Have I got it all covered then?

[electricbarbarella]

I am going to order the coop tommorow I think as long as i can find some money down the back of the sofa,
My list of what i need once i have the coop is
Waterer
Feeder
food
grit
straw
shavings

Anything I have forgotten?

Oh and chickens.

bucket and trowel for collecting poo chicken manure?

Some mixed corn for afternoon treats...

At some point you'll need worming stuff and red mite powder....

Aubiose or hemcore really good in bottom of house for soaking up the poo.....

My mum says she wants the poo for her compost and will provide me with a lidded bucket, do you clean them out daily?

I move mine around garden (with poultry net fence). I pick up poo from grass when I see it. mine tend to sleep in nest box so I get poo out of there and from floor of house daily - only takes a second. I've got a couple of cheap plastic trays on floor of house with a load of hemcore on top so it's an easy job.

Then I clean out house properly once a fortnight or so - that's easy too because there is no poo on anything as it just goes on the hemcore so I just tip all that out, wash trays, nest box and inside of house with Jeyes Fluid & water, leave it open in sun if poss., sprinkle a bit of red mite powder around put in fresh hemcore on trays and in nestbox, add a bit of straw in nest box and all's done. takes 15 mins or so.

good luck!

the hemcore composts fine by the way

I wouldn't bother with straw or shavings - the aubiose/easibed/hemcore option is much better throughout the house and run - it mops up water much better, and doesn't go manky quickly.

I normally scoop any obvious poo into a trug each morning when letting them out, and then bung the whole lot in the compost.

Worming - they need to be wormed about twice a year, or more if they show symptoms of needing worming.

I have a cat litter tray in the run, with sand in for dust bathing. Every so often (every 8 weeks or so) I put red mite/mite&louse powder in there, and then they treat themselves when they dust bathe.

You might also like to get some Poultry Shield - I spray this around the house when I clean them out to prevent red mite - especially round the perches/any crevices in the wood.

Food - have you decided what you're going to feed them and found a supplier? Your options are basically layers pellets or layers mash. I started with pellets, and switched to mash in an attempt to get them laying (I read somewhere that they lay better on mash, and that there are fewer problems with boredom as it takes longer for them to forage for food). However, I'm not convinced about the laying! They do lay VERY well, but I think that is because they weren't established layers before. They do seem to prefer the mash, but it is VERY much messier than pellets, and a bit harder to come by. I think if I was starting again, (and when I get my next lot of chickens I will do this) I will stick to the pellets as they are much easier to manage and clean!

I would only bother with shavings if the chickens you are getting are already used to them. And not if they are very young! Young chooks, I have found, are very fond of eating shavings and clogging themselves up and making themselves very ill.

And some form of dust bath is a must have, especially for summer. They will love it (and as tortoiseshell says it makes it much easier to treat them for mites etc).