new black rocks arriving tomorrow

[scotty1971]

hi there,
i have three new black rock pol pullets arriving tomorrow,and i am a complete newbie to all this,my question is,my new coop is all built and ready to go,do i have put mite spray down before they come or do you only put that down once you have had chickens for a while.

regards

scotty

[Suechooks]

If you've creocoted the coop before you put it together it should be ok. There's lots of advice in the "sticky" about mites.
I use Diatom and put that down all summer then spray the underside of the perches every morning with Smite when I've poo-picked and also spray the whole coop each week with Poultry shield when I do the full clean out.

[scotty1971]

the coop came already treated,so i hope it will be ok.

[Flummery]

Congratulations! I wanted Black Rocks but couldn't get them here. Where are yours from? (I ended up with Rangers and they are wonderful characters - but I still have a hankering for black rocks in the future).

[scotty1971]

i got them from

R. & A. Lovett - Home of the Black Rock (sex link)

got them today,all settled in well.cost me the grand total of £37.50 for the three

[scotty1971]

the girls are settling in well,they are 18 weeks old,how long is it before i should expect the first eggs of them?

thanks

scott

[Suechooks]

the girls are settling in well,they are 18 weeks old,how long is it before i should expect the first eggs of them?

thanks

scott

As they're hybrids it could be quite soon. My Black Rock started laying at about 20 weeks.

[scotty1971]

thanks for the reply,i think i'm more excited than the kids about it all

[Flummery]

Glad they are still in production. The nearest agent to us seems to be Newcastle - rather a long way! They are very hardy hens, and fgor a hybrid, long lived too.

[scotty1971]

another quick question,how long should i keep them in the coop in run before i can let them out in the garden,i understand you have to give them time to get used to their new home but not sure for how long.

thanks

scott

[RichmondHens]

I would give it a week before you let them free range, just so they know where home is. And when you first let them out, when you want them back in the run, let them see you throw a little corn in there so they will go back in for it. Don't feed them outside the run.
It is tried and tested way for me to get my birds going where I want them to. I have always trained mine "to the corn pot" and they will follow it virtually anywhere.

[scotty1971]

thanks very much for the info.

cheers

scott

[scotty1971]

at the moment i have the oyster shell and grit in two different bowls,will this be ok or should i mix it with the layers pellets?

thanks

scott

[Suechooks]

Oyster shell and grit can be together but don't bother mixing it with pellets as these already contain calcium and grit. The birds will take what they need from the extra bowl. My Black Rock is one of the few who bother with the grit dish - some take it regularly others not at all.

[scotty1971]

my black rocks don't seem to using their perches at night and are just settling down for the night in the next boxes,and in the morning the next boxes are full of poo,will they eventually use the perches?