Colorado

[dennarahl]

I built a nest box where the eggs will roll away from the chickens. I am pretty sure I got the dimensions correct. Can't wait to see it work! Just need some astro turf, and I am ready!!

Its external right? You're going to want to find a way to seal the cracks on the top and lid really well. Caulk has done pretty well, but the chickens will pick at it if they can get to it. It looks great.

 

[dennarahl]

Hi BYC and Colorado BYCers

We are in Boulder CO, new to BYC, new to chickens, building the henhouse in the next couple weeks, getting the chicks in March/April, just going to have a few.

We've done our homework and will search BYC for additional advice, but any quick recommendations on where to get (and what to get) just a mix of 3 chicks (for egg laying)?

a possibility
Pasted from denverurbanhomesteading.com:
The next chicken swaps will be JANUARY 5, 2013 and FEBRUARY 2, 2013 from 10-12 Noon at Earthdog Denver, 370 Kalamath Street, Denver.

 

[Pozees]

LOL turns out it is NOT on the car, it's on the fridge cause my husband is also, like, really? So OK, I'll wear the TSHIRT!

I am out in Centennial/Aurora so wouldn't have been me

We are fostering a few ladies this week for a newbie to CO who just moved from Texas, she brought the girls over today and they are all huddled up in the coop after the initial butt sniff they are all doing great! I'm glad got some extra feathers for warmth on this cold night.

Happy New Year's all!

Oh those must be Rhonda's, right? So she made it, good!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Huh, just thought of a question. Since I am using an automatic turner, do I need to take it out and lay the eggs directly on the wire when lockdown comes around?

 

[Pozees]

Huh, just thought of a question. Since I am using an automatic turner, do I need to take it out and lay the eggs directly on the wire when lockdown comes around?

Check your instructions, should be able to turn off the turner on day 18, or else take it out and put the eggs in egg cartons with the bottom of the cells cut out to keep the turner cleaner.

 

[wsmith]

Its external right? You're going to want to find a way to seal the cracks on the top and lid really well. Caulk has done pretty well, but the chickens will pick at it if they can get to it. It looks great.

LOL. Last year at this time I ws madly building stuff, including a huge wooden feeder that would hold over 100 lbs of feed...... This morning I tore it apart to use the wood for other projects, because it didn't work and was WAY too big!

We had this kind of nest box in our coop while a kid. They worked OK, but the hens that went broody still found a way to keep the eggs from rolling away. They also didn't like too much of a slope, so you may want to keep that in mind. Some preferred to lay on the floor in the litter rather than to use the nest box. Ours was inside the coop with no external access. Then one we built in our hen house at Windy Ridge (our chicken farm) has external nest box access, but the nest boxes are inside the hen house. We just open the door and take the eggs.

 

[wsmith]

Huh, just thought of a question. Since I am using an automatic turner, do I need to take it out and lay the eggs directly on the wire when lockdown comes around?

As Pozees said, follow the directions on you incubator. We take them out of the turner and place them directly on the wire floor of the incubator. When we get a cabinet type, we will use the small GQF incubator as a hatcher only. Also, the term "lockdown" is a relatively new term, very popular on BYC. We just say its almost hatching time.

 

[wsmith]

Pozees, are you working today? I have the day off and the weather is great.....

 

[Pozees]

Pozees, are you working today? I have the day off and the weather is great.....

Working at home - the non-paid kind (laundry, cooking, etc.) - it's been pretty gloomy here all day, little sun, no warmth, sun has been trying to peek out between the clouds, but it isn't having much success. I've had about enough of winter, it could warm up now, at least for a couple of days so I can get a few outside projects done. The last couple of days the humidity has been a little higher so the cold seems colder. Oh well, it's okay, I need to work on inside stuff too Want to get more pages of the site built, today is a good day for it.

The girls think it feels colder too, although it hasn't stopped them from ranging around the house leaving their tracks in the tiny bit of snow we got overnight. They just aren't quite as cheerful as they were Saturday, when it was a couple of degrees colder but much drier. Did you get snow?

So we have the Portlandia marathon on, and the two main characters are trying to buy cell phone service, and the salesman tells them there's a nominal fee if they want to keep their numbers. One of the characters says, I thought that was a free service, and the salesman says, well it is free after you pay for it.

 

[wickedlees]

Yes Pozee, I have Ronda's girls. They are getting along pretty well with mine, but my very shy EE is hiding out back in a corner of the yard where I keep the junk. (doesn't everyone have one of those?) All the rest of the girls are running around, fed them some warm oatmeal with what was left over from the bean soup I made mixed in. They are happily picking through the "heap" of greens and veggies out back. doing what chickens do. They are a LOT louder than my girls, lots of squawking going on out there!