California - Northern

[Ezs Choukies]

Hi, I'm in Sacramento County, we decided to get a 'few hens' so my husband built a coop and run - but it is quite a bit larger than I thought it would be, the run is 5x10 so I think we can easily handle 6 hens. Now I'm looking for pullets rather than chicks since I'm not sure how long they would have to be in the house and we have a fairly small home. There are lots of pullets on craigslist, but how do you find someone who has healthy well cared for birds, pullets aren't exactly cheap 

Hi lynneb, welcome to our addiction.

One good way is to post in the BYC forum buy sell trade. I have been able to get three pullets from a great family that had to many in the bay area, and met wonderful woman who raises everything but specializes in confetti cochin. You'll find BYCers are really awesome and network well. Birds can be shipped and also transported by those of us taking trips and definitely keep your eyes open for chicken shows, fairs, and talk to your local 4H and FFA kids and leaders.

We ran out of eggs one day about five years ago and have had chickens ever since. They are really neat animals, great morning coffee buddies, it's fun to watch their social antics and they help with insects while helping with our kitchen scraps. It has been a great experience and we have met wonderful people.

I'll keep my eyes open for birds locally if you'd like, we do head your way from Mendocino County. What breeds are you interested in?

 

[caychris]

Hi lynneb, welcome to our addiction.

One good way is to post in the BYC forum buy sell trade. I have been able to get three pullets from a great family that had to many in the bay area, and met wonderful woman who raises everything but specializes in confetti cochin. You'll find BYCers are really awesome and network well. Birds can be shipped and also transported by those of us taking trips and definitely keep your eyes open for chicken shows, fairs, and talk to your local 4H and FFA kids and leaders.

We ran out of eggs one day about five years ago and have had chickens ever since. They are really neat animals, great morning coffee buddies, it's fun to watch their social antics and they help with insects while helping with our kitchen scraps. It has been a great experience and we have met wonderful people.

I'll keep my eyes open for birds locally if you'd like, we do head your way from Mendocino County. What breeds are you interested in?

And there is our resident Pita Pusher Debi @PetRock

 

[Ezs Choukies]

 
Thought I'd ask here as well...one of my hens had a gush of watery fluid yesterday evening when she was laying an egg.  I basically found the egg in a big puddle of liquid.  It was clear  she is just standing in the coop drinking water; not eating. Her crop is full of water.  Any ideas of what could be wrong?  

Are you putting anything in the drinking water like ACV or some thing else ......

If you could put her in a separate small holding cage that would catch her droppings and you could measure the amount of water she is drinking and the amount of food she is eating if any at all ....

A natural medicine is hard boiled egg or scrambled not a lot maybe just one egg and see if she will eat any as this will help clean her out and if she will eat it all try an egg a day for a week and I have used this for years and have had really good out comes .....







gander007

I had two eggs laid without the shells last week, not sure which girl, but it was worrisome. Fortunately, no one got sick or acted too off. I hope your hen is OK.

 

[lynneb]

I want to get hens that tend to be docile, my grandparents always had chickens (leghorns I think) and some of them were really aggressive to the point of not being able to manage them. Someone on this forum recommended BR & BO which I had already considered, but I'm open to other breeds- my husband wants "pretty chickens" (don't laugh) I was going to go to the Roseville Poultry auction this weekend but there is a facebook page claiming that it's a dirty nasty place dedicated to selling older pet chickens for meat. So now I'm not sure where to look. There are pullets on Craigslist but some of the people want more money than I'm willing to pay and I'm not sure how I could be assured that I am buying healthy, well cared for stock. I can care for birds over 4 or 5 weeks ok as long as I know I'm getting hens, I can't keep roosters, even though it's still legal here, I have a neighbor who is already warning me of trouble if he finds out we get a rooster.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Quote:

I want to get hens that tend to be docile, my grandparents always had chickens (leghorns I think) and some of them were really aggressive to the point of not being able to manage them. Someone on this forum recommended BR & BO which I had already considered, but I'm open to other breeds- my husband wants "pretty chickens" (don't laugh) I was going to go to the Roseville Poultry auction this weekend but there is a facebook page claiming that it's a dirty nasty place dedicated to selling older pet chickens for meat. So now I'm not sure where to look. There are pullets on Craigslist but some of the people want more money than I'm willing to pay and I'm not sure how I could be assured that I am buying healthy, well cared for stock. I can care for birds over 4 or 5 weeks ok as long as I know I'm getting hens, I can't keep roosters, even though it's still legal here, I have a neighbor who is already warning me of trouble if he finds out we get a rooster.

There's always someone around here with pullets that need to be moved out to make room. *cough* @TheKeeper *cough*

I've got two 13 week old Wyandottes (a silver laced and what was supposed to be a blue-laced red, but doesn't seem to have any red!) and a 9 week old leghorn (not pretty, but should be an egg-laying machine) that all need to go somewhere (they're a bit on the WILD side because they were broody-raised). They're pretty bonded so I'd like to see them go together. If you want to drive into Oakland and pick them up, you have HAVE them.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I want to get hens that tend to be docile, my grandparents always had chickens (leghorns I think) and some of them were really aggressive to the point of not being able to manage them. Someone on this forum recommended BR & BO which I had already considered, but I'm open to other breeds- my husband wants "pretty chickens" (don't laugh) I was going to go to the Roseville Poultry auction this weekend but there is a facebook page claiming that it's a dirty nasty place dedicated to selling older pet chickens for meat. So now I'm not sure where to look.  There are pullets on Craigslist but some of the people want more money than I'm willing to pay and I'm not sure how I could be assured that I am buying healthy, well cared for stock. I can care for birds over 4 or 5 weeks ok as long as I know I'm getting hens, I can't keep roosters, even though it's still legal here, I have a neighbor who is already warning me of trouble if he finds out we get a rooster. 

I would stay away from poultry auctions myself if you want healthy birds. Sure, some people sell healthy birds at auctions, but some don't. It's a risk, and not one I would take.

Many of us on this thread are breeders, and getting ready to downsize for winter. I'm already downsizing my flocks, and have people lined up for birds. Research what breeds you may want. If you are going for a layer flock only, why not get breeds that lay different colored eggs?

Once you have settled on breeds, then we can help you find someone that has those breeds locally.

 

[caychris]

I want to get hens that tend to be docile, my grandparents always had chickens (leghorns I think) and some of them were really aggressive to the point of not being able to manage them. Someone on this forum recommended BR & BO which I had already considered, but I'm open to other breeds- my husband wants "pretty chickens" (don't laugh) I was going to go to the Roseville Poultry auction this weekend but there is a facebook page claiming that it's a dirty nasty place dedicated to selling older pet chickens for meat. So now I'm not sure where to look. There are pullets on Craigslist but some of the people want more money than I'm willing to pay and I'm not sure how I could be assured that I am buying healthy, well cared for stock. I can care for birds over 4 or 5 weeks ok as long as I know I'm getting hens, I can't keep roosters, even though it's still legal here, I have a neighbor who is already warning me of trouble if he finds out we get a rooster.

There are lots of docile breeds out there usually anything Orpington is good for that (buff seems especially friendly). The Pita Pintas that a few of us have are very good in that department.

 

[lynneb]

There are lots of docile breeds out there usually anything Orpington is good for that (buff seems especially friendly). The Pita Pintas that a few of us have are very good in that department.

Pita Pintas are really pretty, I've only seen them for sale once around here $40 for a pair (hen and rooster) are they relatively rare?

 

[PetRock]

Seven in the litter is the only thing I found to get rid of them.

Walt

Thanks, Walt. It worked to get rid of them on the birds. After processing the extra cockerels tomorrow, we plan on checking them again plus treating all coops.

 

[attimus]

Hi, I'm in Sacramento County, we decided to get a 'few hens' so my husband built a coop and run - but it is quite a bit larger than I thought it would be, the run is 5x10 so I think we can easily handle 6 hens. Now I'm looking for pullets rather than chicks since I'm not sure how long they would have to be in the house and we have a fairly small home. There are lots of pullets on craigslist, but how do you find someone who has healthy well cared for birds, pullets aren't exactly cheap 

@SilkiesForEver is in your area and had a few smaller breeds available. Not sure if they still are but thought it'd be worth mentioning. I got a few bantams from her recently and they are really great birds.
Attimus