Colorado

[suncatcher]

Quote: Interesting, I did not know that. Everyones chicken houses/coops look great!

 

[Chesterchook]

I'd say at such an early age to be showing wattles and such red comb/wattles, its likely male. He looks like silver laced, its a beautiful color.

x2, I think it's unlikely that it's a buff brahma, we've got a few and there's never been any white on them, I think you'd be seeing much more yellow if they were buff. That said, I like brahmas in every color, they're the friendliest chickens we've got, enjoy.

 

[dennarahl]

While you all are on the subject of snakes, is there a way to keep them out of your yard?  Last year I must have had about six which I found while gardening.  Mind you they were very small, maybe a foot long.  Still I do not care for snake no matter what they eat.  So this year I would like to detour them away from my garden specially now that I have chickens.

We've accidentally caught quite a few snakes in chicken wire fence. They get themselves stuck.

 

[kaylaC6500]

Snakes that size are more than likely gardener snakes. They can startle you when you find them but they are quite harmless. If your chickens find them, the snake will become a snack to them. So dont worry too much.

That is exactly what I was hoping for, snake snack! I know people love the snakes but I am not one of them. There is plenty of areas for them to go to, but they are not invited to my backyard....

 

[Cellarrat1]

Ha!  Thanks for the confirmations on my possible roo... even tho that is sad news, I've already grown quite attached to all my chickens.  Of course we'll keep 'him' until we have definite proof it's a 'him' and then I'm sure I'll be looking for a new home for him!

The interesting thing is I recently raised 4 Roos, 2 were pure Buff Brahma and 2 were Buff Brahma x RIR. The 2 crosses showed fairly early they were Roos. The pure BB grew no comb until much later. I could tell by their legs before their combs. My crosses are in the freezer, my pure BBs I still have. They are huge, much bigger than their dad, who is quite large.

 

[wsmith]

The interesting thing is I recently raised 4 Roos, 2 were pure Buff Brahma and 2 were Buff Brahma x RIR. The 2 crosses showed fairly early they were Roos. The pure BB grew no comb until much later. I could tell by their legs before their combs. My crosses are in the freezer, my pure BBs I still have. They are huge, much bigger than their dad, who is quite large.

My hatchery Doms all matured quicker than my non-hatchery stock. BUT...the non-hatchery stock all got bigger in the long run.

I have two boxes of fertile eggs coming from another breeder this week.......Crossing fingers for a decent hatch. And by decent I would like 50% or more on shipped eggs.

I talked to the breeder that I got eggs from last year, Abe is from that batch. She told me that she kept two roosters from the same breeding pen that Abe came from. One matured right on time, and was fathering chicks like everyone else, the other took about 2 months longer, but is fathering lots of chicks now. Hopefully that will happen with Abraham... We'll try him again in May.

 

[annav410]

Thought I'd share since I'm in a supplies-buying mode right now for building a new coop - I found what I consider some decent deals on hardware cloth on Wayfair.com recently - got a 48" x 50' roll for $103 including free shipping and no sales tax. Compared to $68 for a 48" x 25' role at the Home Despot and I thought it a reasonable savings. Also looked at one place that wanted $71 just in shipping so there are definitely some not-good places to buy from online! Going to be using the plans from thegardencoop.com (slightly modified), just have to get some time in town to actually work on it now that I've got all the supplies purchased. I'm in Stapleton and will likely be working on the primary assembly the weekend of April 19th if folks are interested in hanging out and talking chooks.

We got a good deal on our hardware cloth at South 85 Stockyards (at least that is what we call it). I can't remember the details but I think it was around $70 for a large roll.

 

[wsmith]

We got a good deal on our hardware cloth at South 85 Stockyards (at least that is what we call it). I can't remember the details but I think it was around $70 for a large roll.

The nice thing is that hopefully you'll only have to buy the fencing once.....

If anyone is looking for a good value in bird netting to go on top if that's what your looking for, I got mine from Culter Supply. Good prices and very fast shipping.

 

[Chick N Mama]

Hello - I am also new and am in Loveland near Ft Collins.. This weather is making me crazy with temps up and down! I hope the little ones (2,3,4 weeks) can adjust. They are inside right now but will be going out when the coop is finished. At what age is it best to begin turning the light off during the day and for how long?

 

[suncatcher]

Welcome to all the newbies! Cutlers also has a toe punch for a resonable price too, will keep the bird netting in mind.

Talk about crazy weather! It was snowing here yesterday afternoon with the sun shinning, strange weather this spring........

Garden snakes are harmless, they eat small mice and bugs until they get bigger, then they eat bigger mice! LOL They are more afraid of you than you are of them, I have never had one hiss at me like the bull snakes.

Sounds like the ones stuck in the fence found a good food source! Maybe baby mice.

Interesting how some chicken breeds you can tell fairly young if they are roos or not, some not so easy and you have to wait until they get old enough and start crowing.