidGold]

Keep the feed sealed in a dry environment and look out for mites in wet conditions. They can infest pretty quickly in the right conditions and look like dust until you check up close and notice it all moving.

Build your own soldier fly farm to get a high protein insect larvae that the chooks will love.